Installing Google Customer Reviews to Shopify

For any online retailer, reviews are a great way for your business to build trust and allow customers to share their shopping experience. If you're running your ecommerce business on the Shopify platform, we have some great news that you might not be aware of - you can now integrate Google Customer Reviews directly into your Shopify store.

Until recently, this functionality has only been possible on Shopify Plus stores. But with the roll-out of integrated checkout for Shopify - everyone can now benefit. Read our step-by-step installation guide below.

What are Google Customer Reviews?

Google Customer Reviews is a free mechanism that lets you collect feedback from users who've made a purchase on your site. These reviews are collated into a seller rating which can be displayed in a badge on your website, in Search Ads and in Google Shopping.

How do Google Customer Reviews Work?

Customers who've made a purchase on your site are presented with an option to opt-in to receive an email requesting feedback from Google about their experience with your shop. This then gives you access to the following features:

• Google Customer Reviews badge - displaying a 1 - 5 star seller rating
• Google Customer Reviews survey - for user to rate their experience
• Seller ratings - for use in search Ads and Google Shopping

If you want to know more about Google Customer Reviews, Merchant Center and how it all works, Google Merchant Center Help provides lots more information.

The Benefits of Google Customer Reviews

The power of customer testimonials cannot be underestimated. They have the ability to influence potential consumers who consult reviews before making a purchase.

They're also a great way for search engines to see how your business is perceived by your customers. Merchants with the highest seller ratings are often prioritised in search results pages.

Whether you like it or not, people are going to review your products and services. Use Google Customer Reviews to maximise the effect for your business and to maintain as much control over testimonials as possible.

Getting Started with Google Customer Reviews in Shopify

There are two simple steps required to add Google Customer Reviews to your Shopify store, installing the Opt-in Survey and then adding the badge to your site.

1. Install the Opt-In Survey

The first step is to add the Opt-in Survey to the Additional Scripts area of Shopify located in:
Admin > Settings > Checkout
Review all the existing scripts in the Additional Scripts block and make sure that the Opt-in Survey is run after all existing code (such as custom tracking).

The below is an example of the Opt-in Survey code to install with a 3 day estimated delivery time. For anything other than a 3 day delivery estimate, the mandatory field estimated_delivery_date will need to be adjusted with some custom logic to suit your store.

<!-- BEGIN GCR Opt-in Module Code -->
    <script src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js?onload=renderOptIn" async defer></script>
    <script>
        window.renderOptIn = function() { 
        window.gapi.load('surveyoptin', function() {
            window.gapi.surveyoptin.render(
            {
                // REQUIRED
                "merchant_id":"101130924",
                "order_id": "{{ order_number }}",
                "email": "{{ checkout.email }}",
                "delivery_country": "GB",
                "estimated_delivery_date": {{'now' | date: "%s" | plus : 259200 | date: " %Y-%m-%d" | uri_encode | replace:"+","%20"}}, //"YYYY-MM-DD"
                // OPTIONAL
                "opt_in_style": "CENTER_DIALOG",
            }); 
            });
        }
    </script>
<!-- END GCR Opt-in Module Code -->
    

Notes:

• Google Merchant Center must already be setup and verified to access your personalised code snippet
• To satisfy Google Customer Reviews mandatory field estimated_delivery_date, adjust the number of days from the customer order date. The example above uses 3 days (259200 seconds)
• Remember to take into account weekends when setting your estimated_delivery_date
• The Merchant Center takes a few days to verify the Opt-in Survey code, plan ahead for this

2. Installing the Badge

Create a new snippet in your Shopify Theme area which contains the following code and add it to your website:

<!-- BEGIN GCR Badge Code -->
    <script src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js?onload=renderBadge" async defer></script>
    <script>
    window.renderBadge = function() {
        var ratingBadgeContainer = document.createElement("div");
        document.body.appendChild(ratingBadgeContainer);
        window.gapi.load('ratingbadge', function() {
        window.gapi.ratingbadge.render(
            ratingBadgeContainer, {
            "merchant_id": 101130924,
            "position": "BOTTOM_LEFT"
            });           
        });
    }
    // BEGIN GCR Language Code
    window.___gcfg = {
        lang: 'en_GB'
    };
    </script>
<!-- END GCR Badge Code -->
    

Notes:

• We'd suggest adding the Google Customer Reviews badge to the footer of your site
• It's a good idea to run the Opt-in Survey snippet for a couple of weeks to gain some reviews before adding the Google Customer Reviews badge to your site
• Remember, your badge will not show a seller rating until you have 150 unique reviews and a composite rating of 3.5 stars or higher

We're here to help

Need a Shopify Expert to help with your store? Here at Meta, we've been Shopify Experts since 2014. We've worked with dozens of Shopify merchants, ranging from local businesses to international retailers - you're in safe hands.

Get in touch today for help with Shopify & Google Customer Reviews.