Availability [availability] Field for Product Feed

Required for each product (Google & ChatGPT)

The availability attribute tells Google whether a product is currently available for purchase. Keeping this data accurate ensures your products appear correctly across ads and listings.

When to use

This field is required for every product in your feed. The values must match what’s visible on your product landing page.

Available values:

• in_stock: The product is available for immediate purchase and delivery.
• out_of_stock: You are not accepting orders for the product.
• preorder: You accept orders but the product hasn’t been released yet. Requires availability_date.
• backorder: The product is temporarily unavailable but orders are accepted. Requires availability_date.

Format

• Type: One of the four accepted values: in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder, backorder
• Limits: Single value (not repeatable)
• Schema.org: Offer.availability

Formatting Examples:

Minimum requirements

Products with incorrect or outdated availability may be disapproved.

• Ensure the availability on your landing and checkout pages matches your feed.
• Use availability_date when submitting preorder or backorder.
• Use pause if you’re temporarily halting orders (up to 14 days).
• Don’t set out_of_stock if the product is still available but hidden — use excluded_destination or pause instead.
• Don’t mismatch shipping or regional availability with your feed.

Best Practices

• Use in_stock only when a product is actually available in all supported shipping regions.
• Set out_of_stock for unavailable items instead of deleting them from your feed.
• Use pause for short-term visibility halts (maintenance, holidays).
• Pair with structured data and enable automatic item updates for better accuracy.
• Don’t leave outdated availability info : update your feed frequently.
• Don’t mark an unavailable variant (e.g. size) as in_stock : match exact variant stock.

SEO Tip

Availability mismatches harm trust and may cause product disapprovals. Use structured data and automatic updates to ensure consistency across your site and feed.

Official Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324448