[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-news":3},[4,365,637,886,1269,1533,1728,1977,2212,2456,2655],{"id":5,"title":6,"author":7,"body":8,"cover":320,"description":325,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":328,"funnelStage":341,"labels":342,"meta":344,"navigation":345,"path":346,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":343,"publishedAt":347,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":349,"sitemap":350,"sources":351,"stem":362,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":347,"__hash__":364},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fposting-to-the-us-import-costs-2026.md","Posting to the US just got more expensive","True Noise",{"type":9,"value":10,"toc":311},"minimark",[11,23,26,29,34,37,83,86,90,99,160,163,167,170,241,244,248,251,275,288,292,300,303],[12,13,14,15,22],"p",{},"From 24 July 2026, goods valued at US$2,500 or less arriving in the United\nStates by international mail must be cleared under a new postal informal\nentry process — a customs entry filed on posted items, with its own rules on\nwho may file, the data required, bonds, payment and deadlines, set out by US\nCustoms and Border Protection.\nThe source is CBP's ",[16,17,21],"a",{"href":18,"rel":19},"https:\u002F\u002Fcontent.govdelivery.com\u002Faccounts\u002FUSDHSCBP\u002Fbulletins\u002F41fa7f0",[20],"nofollow","CSMS bulletin \"Updated Global Guidance for International Mail\"",", dated 8 July 2026.",[12,24,25],{},"The practical effect for a UK Shopify merchant: posting an order no longer\nsidesteps US tariffs, and someone — you or your customer — pays them.",[12,27,28],{},"This piece is for UK Shopify merchants who post orders to US customers\nthrough Royal Mail or another postal service, not for stores already moving\nstock through commercial freight and a customs broker.",[30,31,33],"h2",{"id":32},"what-changed-on-24-july-2026","What changed on 24 July 2026?",[12,35,36],{},"Until recently, posting was the quiet route into the US: low-value items\nmoved under the de minimis exemption with little entry paperwork and no\nduty. That route has been closing in stages, and the July change formalises\nthe end of it for postal traffic.",[38,39,40,53],"table",{},[41,42,43],"thead",{},[44,45,46,50],"tr",{},[47,48,49],"th",{},"Date",[47,51,52],{},"What changed",[54,55,56,71],"tbody",{},[44,57,58,62],{},[59,60,61],"td",{},"29 August 2025",[59,63,64,65,70],{},"The US suspended the US$800 de minimis duty-free exemption for imports from all countries, so posted parcels became dutiable regardless of value (",[16,66,69],{"href":67,"rel":68},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.business.gov.uk\u002Fexport-from-uk\u002Fmarkets\u002Funited-states\u002Fde-minimis-shipments-us\u002F",[20],"business.gov.uk",")",[44,72,73,76],{},[59,74,75],{},"24 July 2026",[59,77,78,79,70],{},"Goods valued at US$2,500 or less arriving by international mail must be entered under CBP's new postal informal entry process, with defined rules on filers, data, bonds, payment and deadlines (",[16,80,82],{"href":18,"rel":81},[20],"CBP CSMS bulletin",[12,84,85],{},"Around the same time, Royal Mail was reported to have told business senders that postal shipments to\nthe US may be assessed for Most Favoured Nation duties, Section 232 and\nSection 301 tariffs and other charges, and advised sellers to review their\ncustoms classifications, product descriptions, declared values and origin\ndata — guidance reported by the trade title ChannelX. We could not locate Royal Mail's own published version, so treat it as trade-press reporting rather than Royal Mail's words. In short: the data on your customs form\nnow sets what your parcel is charged, so it needs to be right.",[30,87,89],{"id":88},"which-us-tariffs-can-now-hit-a-posted-parcel","Which US tariffs can now hit a posted parcel?",[12,91,92,93,98],{},"More than one, and they stack by classification and origin rather than by\nhow the parcel travelled. We deliberately quote no rates here: US tariff\npolicy moved repeatedly through 2025 and 2026, and the only reliable source\nfor a current figure is the official ",[16,94,97],{"href":95,"rel":96},"https:\u002F\u002Fhts.usitc.gov\u002F",[20],"Harmonized Tariff\nSchedule"," entry for your product's classification.",[38,100,101,114],{},[41,102,103],{},[44,104,105,108,111],{},[47,106,107],{},"Charge",[47,109,110],{},"What it is",[47,112,113],{},"When it can apply to your parcel",[54,115,116,127,138,149],{},[44,117,118,121,124],{},[59,119,120],{},"MFN duty",[59,122,123],{},"The standard US tariff for the product's HS classification",[59,125,126],{},"Any dutiable item, set by classification",[44,128,129,132,135],{},[59,130,131],{},"Section 232",[59,133,134],{},"National-security tariffs on steel, aluminium and other listed materials, including derivative products containing them",[59,136,137],{},"Products in scope by their material content — check the current scope against the tariff schedule",[44,139,140,143,146],{},[59,141,142],{},"Section 301",[59,144,145],{},"Tariffs on goods of Chinese origin",[59,147,148],{},"Items made in China, wherever they are posted from",[44,150,151,154,157],{},[59,152,153],{},"Other measures",[59,155,156],{},"Further duties introduced through 2025–26, applied by country of origin",[59,158,159],{},"Depends on origin and the measures in force on the day — verify at dispatch",[12,161,162],{},"Two things follow. First, the country of origin of the goods matters, not\nthe country of dispatch — a China-made product posted from Peterborough is\nstill Chinese-origin to US customs. Second, a wrong or vague HS code is no\nlonger a paperwork nicety; misclassification can mean the wrong duty, and\nunder-declared values invite reassessment.",[30,164,166],{"id":165},"who-pays-the-duty-you-or-your-customer","Who pays the duty — you or your customer?",[12,168,169],{},"The decision that actually moves your margin is the delivery terms you sell\non. Post has historically meant the customer pays on arrival; a duty bill\nlanding on an unwarned US customer is now large enough to lose the order.",[38,171,172,184],{},[41,173,174],{},[44,175,176,178,181],{},[47,177],{},[47,179,180],{},"DDP — you pay",[47,182,183],{},"DAP\u002FDDU — customer pays",[54,185,186,197,208,219,230],{},[44,187,188,191,194],{},[59,189,190],{},"Who pays duty and fees",[59,192,193],{},"You, collected at checkout or absorbed",[59,195,196],{},"The customer, billed before or at delivery",[44,198,199,202,205],{},[59,200,201],{},"When the cost appears",[59,203,204],{},"In your pricing and checkout total",[59,206,207],{},"After purchase, as a surprise demand",[44,209,210,213,216],{},[59,211,212],{},"Customer experience",[59,214,215],{},"One total, no surprises",[59,217,218],{},"Refusal, complaints and chargeback risk",[44,220,221,224,227],{},[59,222,223],{},"Margin impact",[59,225,226],{},"Direct — duty comes out of your price unless you raise it",[59,228,229],{},"Indirect — lost sales, returns and refused parcels",[44,231,232,235,238],{},[59,233,234],{},"Shopify setup",[59,236,237],{},"Collect duties and import taxes at checkout where your plan or market setup supports it, or price duty into US totals",[59,239,240],{},"Say so plainly on product, cart and shipping pages",[12,242,243],{},"Neither answer is free. DDP protects conversion and puts the cost on you;\nDAP protects your sticker price and puts the risk on the delivery. What is\nno longer available is the old default of not deciding, because the old\ndefault assumed post was duty-free.",[30,245,247],{"id":246},"what-should-a-uk-shopify-merchant-do-this-week","What should a UK Shopify merchant do this week?",[12,249,250],{},"Work through the customs data first, then the pricing decision:",[252,253,254,258,266,269,272],"ol",{},[255,256,257],"li",{},"Pull your US-bound catalogue and check every HS classification, product\ndescription, declared value and country of origin — the four fields\nthat seller guidance flags, per the ChannelX report.",[255,259,260,261,265],{},"Look up the current duty for your main products' classifications on the\n",[16,262,264],{"href":95,"rel":263},[20],"Harmonized Tariff Schedule",", including any\nSection 232 or 301 layer that applies by material or origin.",[255,267,268],{},"Build a landed cost per product for a typical US order: item price,\npostage, duty and fees. That number, not the postage rate, is what your\nUS customer comparison-shops against.",[255,270,271],{},"Decide DDP or DAP deliberately, set your Shopify checkout and shipping\nprofiles to match, and say who pays duty on the pages customers read\nbefore buying.",[255,273,274],{},"Re-check rates before large dispatches. The pattern of 2025–26 is that\nUS tariff settings change; treat any figure older than your last check\nas stale.",[12,276,277,278,282,283,287],{},"The shape of the problem will be familiar if you dealt with ",[16,279,281],{"href":280},"\u002Fblog\u002Fmeta-2-percent-uk-location-fee","Meta's 2% UK\nlocation fee",": a cost added outside\nthe dashboards you normally watch, which quietly rewrites your real margin\nuntil you put it into the model. If your US pricing, markets setup or\ncheckout needs restructuring to carry duties properly, that is ",[16,284,286],{"href":285},"\u002Fservices\u002Fpresence\u002Fecommerce-stores","store-build\nwork",", not a settings tweak.",[30,289,291],{"id":290},"decide-who-pays-before-your-customer-finds-out","Decide who pays before your customer finds out",[12,293,294,295,299],{},"Shipping cost is rarely one line on its own: the same squeeze from the carrier side is in ",[16,296,298],{"href":297},"\u002Fblog\u002Froyal-mail-surcharges-peak-2026","Royal Mail's new charges",".",[12,301,302],{},"True Noise is a UK digital agency in Peterborough working with small UK\nbusinesses, including Shopify merchants selling into the US.",[304,305,308],"tn-cta",{"heading":291,"label":306,"to":307},"Book a pricing review","\u002Fcontact",[12,309,310],{},"We will model your US landed costs, check your customs data and set your checkout up for whichever duty answer you choose.",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":314},"",2,[315,316,317,318,319],{"id":32,"depth":313,"text":33},{"id":88,"depth":313,"text":89},{"id":165,"depth":313,"text":166},{"id":246,"depth":313,"text":247},{"id":290,"depth":313,"text":291},{"src":321,"alt":322,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fposting-to-the-us-import-costs-2026-hero.webp","A parcel crossing a border checkpoint barrier towards a customs stamp and a stack of coin discs, with an aeroplane silhouette above.",2000,857,"From 24 July 2026 goods posted to the US go through a new CBP informal entry process and can be assessed for full US tariffs. Who pays, and what to check.",false,"md",[329,332,335,338],{"question":330,"answer":331},"Doesn't the US ignore low-value parcels anyway?","Not any more. The US$800 de minimis exemption, which let low-value imports enter duty-free, was suspended for postal items from all countries on 29 August 2025. Value no longer exempts a posted parcel from duty; the 24 July 2026 change is about how those parcels are formally entered and assessed, not whether they are.",{"question":333,"answer":334},"Who pays the duty on an order I post to a US customer?","Whoever your delivery terms say. Post has historically moved on delivered-at-place terms, where the customer is billed for duty before or at delivery — which risks refused parcels and chargebacks. The alternative is delivered-duty-paid, where you collect duties at checkout and remit them, which protects the customer experience but puts the cost on your margin unless you price for it.",{"question":336,"answer":337},"How do I find the exact duty rate for my product?","From the official Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States at hts.usitc.gov, using your product's HS classification. US tariff policy moved repeatedly through 2025 and 2026, so treat any rate in an article, forum or app as stale until you have checked it against the schedule for your specific classification and country of origin.",{"question":339,"answer":340},"My goods are made in China but posted from the UK — does that matter?","Yes. US duty is assessed on the country of origin of the goods, not the country you post them from. Items of Chinese origin can attract Section 301 tariffs even when dispatched from a UK warehouse, which is why the seller advice reported by ChannelX covers origin data, not just values and descriptions. Royal Mail's own published version could not be located, so treat that as trade-press reporting.","awareness",[343],"cost-control",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fposting-to-the-us-import-costs-2026","2026-08-14",null,{"title":6,"description":325},{"loc":346,"lastmod":347},[352,355,359],{"title":353,"url":95,"publisher":354},"Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States","United States International Trade Commission",{"title":356,"url":18,"publisher":357,"date":358},"CSMS: Updated Global Guidance for International Mail","US Customs and Border Protection","2026-07-08",{"title":360,"url":361,"publisher":357},"Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.cbp.gov\u002Ftrade\u002Fautomated\u002Fcargo-systems-messaging-service","blog\u002Fposting-to-the-us-import-costs-2026","news","DTk_jRJt3VHQEzcVF8nzX7S-3f0G_Aaq0wf-DNyNJtQ",{"id":366,"title":367,"author":7,"body":368,"cover":599,"description":602,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":603,"funnelStage":341,"labels":616,"meta":618,"navigation":345,"path":619,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":617,"publishedAt":620,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":621,"sitemap":622,"sources":623,"stem":635,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":620,"__hash__":636},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fasa-ruling-press-logos-influencer-clips.md","The ASA just picked apart a standard product page",{"type":9,"value":369,"toc":592},[370,373,376,380,389,450,453,457,460,463,466,476,480,483,533,536,545,549,552,559,563,566,569,575],[12,371,372],{},"On 29 July 2026 the ASA upheld all three complaints against Airbrush UK: an \"as seen in\" logo bar implying coverage the ASA could find no evidence of, influencer videos that actually showed a competitor's product, and testimonials illustrated with that competitor's product. An \"as seen in\" bar is a strip of press logos presenting a product as featured by those titles, and the ASA treats it as an objective claim you must be able to prove.",[12,374,375],{},"None of this involved a new rule. The ruling applied the CAP Code's long-standing requirements that advertising must not mislead and that objective claims need evidence — to three page elements most stores treat as furniture.",[30,377,379],{"id":378},"what-did-the-asa-rule-against-airbrush-uk","What did the ASA rule against Airbrush UK?",[12,381,382,383,388],{},"Three complaints, all upheld, plus a fourth finding the advertiser brought on itself by staying silent (",[16,384,387],{"href":385,"rel":386},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.asa.org.uk\u002Frulings\u002Fairbrush-a26-1336261-airbrush-uk.html",[20],"ASA ruling A26-1336261",", 29 July 2026).",[38,390,391,404],{},[41,392,393],{},[44,394,395,398,401],{},[47,396,397],{},"What the page showed",[47,399,400],{},"What the ASA found",[47,402,403],{},"The principle",[54,405,406,417,428,439],{},[44,407,408,411,414],{},[59,409,410],{},"An \"as seen in\" bar with logos including Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire",[59,412,413],{},"No evidence the product had featured in those titles",[59,415,416],{},"A press logo is a claim of real coverage, and claims need proof",[44,418,419,422,425],{},[59,420,421],{},"Influencer videos promoting the product",[59,423,424],{},"The footage showed a competitor's styling tool",[59,426,427],{},"Promotional footage must show the product actually being sold",[44,429,430,433,436],{},[59,431,432],{},"Customer testimonials with product images",[59,434,435],{},"The images showed the competitor's product, not the one reviewed",[59,437,438],{},"Review presentation must match what was reviewed",[44,440,441,444,447],{},[59,442,443],{},"—",[59,445,446],{},"The advertiser did not respond to the ASA's enquiries",[59,448,449],{},"Non-response is itself a breach of CAP Code rule 1.7",[12,451,452],{},"The pattern is worth naming plainly: every element borrowed credibility — from magazines, from influencers, from reviewers — that belonged to someone or something else. The ASA took each one apart on the same test: is the impression the page creates true, and can you evidence it?",[30,454,456],{"id":455},"why-does-this-matter-to-an-ordinary-shopify-store","Why does this matter to an ordinary Shopify store?",[12,458,459],{},"Because the three elements are a template. Press logo bars ship in theme sections and page builders; influencer clips get reused from whatever performs; review apps let you attach any image to any testimonial. Each is a standard conversion tactic right up until the impression it creates stops being true.",[12,461,462],{},"The gap usually opens by drift, not intent. A logo bar built from a genuine mention plus four aspirational titles. A UGC clip bought from a creator who filmed a lookalike product. A review importer that matched images by keyword. The ASA does not grade intent — it asked what the page claims and whether the evidence exists, and where the evidence did not exist, it upheld.",[12,464,465],{},"This is for any UK merchant whose product pages carry press logos, influencer footage or illustrated reviews — which covers a great many storefronts built from a standard theme.",[467,468,469],"blockquote",{},[12,470,471,475],{},[472,473,474],"strong",{},"The test in one line."," Every borrowed piece of credibility on your product page — logo, clip or review image — is a claim you are making, and you need to hold the evidence for it.",[30,477,479],{"id":478},"how-do-i-audit-my-own-product-pages","How do I audit my own product pages?",[12,481,482],{},"Three checks, one per element the ruling covered. The output is a folder of evidence you can put in front of anyone who asks.",[38,484,485,498],{},[41,486,487],{},[44,488,489,492,495],{},[47,490,491],{},"Page element",[47,493,494],{},"The check",[47,496,497],{},"What counts as a pass",[54,499,500,511,522],{},[44,501,502,505,508],{},[59,503,504],{},"Every press or \"as seen in\" logo",[59,506,507],{},"Find the actual coverage behind each logo",[59,509,510],{},"The issue, article or URL where your product featured, saved where you can retrieve it",[44,512,513,516,519],{},[59,514,515],{},"Every influencer or UGC clip",[59,517,518],{},"Confirm the footage shows your product, and that you hold the rights to use it",[59,520,521],{},"Your product identifiably on screen, plus a licence or written permission from the creator",[44,523,524,527,530],{},[59,525,526],{},"Every review image",[59,528,529],{},"Confirm the image matches the product that was reviewed",[59,531,532],{},"The photo shows the item the customer bought, not a stock or lookalike image",[12,534,535],{},"Anything that fails comes down — not gets footnoted, comes down. A logo with no coverage behind it, a clip showing something you do not sell, and an image pasted onto someone else's words are each a misleading impression you are now aware of.",[12,537,538,539,544],{},"There is also a second exposure worth knowing about. Since the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 rewired UK consumer protection enforcement, misleading review practices sit in territory where the CMA can act directly, without going through the courts first (",[16,540,543],{"href":541,"rel":542},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.legislation.gov.uk\u002Fukpga\u002F2024\u002F13\u002Fcontents",[20],"Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024","). The ASA route is embarrassing; the consumer-law route can get expensive. Passing the audit above covers you for both.",[30,546,548],{"id":547},"what-happens-if-the-asa-writes-to-me","What happens if the ASA writes to me?",[12,550,551],{},"Answer. The Airbrush UK ruling records that the advertiser did not respond to the ASA's enquiries, and the ASA ruled that failure a breach of rule 1.7 of the CAP Code — a separate finding on top of the three complaints. Silence converted three problems into four and a published ruling that says the business was uncooperative.",[12,553,554,555,299],{},"If a complaint lands, respond within the deadline, send the evidence you hold, and amend or pull anything you cannot substantiate. An advertiser who engages and fixes the page comes out of the process in a far better position than one who hopes it goes away. It is the same posture we recommend for data protection complaints under the new statutory duty — engage early, document everything — covered in our piece on the ",[16,556,558],{"href":557},"\u002Fblog\u002Fuk-data-complaints-duty-pecr-fines","UK data-complaints duty and PECR fines",[30,560,562],{"id":561},"run-the-audit-before-someone-else-does","Run the audit before someone else does",[12,564,565],{},"A complaint to the ASA costs the complainant nothing to make. The audit that would have answered it is work you control and can do before anyone asks.",[12,567,568],{},"True Noise is a UK digital agency in Peterborough working with small UK businesses on their Shopify stores and the compliance housekeeping around them.",[304,570,572],{"heading":562,"label":571,"to":307},"Book a page review",[12,573,574],{},"We will go through your product pages logo by logo, clip by clip and review by review, and leave you with the evidence file — or a shorter, honest page.",[12,576,577,578,582,583,587,588,299],{},"If you are auditing claims on your storefront, the same evidence discipline applies to the reviews you display: see our note on ",[16,579,581],{"href":580},"\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-incentivised-reviews-markup","Google's rule on review-for-discount schemes",". Fixing the copy itself is ",[16,584,586],{"href":585},"\u002Fservices\u002Fengagement\u002Fcro","conversion work",", and the review widgets it touches sit alongside ",[16,589,591],{"href":590},"\u002Fservices\u002Fengagement\u002Freviews-reputation","reviews and reputation",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":593},[594,595,596,597,598],{"id":378,"depth":313,"text":379},{"id":455,"depth":313,"text":456},{"id":478,"depth":313,"text":479},{"id":547,"depth":313,"text":548},{"id":561,"depth":313,"text":562},{"src":600,"alt":601,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fasa-ruling-press-logos-influencer-clips-hero.webp","A product page with a row of blank logo placeholders along the top, one lifted away by a magnifying glass, next to a video thumbnail card.","On 29 July 2026 the ASA upheld all three complaints against Airbrush UK: press logos, influencer clips, review images. The three-item audit to run now.",[604,607,610,613],{"question":605,"answer":606},"Does the ASA really apply to a small Shopify store?","Yes. The CAP Code covers non-broadcast advertising including claims on your own website and social media, and it has no turnover threshold. A one-person store making an \"as seen in\" claim is held to the same evidential standard as a national brand — the question is only whether the claim is true and provable, not how big you are.",{"question":608,"answer":609},"Can I show a magazine's logo if my product genuinely featured in it?","Yes, if the coverage is real and the logo bar presents it accurately. The practical rule is to hold the evidence: the issue, article or URL where the product appeared, filed where you can find it. Paid placements and gift-guide inclusions are still coverage, but describe them as what they are — implying an editorial endorsement that did not happen is where the trouble starts.",{"question":611,"answer":612},"What happens if I ignore a letter from the ASA?","Not responding is itself a breach. In the Airbrush UK case the advertiser did not answer the ASA's enquiries, and the ASA ruled that failure a breach of rule 1.7 of the CAP Code on top of the substantive findings. Silence does not make a complaint go away; it adds a finding and marks the business as uncooperative in a published ruling.",{"question":614,"answer":615},"Can the ASA fine my store?","The ASA does not issue fines itself. Its sanctions are a published ruling naming the business, pressure to withdraw or amend the advertising, and referral of uncooperative advertisers to other enforcers such as Trading Standards. The financial risk sits downstream: consumer protection law covers misleading practices, and a published ruling is permanent, searchable evidence against you.",[617],"compliance",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fasa-ruling-press-logos-influencer-clips","2026-08-13",{"title":367,"description":602},{"loc":619,"lastmod":620},[624,628,632],{"title":625,"url":385,"publisher":626,"date":627},"ASA ruling on Airbrush UK (A26-1336261)","Advertising Standards Authority","2026-07-29",{"title":629,"url":630,"publisher":631},"The CAP Code (UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.asa.org.uk\u002Fcodes-and-rulings\u002Fadvertising-codes\u002Fnon-broadcast-code.html","Committee of Advertising Practice",{"title":543,"url":541,"publisher":633,"date":634},"legislation.gov.uk","2024-05-24","blog\u002Fasa-ruling-press-logos-influencer-clips","WRMxnkoU5I-JXHeyPtV-XOMqoWpdtxVGEUPsUKncOFA",{"id":638,"title":639,"author":7,"body":640,"cover":854,"description":857,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":858,"funnelStage":341,"labels":871,"meta":873,"navigation":345,"path":580,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":872,"publishedAt":874,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":875,"sitemap":876,"sources":877,"stem":884,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":874,"__hash__":885},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-incentivised-reviews-markup.md","Google's new rule on review-for-discount schemes",{"type":9,"value":641,"toc":846},[642,645,648,652,667,682,685,689,692,743,746,754,758,761,773,777,780,784,787,819,825,829,837,840],[12,643,644],{},"On 24 July 2026 Google added a guideline to its review snippet documentation: do not include fake or undisclosed incentivised reviews on a page or in its markup. A review snippet is the star rating and excerpt Google can show under a search listing. A UK store that offers a discount for reviews without disclosing the incentive, and feeds them into its product markup, is now in breach.",[12,646,647],{},"This piece is for UK Shopify merchants who collect product reviews and show star ratings in Google results — especially any store running a leave-a-review-get-money-off offer.",[30,649,651],{"id":650},"what-did-google-change-on-24-july","What did Google change on 24 July?",[12,653,654,655,660,661,666],{},"Google's ",[16,656,659],{"href":657,"rel":658},"https:\u002F\u002Fdevelopers.google.com\u002Fsearch\u002Fdocs\u002Fappearance\u002Fstructured-data\u002Freview-snippet",[20],"review snippet guidelines"," now cover two kinds of review, recorded in the ",[16,662,665],{"href":663,"rel":664},"https:\u002F\u002Fdevelopers.google.com\u002Fsearch\u002Fupdates",[20],"Search documentation updates log"," on 24 July 2026:",[668,669,670,676],"ul",{},[255,671,672,675],{},[472,673,674],{},"Fake reviews"," — reviews not based on a genuine experience of the product or business.",[255,677,678,681],{},[472,679,680],{},"Undisclosed incentivised reviews"," — reviews written in exchange for money, a discount, a voucher or a free product, where the incentive is not clearly and prominently disclosed.",[12,683,684],{},"Neither belongs on the page or in the structured data. That second category is the one that catches ordinary, well-meaning stores. Much of the public discussion of review manipulation concerns Google Business Profile and Maps; this guideline is about the Review and AggregateRating markup on your own product pages — the code, usually app-generated, that earns the stars under your listings.",[30,686,688],{"id":687},"is-a-leave-a-review-get-10-off-offer-against-the-rules","Is a leave-a-review-get-10%-off offer against the rules?",[12,690,691],{},"The offer itself is not what the guideline targets — the undisclosed use of its output is. The dividing line is disclosure:",[38,693,694,704],{},[41,695,696],{},[44,697,698,701],{},[47,699,700],{},"Your review practice",[47,702,703],{},"Status under Google's review snippet guidelines",[54,705,706,714,727,735],{},[44,707,708,711],{},[59,709,710],{},"Reviews from genuine purchases, no incentive",[59,712,713],{},"Fine to include on the page and in markup",[44,715,716,719],{},[59,717,718],{},"Incentivised reviews, incentive clearly and prominently disclosed",[59,720,721,722,726],{},"Not caught by the wording, which bans the ",[723,724,725],"em",{},"undisclosed"," case",[44,728,729,732],{},[59,730,731],{},"Incentivised reviews, no disclosure",[59,733,734],{},"In breach — keep them off the page and out of the markup",[44,736,737,740],{},[59,738,739],{},"Purchased, swapped or fabricated reviews",[59,741,742],{},"In breach — not based on genuine experience",[12,744,745],{},"The uncomfortable part for Shopify stores is where those reviews come from. Post-purchase emails offering a discount code for a review are a feature several review apps offer, and the reviews they collect can flow straight into the same app's structured data. Nothing in that pipeline discloses anything unless you set it up to.",[467,747,748],{},[12,749,750,753],{},[472,751,752],{},"The catch in one line."," Where one app both runs your discount-for-review campaign and writes your review markup, an undisclosed incentive can reach the structured data without anyone deciding that it should. Check whether that is true of your store.",[30,755,757],{"id":756},"what-does-a-store-lose-and-how-would-it-show","What does a store lose, and how would it show?",[12,759,760],{},"What Google's documentation describes is eligibility for review rich results: the star rating, review count and snippet under your product listings. Structured data that violates the guidelines can stop earning that treatment; the page itself remains in ordinary search results.",[12,762,763,764,767,768,772],{},"Google's documentation says review rich results ",[472,765,766],{},"may"," be shown when it finds valid markup, and its structured-data guidelines govern eligibility — so the consequence to plan for is losing that eligibility, not a stated penalty. What that costs you depends on how much of your traffic arrives on listings that currently show stars — the same organic visibility this year's ",[16,769,771],{"href":770},"\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-ai-mode-overviews-uk-shopify","Google AI changes"," already put under pressure. Google does not say how it detects undisclosed incentives, and we will not guess; the honest framing is that the rule now exists, the penalty is defined, and compliance is cheap next to the exposure.",[30,774,776],{"id":775},"how-does-this-sit-with-uk-law","How does this sit with UK law?",[12,778,779],{},"Google's guideline is a search-eligibility rule, not the law — but UK law already points the same way. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, fake reviews and reviews that conceal an incentive are banned commercial practices, enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority. That is a separate regime with its own consequences, and nothing in Google's documentation changes it. The practical takeaway is that clear, prominent disclosure of review incentives is now the standard on both fronts, and an undisclosed scheme carries two distinct risks rather than one.",[30,781,783],{"id":782},"what-should-a-uk-shopify-store-do-now","What should a UK Shopify store do now?",[12,785,786],{},"Audit the pipeline from incentive to markup, then either disclose or exclude:",[252,788,789,795,801,807,813],{},[255,790,791,794],{},[472,792,793],{},"List every incentive you offer for reviews"," — post-purchase discount codes, loyalty points, entry into a draw, free products. Include anything a past agency or app set up that still runs.",[255,796,797,800],{},[472,798,799],{},"Find out which reviews it produced."," Ask whether your review app records an incentivised flag per review. If nobody can say which reviews were incentivised, treat the scheme's output as undisclosed until proven otherwise.",[255,802,803,806],{},[472,804,805],{},"Choose disclosure or exclusion."," Either show the incentive clearly and prominently where the review appears, or keep incentivised reviews off the page and out of the structured data. An unlabelled ten-percent-off review sitting in your AggregateRating is the exact case the guideline names.",[255,808,809,812],{},[472,810,811],{},"Check what your markup actually says."," Run a product page through Google's Rich Results Test and look at the Review and AggregateRating output your theme and apps emit — most merchants have never read it.",[255,814,815,818],{},[472,816,817],{},"Fix the mechanism, not this month's reviews."," If the collection flow cannot disclose, change the flow; a one-off cleanup that leaves the same pipeline running rebuilds the problem with next month's orders.",[12,820,821,822,824],{},"Review collection, disclosure and markup are one system, and they sit inside the wider job of ",[16,823,591],{"href":590}," done properly — genuine reviews, honestly labelled, working for you in search rather than against you.",[30,826,828],{"id":827},"keep-the-stars-you-have-earned","Keep the stars you have earned",[12,830,831,832,836],{},"If the review app in question is also the one writing your product markup, the wider job is the same discipline as ",[16,833,835],{"href":834},"\u002Fblog\u002Fagentic-commerce-uk-shopify-stores","getting your store ready for AI answers",": the structured data has to say something you could defend.",[12,838,839],{},"True Noise is a UK digital agency in Peterborough working with small UK businesses. If your store runs a review incentive and nobody has looked at the markup it feeds, that is worth checking against the eligibility risk.",[304,841,843],{"heading":828,"label":842,"to":307},"Book a review-markup check",[12,844,845],{},"We will audit your review collection flow and structured data, and make the disclosure or exclusion changes before the stars go missing.",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":847},[848,849,850,851,852,853],{"id":650,"depth":313,"text":651},{"id":687,"depth":313,"text":688},{"id":756,"depth":313,"text":757},{"id":775,"depth":313,"text":776},{"id":782,"depth":313,"text":783},{"id":827,"depth":313,"text":828},{"src":855,"alt":856,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-incentivised-reviews-markup-hero.webp","A search result card showing five stars, with a discount tag linked to it by a dotted line and a magnifying glass examining the connection.","Google now bars undisclosed incentivised reviews from review markup. What a UK store running a review-for-discount offer stands to lose, and the fix.",[859,862,865,868],{"question":860,"answer":861},"Can I still offer a discount for leaving a review?","Offering an incentive is not what the guideline bans. What breaches Google's review snippet guidelines is including a review written for money, a discount, a voucher or a free product on your page or in your structured data without the incentive being clearly and prominently disclosed. Disclose the incentive where the review appears, or keep those reviews out of your markup.",{"question":863,"answer":864},"What does my store actually lose if it breaks the rule?","Eligibility for review rich results — the star ratings and review excerpts Google can show under your product listings in search. Structured data that violates the guidelines does not make a page ineligible for ordinary search results, but losing the stars on a product listing is a visible click-through hit. Google does not say how it detects violations, so treat the rule as one to comply with rather than one to gamble on.",{"question":866,"answer":867},"Does my Shopify review app handle this for me?","Do not assume so. Review apps typically inject the Product, Review and AggregateRating markup automatically, and many also run the incentive campaigns that collect the reviews. Check whether your app records which reviews were incentivised, whether a disclosure shows where the review is displayed, and whether you can exclude incentivised reviews from the markup it emits. If the app cannot tell you which reviews were incentivised, that is the gap to close first.",{"question":869,"answer":870},"Is this the same as the UK's fake-review law?","No. Google's guideline is a search-eligibility rule: markup that breaks it can stop earning review rich results. Separately, UK consumer law under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 treats fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews as banned commercial practices, enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority. Complying with the disclosure rule serves both, but they are different regimes with different consequences.",[872],"search",{},"2026-08-11",{"title":639,"description":857},{"loc":580,"lastmod":874},[878,882],{"title":879,"url":657,"publisher":880,"date":881},"Review snippet (Review, AggregateRating) structured data","Google","2026-07-24",{"title":883,"url":663,"publisher":880,"date":881},"Google Search documentation updates","blog\u002Fgoogle-incentivised-reviews-markup","VznOo03Xjz6W_-8HjG7OW1J02YDr61PA181KfiN3p34",{"id":887,"title":888,"author":7,"body":889,"cover":1237,"description":1240,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":1241,"funnelStage":341,"labels":1254,"meta":1255,"navigation":345,"path":297,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":343,"publishedAt":1256,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":1257,"sitemap":1258,"sources":1259,"stem":1267,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":1256,"__hash__":1268},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Froyal-mail-surcharges-peak-2026.md","Royal Mail's new surcharges: what peak costs you",{"type":9,"value":890,"toc":1229},[891,894,897,901,910,982,988,992,1001,1048,1051,1125,1128,1132,1143,1154,1158,1161,1165,1168,1171,1175,1178,1202,1205,1208,1215],[12,892,893],{},"Five Royal Mail changes landed across 2026 and stack up ahead of peak, the latest in the business account terms on 3 August. A surcharge is an extra charge on top of headline postage. The Fuel and Energy Surcharge rose from 11% to 16%, the notice period for future changes halved to 14 days, incorrectly presented Tracked parcels at Parcelshops attract a charge, oversized Tracked returns carry £11, and peak collections are capped.",[12,895,896],{},"This is for UK merchants who ship on a Royal Mail or Parcelforce business account — the decision-maker setting shipping prices, not the shopper paying them.",[30,898,900],{"id":899},"what-changed-in-royal-mails-business-terms","What changed in Royal Mail's business terms?",[12,902,903,904,909],{},"Five changes landed across 2026, each on its own date, and together they raise the real cost of an account parcel while capping how much volume Royal Mail will collect at peak (",[16,905,908],{"href":906,"rel":907},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.royalmail.com\u002Ftermschanges",[20],"Royal Mail terms changes",").",[38,911,912,925],{},[41,913,914],{},[44,915,916,919,922],{},[47,917,918],{},"Change",[47,920,921],{},"Effective from",[47,923,924],{},"What it means for you",[54,926,927,938,949,960,971],{},[44,928,929,932,935],{},[59,930,931],{},"£11 correction charge on oversized Tracked returns",[59,933,934],{},"7 April 2026",[59,936,937],{},"Returns over 20kg, 129 litres or 610×460×460mm cost £11 extra each",[44,939,940,943,946],{},[59,941,942],{},"Fuel and Energy Surcharge up from 11% to 16% (Parcelforce 8% to 13%)",[59,944,945],{},"3 May 2026",[59,947,948],{},"Five percentage points added to the postage of in-scope account services",[44,950,951,954,957],{},[59,952,953],{},"Surcharge notice period cut from 30 days to 14",[59,955,956],{},"With the May 2026 changes",[59,958,959],{},"Half the warning before the next rate change reaches your invoices",[44,961,962,965,968],{},[59,963,964],{},"Surcharge on incorrectly presented Business Account Tracked items at consumer points (e.g. Parcelshops)",[59,966,967],{},"3 August 2026",[59,969,970],{},"An item that does not meet the presentation terms for that drop-off carries the charge; check the Parcels User Guide for what qualifies",[44,972,973,976,979],{},[59,974,975],{},"Peak collection cap",[59,977,978],{},"November–December 2026",[59,980,981],{},"Collections capped at three times your average non-peak collection size",[12,983,984,985,299],{},"None of these shows up in your rate card. They arrive as surcharges and correction charges on the invoice, which is why stores that price shipping from the headline rate undercharge without noticing — the same invoice-level pattern as ",[16,986,987],{"href":280},"Meta's 2% UK location fee",[30,989,991],{"id":990},"how-much-more-does-the-fuel-and-energy-surcharge-cost","How much more does the fuel and energy surcharge cost?",[12,993,994,995,1000],{},"The Fuel and Energy Surcharge is a percentage Royal Mail adds to the postage of the account services listed on its ",[16,996,999],{"href":997,"rel":998},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.royalmail.com\u002Fbusiness\u002Fmail\u002Fsurcharges",[20],"surcharges page",". On 3 May 2026 it rose five percentage points on both networks.",[38,1002,1003,1019],{},[41,1004,1005],{},[44,1006,1007,1010,1013,1016],{},[47,1008,1009],{},"Network",[47,1011,1012],{},"Before 3 May 2026",[47,1014,1015],{},"From 3 May 2026",[47,1017,1018],{},"Rise",[54,1020,1021,1035],{},[44,1022,1023,1026,1029,1032],{},[59,1024,1025],{},"Royal Mail",[59,1027,1028],{},"11%",[59,1030,1031],{},"16%",[59,1033,1034],{},"+5 points",[44,1036,1037,1040,1043,1046],{},[59,1038,1039],{},"Parcelforce Worldwide",[59,1041,1042],{},"8%",[59,1044,1045],{},"13%",[59,1047,1034],{},[12,1049,1050],{},"What that does to a monthly postage bill, assuming your services are in scope (check yours against the surcharges page — not every service carries it):",[38,1052,1053,1072],{},[41,1054,1055],{},[44,1056,1057,1060,1063,1066,1069],{},[47,1058,1059],{},"Monthly account postage",[47,1061,1062],{},"Surcharge at 11%",[47,1064,1065],{},"Surcharge at 16%",[47,1067,1068],{},"Extra per month",[47,1070,1071],{},"Extra per year",[54,1073,1074,1091,1108],{},[44,1075,1076,1079,1082,1085,1088],{},[59,1077,1078],{},"£500",[59,1080,1081],{},"£55",[59,1083,1084],{},"£80",[59,1086,1087],{},"£25",[59,1089,1090],{},"£300",[44,1092,1093,1096,1099,1102,1105],{},[59,1094,1095],{},"£2,000",[59,1097,1098],{},"£220",[59,1100,1101],{},"£320",[59,1103,1104],{},"£100",[59,1106,1107],{},"£1,200",[44,1109,1110,1113,1116,1119,1122],{},[59,1111,1112],{},"£5,000",[59,1114,1115],{},"£550",[59,1117,1118],{},"£800",[59,1120,1121],{},"£250",[59,1123,1124],{},"£3,000",[12,1126,1127],{},"The rise itself is not the only problem. The notice period for future surcharge changes fell from 30 days to 14 in the same round, so the next move gives you two weeks to reprice shipping, adjust a free-delivery threshold or shift volume to another carrier before it bills.",[30,1129,1131],{"id":1130},"what-is-the-new-parcelshop-drop-off-surcharge","What is the new Parcelshop drop-off surcharge?",[12,1133,1134,1135,1138,1139,1142],{},"From 3 August 2026, a Business Account Tracked item ",[472,1136,1137],{},"incorrectly presented"," at a consumer drop-off point — a Parcelshop, for example — attracts a surcharge on top of the postage (",[16,1140,908],{"href":906,"rel":1141},[20],"). The consumer drop-off network was priced for consumers; account parcels routed through it now cost extra.",[12,1144,1145,1146,1149,1150,1153],{},"Royal Mail's ",[16,1147,999],{"href":997,"rel":1148},[20]," puts this at ",[472,1151,1152],{},"£11.25 per item"," — a £10.00 surcharge plus a £1.25 administration charge — for each incorrectly presented Business Account Tracked item, effective 3 August 2026. Check the page before budgeting on it, because these charges change. The operational point stands either way: if your dispatch routine, or a fulfilment partner's, leans on Parcelshop drop-offs for account parcels, each one now carries a charge that a collection or a Customer Service Point drop-off does not.",[30,1155,1157],{"id":1156},"what-is-the-11-correction-charge-on-tracked-returns","What is the £11 correction charge on Tracked returns?",[12,1159,1160],{},"From 7 April 2026, a Tracked returns parcel that exceeds any of the service limits — 20kg in weight, 129 litres in volume, or 610mm × 460mm × 460mm — attracts an £11 correction charge. You do not control what a customer stuffs into a returns bag, but you do control the returns instructions and packaging you offer. A store selling bulky goods that sees one oversized return a week is looking at roughly £570 a year in correction charges, invisible until the invoice.",[30,1162,1164],{"id":1163},"how-does-the-peak-collection-cap-affect-november-and-december","How does the peak collection cap affect November and December?",[12,1166,1167],{},"Across November and December, Royal Mail caps peak collections at three times your average non-peak collection size. For a steady-volume store that cap is irrelevant. For a store whose Black Friday week runs at five or six times normal volume — which is the point of Black Friday — it is a hard ceiling on how much Royal Mail will take at your door.",[12,1169,1170],{},"The time to deal with it is now, not November: establish what your average collection size is on Royal Mail's measure, forecast your peak weeks against three times that figure, and if you expect to exceed it, talk to your account manager or line up an overflow carrier before everyone else does the same in October.",[30,1172,1174],{"id":1173},"what-should-a-uk-shopify-merchant-do-before-peak","What should a UK Shopify merchant do before peak?",[12,1176,1177],{},"Reprice from the invoice, not the rate card. In order:",[252,1179,1180,1183,1190,1193,1196,1199],{},[255,1181,1182],{},"Pull your last three months of Royal Mail invoices and work out your real per-parcel cost including the 16% surcharge — then re-check any flat-rate shipping price or free-delivery threshold against it.",[255,1184,1185,1186,1189],{},"Confirm which of your services carry the Fuel and Energy Surcharge on the ",[16,1187,999],{"href":997,"rel":1188},[20],", and check the current Parcelshop drop-off figure while you are there.",[255,1191,1192],{},"Audit how your parcels physically enter the network. If account Tracked items go in via Parcelshops, cost that route against collections.",[255,1194,1195],{},"Cap oversized returns at source: state the size and weight limits in your returns instructions and send appropriately sized packaging for bulky items.",[255,1197,1198],{},"Forecast peak volume against three times your average collection and raise it with Royal Mail now if you will exceed it.",[255,1200,1201],{},"Diary a fortnightly check of Royal Mail's surcharge announcements — 14 days' notice means an annual review no longer catches changes in time.",[12,1203,1204],{},"Shipping is usually a store's largest cost after stock, and these changes move it mid-year with peak approaching. An hour spent repricing now protects margin on every parcel of the busiest quarter.",[12,1206,1207],{},"True Noise is a UK digital agency in Peterborough working with small UK businesses on the numbers behind their stores — from shipping and pricing to the tracking that shows whether either is working.",[304,1209,1212],{"heading":1210,"label":1211,"to":307},"Keep peak margin where you can see it","Book a shipping cost review",[12,1213,1214],{},"We will work through your account terms, your parcel profile and where the surcharges actually land, then tell you what to change before peak.",[12,1216,1217,1218,1221,1222,1225,1226,299],{},"Shipping is one line in a wider cost picture. The same discipline applies to the fees that ride on every order — we covered one when ",[16,1219,1220],{"href":280},"Meta added its 2% UK location fee",", a charge that shows only on the invoice and so runs unnoticed. If these numbers are pushing you to re-price, that is ",[16,1223,1224],{"href":585},"conversion and pricing work","; if it is your store setup that needs to change, see ",[16,1227,1228],{"href":285},"e-commerce stores",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":1230},[1231,1232,1233,1234,1235,1236],{"id":899,"depth":313,"text":900},{"id":990,"depth":313,"text":991},{"id":1130,"depth":313,"text":1131},{"id":1156,"depth":313,"text":1157},{"id":1163,"depth":313,"text":1164},{"id":1173,"depth":313,"text":1174},{"src":1238,"alt":1239,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Froyal-mail-surcharges-peak-2026-hero.webp","A parcel on a weighing scale beside an oversized measuring frame, with a rising stack of coin discs and a delivery van silhouette behind.","Royal Mail's fuel and energy surcharge is now 16%, incorrectly presented Parcelshop drop-offs carry a charge and peak collections are capped. What it costs.",[1242,1245,1248,1251],{"question":1243,"answer":1244},"When did these Royal Mail changes take effect?","They arrived in stages through 2026. The £11 correction charge on oversized Tracked returns applies from 7 April, the Fuel and Energy Surcharge rise to 16% from 3 May, and the updated business terms — including the surcharge on Business Account Tracked items incorrectly presented at consumer points such as Parcelshops — from 3 August. The peak collection cap applies across November and December.",{"question":1246,"answer":1247},"Is the fuel and energy surcharge added on top of the headline price?","Yes. The Fuel and Energy Surcharge is a percentage added to the postage of in-scope Royal Mail account services, so the price in your rate card is not the price you pay. At 16% a £4 parcel rate becomes £4.64. Check Royal Mail's surcharges page for exactly which of your services carry it, because the answer decides your real per-order shipping cost.",{"question":1249,"answer":1250},"How much notice will Royal Mail give before the surcharge changes again?","Fourteen days. Alongside the May 2026 rise, Royal Mail cut the notice period for future surcharge changes from 30 days to 14. That halves the time you have to reprice shipping, update any free-delivery threshold or renegotiate before a new rate reaches your invoices, so surcharge announcements are now worth a standing fortnightly check — a monthly one can miss a change entirely.",{"question":1252,"answer":1253},"What are the size limits for Tracked returns, and what happens if I exceed them?","The limits are 20kg in weight, 129 litres in volume, and 610mm x 460mm x 460mm in dimensions. From 7 April 2026, a Tracked returns item over any of those limits attracts an £11 correction charge on top of the postage. For a store whose returns include bulky items, one oversized parcel a week is roughly £570 a year in correction charges alone.",[343],{},"2026-08-10",{"title":888,"description":1240},{"loc":297,"lastmod":1256},[1260,1262,1265],{"title":1261,"url":997,"publisher":1025},"Surcharges for business customers",{"title":1263,"url":1264,"publisher":1025},"2026 price changes","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.royalmail.com\u002Fprices2026",{"title":1266,"url":906,"publisher":1025},"Changes to our terms and conditions","blog\u002Froyal-mail-surcharges-peak-2026","n3mqyWdRzSff4OzbNtvNu1J_ANlPK_WVvJObv7Ow1-4",{"id":1270,"title":1271,"author":7,"body":1272,"cover":1500,"description":1503,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":1504,"funnelStage":341,"labels":1517,"meta":1519,"navigation":345,"path":1520,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":1518,"publishedAt":1521,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":1522,"sitemap":1523,"sources":1524,"stem":1531,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":1521,"__hash__":1532},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-thank-you-order-status-upgrade.md","Shopify Thank you page upgrade: what stops on 26 August",{"type":9,"value":1273,"toc":1492},[1274,1277,1281,1290,1296,1333,1337,1340,1410,1413,1417,1420,1428,1435,1439,1442,1445,1449,1452,1466,1479,1483,1486],[12,1275,1276],{},"By 26 August 2026, every Shopify store not on Plus must run the upgraded Thank you and Order status pages. Anything injected into them through additional scripts or script tags — GA4 and Google Ads conversion tags, Meta pixels, surveys, referral widgets — will not carry over. Shopify documents replacements rather than promising any runtime outcome, so treat everything on those two pages as at risk. The replacements are checkout blocks, web pixels, app pixels and compatible apps.",[30,1278,1280],{"id":1279},"what-is-changing-on-26-august","What is changing on 26 August?",[12,1282,1283,1284,1289],{},"Shopify is retiring the legacy versions of the Thank you page and the Order status page for stores that are not on Plus, per its Help Centre upgrade guide (",[16,1285,1288],{"href":1286,"rel":1287},"https:\u002F\u002Fhelp.shopify.com\u002Fen\u002Fmanual\u002Fcheckout-settings\u002Fcustomize-checkout-configurations\u002Fupgrade-thank-you-order-status",[20],"Shopify documentation","). Those two pages are where a lot of long-standing tracking lives: the additional scripts box in checkout settings and app-installed script tags were the standard way to fire conversion tags, pixels and post-purchase widgets after an order.",[12,1291,1292,1293,909],{},"The upgraded pages do not run either mechanism. Custom code moves to extensibility surfaces instead — checkout blocks placed in the checkout editor, web pixels for tracking, and apps built for the upgraded pages (",[16,1294,1288],{"href":1286,"rel":1295},[20],[38,1297,1298,1307],{},[41,1299,1300],{},[44,1301,1302,1304],{},[47,1303,49],{},[47,1305,1306],{},"What happens",[54,1308,1309,1317,1325],{},[44,1310,1311,1314],{},[59,1312,1313],{},"28 August 2025",[59,1315,1316],{},"Shopify Plus stores passed their equivalent deadline; legacy customisations on their Thank you and Order status pages stopped",[44,1318,1319,1322],{},[59,1320,1321],{},"Before 26 August 2026",[59,1323,1324],{},"Non-Plus stores can upgrade on their own schedule, testing and publishing the new pages from the admin",[44,1326,1327,1330],{},[59,1328,1329],{},"26 August 2026",[59,1331,1332],{},"Deadline for non-Plus stores. Shopify's guide says stores reverted to the old pages and not upgraded again before this date will be auto-upgraded; treat additional scripts and script tags on those pages as no longer running",[30,1334,1336],{"id":1335},"what-breaks-and-what-replaces-it","What breaks, and what replaces it?",[12,1338,1339],{},"The failure is not a broken checkout — customers see nothing wrong. What stops is the invisible layer merchants bolted onto the post-purchase pages.",[38,1341,1342,1355],{},[41,1343,1344],{},[44,1345,1346,1349,1352],{},[47,1347,1348],{},"What you injected",[47,1350,1351],{},"How it got there",[47,1353,1354],{},"What replaces it",[54,1356,1357,1368,1378,1389,1400],{},[44,1358,1359,1362,1365],{},[59,1360,1361],{},"GA4 and Google Ads conversion tags",[59,1363,1364],{},"Additional scripts",[59,1366,1367],{},"A custom web pixel, or an app pixel from a channel app that supports the upgraded pages — verify per store",[44,1369,1370,1373,1375],{},[59,1371,1372],{},"Meta pixel purchase events",[59,1374,1364],{},[59,1376,1377],{},"A custom web pixel, or an app pixel from an app that supports the upgraded pages — verify per store",[44,1379,1380,1383,1386],{},[59,1381,1382],{},"Post-purchase surveys",[59,1384,1385],{},"Additional scripts or an app's script tag",[59,1387,1388],{},"A checkout block from an app built for the upgraded pages, where the developer ships one",[44,1390,1391,1394,1397],{},[59,1392,1393],{},"Referral and loyalty widgets",[59,1395,1396],{},"An app's script tag",[59,1398,1399],{},"The app's checkout block, if the developer ships one",[44,1401,1402,1405,1407],{},[59,1403,1404],{},"Custom Order status content (tracking notes, instructions)",[59,1406,1364],{},[59,1408,1409],{},"Content blocks placed in the checkout editor",[12,1411,1412],{},"For every app in that list, what actually happens after the upgrade depends on the developer, and Shopify's own replacement paths are broader than this table: blocks, web pixels, app pixels, built-in Shopify features, App Store apps and custom apps. Shopify's guidance is to check the app, contact the developer, or install an alternative that supports the upgraded pages — not to assume continuity.",[30,1414,1416],{"id":1415},"why-wont-i-notice-when-it-breaks","Why won't I notice when it breaks?",[12,1418,1419],{},"Because nothing visible fails. Orders complete, the confirmation page renders, and your ad platforms keep spending. The only symptom is missing data: purchases stop reaching GA4, Google Ads and Meta from those pages, so reported conversion rates sag and automated bidding starts optimising against a store that looks like it stopped converting.",[12,1421,1422,1423,1427],{},"A merchant does not notice missing pixel data on the day. They notice later, when the spend reports and the bank balance disagree. It is the same silent failure mode as the ",[16,1424,1426],{"href":1425},"\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-scripts-deprecation-functions","Shopify Scripts switch-off on 30 June",": no alarm, just a gap where revenue signal used to be.",[467,1429,1430],{},[12,1431,1432,1434],{},[472,1433,752],{}," After 26 August the checkout looks identical and the ads keep running — but any conversion tag still living in additional scripts silently stops reporting, and your bidding runs blind.",[30,1436,1438],{"id":1437},"who-is-affected","Who is affected?",[12,1440,1441],{},"Every store not on Shopify Plus that ever pasted code into the additional scripts box or installed an app that writes to the Order status page. That includes tags set up years ago by a previous agency or freelancer — if nobody has touched your GA4 purchase event since it was set up, check where it lives rather than assuming. Plus stores went through this on 28 August 2025 and are outside this wave.",[12,1443,1444],{},"Stores with nothing injected into those pages — tracking run entirely through modern app integrations and web pixels — may find the upgrade is a non-event. The point is to know which store you are before the date decides for you.",[30,1446,1448],{"id":1447},"what-should-a-uk-store-do-in-the-days-left","What should a UK store do in the days left?",[12,1450,1451],{},"The deadline is 26 August 2026. The short version:",[252,1453,1454,1457,1460,1463],{},[255,1455,1456],{},"Open your checkout settings and read what is actually in the additional scripts box.",[255,1458,1459],{},"Map each script to its replacement — web pixel, checkout block or supported app.",[255,1461,1462],{},"Rebuild, test the upgraded pages, then publish before the deadline rather than being auto-upgraded on it.",[255,1464,1465],{},"Verify each destination is receiving data afterwards — the step that proves the migration worked.",[12,1467,1468,1469,1473,1474,1478],{},"We have written the full playbook, with the mapping table and the verification checks, in our ",[16,1470,1472],{"href":1471},"\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-thank-you-page-upgrade-checklist","Thank you page migration checklist",". If your tracking has never been formally set up, this is also the moment to do the ",[16,1475,1477],{"href":1476},"\u002Fservices\u002Faudience\u002Fanalytics-tracking-setup","analytics and tracking work"," properly rather than re-pasting old tags into a new box.",[30,1480,1482],{"id":1481},"move-before-the-date-does-it-for-you","Move before the date does it for you",[12,1484,1485],{},"Upgrading on your own schedule means you can test first and keep your conversion data continuous. Being auto-upgraded on 26 August means finding out afterwards what still worked.",[304,1487,1489],{"heading":1482,"label":1488,"to":307},"Book a migration review",[12,1490,1491],{},"We will audit what still runs on your Thank you and Order status pages, rebuild it on the upgraded surfaces and prove the data is arriving before the deadline.",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":1493},[1494,1495,1496,1497,1498,1499],{"id":1279,"depth":313,"text":1280},{"id":1335,"depth":313,"text":1336},{"id":1415,"depth":313,"text":1416},{"id":1437,"depth":313,"text":1438},{"id":1447,"depth":313,"text":1448},{"id":1481,"depth":313,"text":1482},{"src":1501,"alt":1502,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-thank-you-order-status-upgrade-hero.webp","A browser window showing an order-confirmation page, with small tracking tags detaching and drifting away greyed out, beside a calendar with one date highlighted.","Shopify's Thank you and Order status pages must be upgraded by 26 August 2026. What stops running, what replaces it, and how to migrate in time.",[1505,1508,1511,1514],{"question":1506,"answer":1507},"What happens if I do nothing before 26 August?","The deadline for stores not on Shopify Plus is 26 August 2026. After it, the legacy Thank you and Order status pages are replaced, and anything you injected into them through additional scripts or script tags may stop running there. Shopify does not promise a warning when it happens, so the safe assumption is that tracking and custom content on those two pages will need rebuilding.",{"question":1509,"answer":1510},"Will my ads stop running when the scripts stop?","No, and that is the trap. Your Google and Meta campaigns keep delivering as normal, but any conversion tag that lived in additional scripts stops reporting purchases. The platforms' bidding then optimises on incomplete data, so the damage shows up as weeks of quietly worse ad decisions rather than an obvious outage.",{"question":1512,"answer":1513},"I'm on Shopify Plus — does this affect me?","This wave is for stores that are not on Plus. Plus stores went through the equivalent upgrade of their Thank you and Order status pages with a deadline of 28 August 2025, so a Plus checkout should already be running the upgraded pages. If your Plus store still has legacy customisations, that is a separate, already-overdue problem worth checking now.",{"question":1515,"answer":1516},"Do my apps break too?","Apps that write to those pages with script tags lose that mechanism, and what each app does after the upgrade depends on its developer. Shopify's guidance is to check whether the app offers a checkout block or web pixel, contact the developer if it is unclear, or install an alternative that supports the upgraded pages. Do not assume an app has migrated itself.",[1518],"selling",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-thank-you-order-status-upgrade","2026-08-09",{"title":1271,"description":1503},{"loc":1520,"lastmod":1521},[1525,1528],{"title":1526,"url":1286,"publisher":1527,"date":1521},"Upgrading and replacing your Thank you and Order status pages","Shopify",{"title":1529,"url":1530,"publisher":1527,"date":1521},"Web Pixels API","https:\u002F\u002Fshopify.dev\u002Fdocs\u002Fapi\u002Fweb-pixels-api","blog\u002Fshopify-thank-you-order-status-upgrade","Pqh93jUi26557hCHgQLWmP9J-cQJxbQmi4pUhwr3gVE",{"id":1534,"title":1535,"author":7,"body":1536,"cover":1695,"description":1698,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":1699,"funnelStage":348,"labels":1709,"meta":1711,"navigation":345,"path":1425,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":1710,"publishedAt":1712,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":1713,"sitemap":1714,"sources":1716,"stem":1726,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":1715,"__hash__":1727},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-scripts-deprecation-functions.md","Shopify Scripts stop on 30 June: move to Functions now",{"type":9,"value":1537,"toc":1688},[1538,1546,1549,1553,1562,1594,1597,1605,1609,1612,1620,1624,1631,1640,1644,1647,1664,1676,1680,1683],[467,1539,1540],{},[12,1541,1542,1545],{},[472,1543,1544],{},"Update — 4 July 2026:"," the 30 June cut-off has now passed. On Shopify's timeline, Scripts stopped executing on that date, so any discount, shipping or payment logic still running on Scripts should already be failing silently at checkout. This is no longer a migrate-before job — it is a check-and-fix-now one: test your checkout today and rebuild the revenue-critical rules as Functions first.",[12,1547,1548],{},"Legacy Shopify Scripts stop running on 30 June 2026, and the failure is silent: any discount, shipping or payment rule still on Scripts simply stops applying at checkout, with no banner, email or warning. You have not been able to create or edit Scripts since 15 April 2026. The replacement is Shopify Functions, a different technology that needs development time, so the job now is to find what you run on Scripts and migrate it before the deadline.",[30,1550,1552],{"id":1551},"what-is-happening-to-shopify-scripts","What is happening to Shopify Scripts?",[12,1554,1555,1556,1561],{},"Shopify is retiring Scripts on a fixed two-stage timeline, confirmed in its ",[16,1557,1560],{"href":1558,"rel":1559},"https:\u002F\u002Fchangelog.shopify.com\u002Fposts\u002Fshopify-scripts-deprecation",[20],"changelog",". Scripts are the Ruby snippets that Shopify Plus stores have used to customise discounts, shipping rates and payment methods at checkout. The platform is moving that logic to Shopify Functions, and the old system is being switched off.",[38,1563,1564,1573],{},[41,1565,1566],{},[44,1567,1568,1570],{},[47,1569,49],{},[47,1571,1572],{},"What changes",[54,1574,1575,1586],{},[44,1576,1577,1580],{},[59,1578,1579],{},"15 April 2026",[59,1581,1582,1583,70],{},"You can no longer create or edit Shopify Scripts; existing Scripts keep running but cannot be changed (",[16,1584,1527],{"href":1558,"rel":1585},[20],[44,1587,1588,1591],{},[59,1589,1590],{},"30 June 2026",[59,1592,1593],{},"All Shopify Scripts stop executing; any discount, shipping or payment logic running on Scripts no longer applies",[12,1595,1596],{},"The risk is the quiet way it fails. After 30 June a Script does not error or alert anyone; the custom logic just stops, so a discount you rely on can disappear from checkout while everything else looks normal.",[467,1598,1599],{},[12,1600,1601,1604],{},[472,1602,1603],{},"The deadline, and the catch."," All Shopify Scripts stop running on 30 June 2026, with no checkout error, banner or email – a discount or shipping rule can fail silently while the rest of your store looks fine.",[30,1606,1608],{"id":1607},"who-does-this-affect","Who does this affect?",[12,1610,1611],{},"Mainly Shopify Plus stores, plus any store running Script logic it inherited. Scripts were a Plus feature, so smaller plans are rarely affected directly. The catch is the store that does not realise it depends on a Script: a “buy one, get one” rule, a tiered shipping discount or a hidden payment-method restriction set up months ago by an agency or a freelancer. If a past developer built a checkout promotion, assume a Script may be behind it until you have checked.",[12,1613,1614,1615,1619],{},"Shopify provides a ",[16,1616,1618],{"href":1558,"rel":1617},[20],"Scripts customizations report"," that lists what your store currently runs, so you can see your exposure rather than guess.",[30,1621,1623],{"id":1622},"what-is-replacing-scripts-and-why-is-it-not-a-quick-swap","What is replacing Scripts, and why is it not a quick swap?",[12,1625,1626,1627,1630],{},"Shopify Functions, which are compiled WebAssembly modules that run inside Shopify’s core infrastructure at set points in the checkout. They are faster and more robust than Scripts, but they are a different technology, not a syntax tweak. A Script cannot be pasted into a Function; the logic has to be rebuilt, tested on a development store and deployed, which makes it part of the wider ",[16,1628,1629],{"href":285},"Shopify store-build and migration"," job rather than a copy-and-paste fix.",[12,1632,1633,1634,1639],{},"That is why this is a development task with a lead time, not an afternoon’s work. Agency migration estimates put a focused move of 5 to 15 Scripts at roughly 8 to 14 weeks, including scoping, building, quality assurance and a monitored production cutover, according to ",[16,1635,1638],{"href":1636,"rel":1637},"https:\u002F\u002Fautonomoustech.ca\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-scripts-deprecation-june-2026\u002F",[20],"Autonomous Technologies",". With the deadline days away, the realistic goal for most stores now is to protect the highest-value logic first.",[30,1641,1643],{"id":1642},"what-should-a-shopify-store-do-this-week","What should a Shopify store do this week?",[12,1645,1646],{},"Find out what you run on Scripts, then migrate the rules that touch revenue first. Work in this order:",[252,1648,1649,1652,1655,1658,1661],{},[255,1650,1651],{},"Open the Scripts customizations report in your admin and list every active Script.",[255,1653,1654],{},"Rank them by revenue impact: a checkout discount or shipping rule that shapes orders comes before a cosmetic tweak.",[255,1656,1657],{},"Rebuild the high-impact logic as Shopify Functions, or replace it with a public app that does the same job.",[255,1659,1660],{},"Test each Function on a development store, confirm the discount, rate or payment rule behaves exactly as before, then deploy.",[255,1662,1663],{},"Watch checkout after cutover, because the failure mode is silent and a missed rule shows up as margin, not an error.",[12,1665,1666,1667,1671,1672,1675],{},"This is platform housekeeping rather than the wider 2026 shift, but it shares a theme with the ",[16,1668,1670],{"href":1669},"\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-spring-26-edition-ucp-catalog","Spring ’26 Edition changes"," and the broader move described in our ",[16,1673,1674],{"href":834},"agentic commerce guide for UK Shopify stores",": your checkout logic, like your product data, increasingly lives as code and structured data that has to be maintained deliberately.",[30,1677,1679],{"id":1678},"get-your-checkout-logic-migrated-in-time","Get your checkout logic migrated in time",[12,1681,1682],{},"If discounts, shipping or payment rules at your checkout still run on Scripts, the safe deadline has effectively passed for a relaxed migration.",[304,1684,1685],{"heading":1679,"label":1488,"to":307},[12,1686,1687],{},"We will audit what you run, prioritise the revenue-critical rules and rebuild them as Functions before 30 June.",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":1689},[1690,1691,1692,1693,1694],{"id":1551,"depth":313,"text":1552},{"id":1607,"depth":313,"text":1608},{"id":1622,"depth":313,"text":1623},{"id":1642,"depth":313,"text":1643},{"id":1678,"depth":313,"text":1679},{"src":1696,"alt":1697,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-scripts-deprecation-functions-hero.webp","Stacked code files migrating along arrows into a grid of modules, one highlighted, beside a deadline calendar.","Legacy Shopify Scripts stop running on 30 June 2026, with no warning at checkout. What breaks, who is affected, and how to migrate to Functions in time.",[1700,1703,1706],{"question":1701,"answer":1702},"When exactly do Shopify Scripts stop working?","On 30 June 2026 all Shopify Scripts stop executing, per Shopify's changelog. A separate earlier date, 15 April 2026, already stopped you creating or editing Scripts. Existing Scripts have kept running between those dates, but from 30 June any discount, shipping or payment logic on Scripts no longer applies at checkout.",{"question":1704,"answer":1705},"Will I get a warning when my Scripts stop?","No. The deprecation is silent: there is no checkout error, banner or email when a Script stops on 30 June. The custom logic simply stops applying, so a discount or shipping rule can quietly fail while the rest of your store looks normal. The safest move is to migrate before the date and monitor checkout afterwards.",{"question":1707,"answer":1708},"Can I just copy my Scripts into Shopify Functions?","No. Functions are compiled WebAssembly modules, a different technology from the Ruby of Scripts, so the logic has to be rebuilt and tested rather than pasted across. Use Shopify's Scripts customizations report to see what you run, then rebuild each rule as a Function or replace it with a public app that does the same job.",[1710],"tools",{},"2026-06-25",{"title":1535,"description":1698},{"loc":1425,"lastmod":1715},"2026-07-04",[1717,1720,1723],{"title":1718,"url":1558,"publisher":1527,"date":1719},"Shopify Scripts deprecation","2026-04-15",{"title":1721,"url":1722,"publisher":1527,"date":1719},"Shopify Scripts will be deprecated on June 30, 2026","https:\u002F\u002Fshopify.dev\u002Fchangelog\u002Fshopify-scripts-will-be-deprecated-on-june-30-2026",{"title":1724,"url":1636,"publisher":1638,"date":1725},"Shopify Scripts deprecation June 2026: the Plus migration audit","2026-05-20","blog\u002Fshopify-scripts-deprecation-functions","JPgLo5_2QuMFJ8PIjG0XDo_A0WKChAe4TJK_rIjPKYo",{"id":1729,"title":1730,"author":7,"body":1731,"cover":1937,"description":1940,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":1941,"funnelStage":348,"labels":1954,"meta":1955,"navigation":345,"path":1956,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":872,"publishedAt":1957,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":1958,"sitemap":1959,"sources":1960,"stem":1975,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":1957,"__hash__":1976},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-agentic-readiness-scanner.md","Shopify's free agentic-readiness scanner: what it tests",{"type":9,"value":1732,"toc":1930},[1733,1742,1746,1753,1762,1766,1775,1784,1792,1796,1799,1871,1878,1882,1885,1892,1901,1905,1913,1923],[12,1734,1735,1736,1741],{},"Shopify’s free agentic-readiness scanner, live at ",[16,1737,1740],{"href":1738,"rel":1739},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.shopify.com\u002Fagentic-readiness",[20],"shopify.com\u002Fagentic-readiness"," since 28 April 2026, checks one thing: whether your product page exposes the structured data that AI shopping agents read. It is a no-login URL scan, not a verdict on whether ChatGPT or Copilot will recommend you. Reviews, price and returns still decide that. Here is what the scan tests, and what it leaves to you.",[30,1743,1745],{"id":1744},"what-is-shopifys-agentic-readiness-scanner","What is Shopify’s agentic-readiness scanner?",[12,1747,1748,1749,1752],{},"It is a free tool that reads your product page and reports whether the data AI agents need is present and machine-readable. You paste a URL, it scans, and you get a result. Shopify’s own page frames it plainly: “Is your product page optimized for AI selling? We check your product page for the structured data that AI agents read to answer shoppers’ questions” (",[16,1750,1527],{"href":1738,"rel":1751},[20],"). No account, no install, no Shopify plan required to run it against any public store.",[12,1754,1755,1756,1761],{},"The tool sits alongside Shopify’s ",[16,1757,1760],{"href":1758,"rel":1759},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.shopify.com\u002Fnews\u002Fspring-26-edition-merchant",[20],"Spring ’26 Edition",", which opened the Universal Commerce Protocol and Catalog API to every store on 17 June 2026. The scanner is the diagnostic; the protocols are the plumbing.",[30,1763,1765],{"id":1764},"does-it-really-run-31-checks","Does it really run “31 checks”?",[12,1767,1768,1769,1774],{},"The “31 checks across five categories” figure is third-party, not Shopify’s own published number. It comes from independent teardowns reported by ",[16,1770,1773],{"href":1771,"rel":1772},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.shopifreaks.com\u002Fshopify-launches-ai-agent-readiness-tool-that-scores-any-store-url-on-compliance-with-agentic-commerce-protocols\u002F",[20],"Shopifreaks"," on 28 April 2026, grouping the checks as AI discoverability, product schema, transaction readiness, trust signals and operational maturity. Shopify’s public page states no count, so treat 31 as scope guidance, not an official spec.",[12,1776,1777,1778,1783],{},"A technical teardown by ",[16,1779,1782],{"href":1780,"rel":1781},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.wislr.com\u002Fresearch\u002Fwhat-shopify-checks-for-agentic-readiness",[20],"WISLR Research"," found the scan fires roughly 45 requests across 41 distinct URLs in about seven seconds, covering discovery files, sitemaps, the catalogue, product pages and policies.",[467,1785,1786],{},[12,1787,1788,1791],{},[472,1789,1790],{},"Mind the “31 checks” figure."," That count comes from third-party teardowns, not Shopify’s own published spec – Shopify states no number. Treat 31 as scope guidance, not an official benchmark.",[30,1793,1795],{"id":1794},"what-does-the-scanner-actually-test","What does the scanner actually test?",[12,1797,1798],{},"It tests technical, machine-readable readiness only. Each category maps to a question an AI agent asks before it can use your store, and the scan can answer all of them by reading HTML.",[38,1800,1801,1814],{},[41,1802,1803],{},[44,1804,1805,1808,1811],{},[47,1806,1807],{},"Category (third-party labels)",[47,1809,1810],{},"What it inspects",[47,1812,1813],{},"A UK store example",[54,1815,1816,1827,1838,1849,1860],{},[44,1817,1818,1821,1824],{},[59,1819,1820],{},"AI discoverability",[59,1822,1823],{},"Can crawlers find and read your store: robots rules, sitemaps and discovery files",[59,1825,1826],{},"GPTBot and ClaudeBot are not blocked in robots.txt",[44,1828,1829,1832,1835],{},[59,1830,1831],{},"Product schema",[59,1833,1834],{},"Product\u002FOffer structured data present and complete",[59,1836,1837],{},"Price, availability and GTIN in JSON-LD, not just on-screen text",[44,1839,1840,1843,1846],{},[59,1841,1842],{},"Transaction readiness",[59,1844,1845],{},"Purchase flow and policies exposed as data, not just human pages",[59,1847,1848],{},"Delivery and returns terms in structured markup",[44,1850,1851,1854,1857],{},[59,1852,1853],{},"Trust signals",[59,1855,1856],{},"Review and rating data that agents can parse",[59,1858,1859],{},"AggregateRating in JSON-LD, not a star image",[44,1861,1862,1865,1868],{},[59,1863,1864],{},"Operational maturity",[59,1866,1867],{},"Consistency and completeness across the catalogue",[59,1869,1870],{},"No missing variants or orphaned product URLs",[12,1872,1873,1874,1877],{},"Category labels and grouping: ",[16,1875,1773],{"href":1771,"rel":1876},[20],", 28 April 2026. None of it judges whether your offer is any good.",[30,1879,1881],{"id":1880},"what-does-it-not-test-and-why-does-that-matter","What does it not test, and why does that matter?",[12,1883,1884],{},"It does not test whether an AI agent will choose you. The scan measures technical readiness; the surface still picks winners on competitive signals it cannot read from your markup.",[1886,1887,1889],"tn-pullquote",{"cite":1782,"source":1888},"What Shopify checks for agentic readiness",[12,1890,1891],{},"A store can score a perfect 100 with no reviews and a four-week shipping window and lose to a store scoring 70 with 800 reviews and two-day delivery.",[12,1893,1894,1895,1900],{},"Review volume, price competitiveness, conversion rate and return rate decide surfacing, and the scanner reads none of them. A clean score gets you into the running; your product, pricing and service decide the rest. Your returns terms must also meet UK law however you mark them up: under the ",[16,1896,1899],{"href":1897,"rel":1898},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gov.uk\u002Faccepting-returns-and-giving-refunds",[20],"Consumer Contracts Regulations",", most online shoppers have 14 days to cancel and 14 days to return.",[30,1902,1904],{"id":1903},"how-should-a-uk-shopify-store-use-it","How should a UK Shopify store use it?",[12,1906,1907,1908,1912],{},"Run it as a free baseline, fix what it flags, then work on the signals it ignores. The scan quickly finds missing structured data: absent Product schema, an unexposed returns policy, a blocked crawler. Those are real ",[16,1909,1911],{"href":1910},"\u002Fservices\u002Fai-search","AI-search visibility"," gaps worth closing this week.",[12,1914,1915,1916,1918,1919,1922],{},"Then look past the score. A green readiness report will not move thin reviews or slow delivery up an AI recommendation. Structured data makes you legible; the offer makes you chosen. Our ",[16,1917,1674],{"href":834}," covers the data-hygiene work in depth, and our note on the ",[16,1920,1921],{"href":1669},"Spring ’26 UCP and Catalog opening"," explains the protocols the scanner checks you against.",[304,1924,1927],{"heading":1925,"label":1926,"to":307},"Ready to get your store agent-ready?","Book a readiness review",[12,1928,1929],{},"We will turn the scan’s flags into a prioritised fix list for your UK store.",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":1931},[1932,1933,1934,1935,1936],{"id":1744,"depth":313,"text":1745},{"id":1764,"depth":313,"text":1765},{"id":1794,"depth":313,"text":1795},{"id":1880,"depth":313,"text":1881},{"id":1903,"depth":313,"text":1904},{"src":1938,"alt":1939,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-agentic-readiness-scanner-hero.webp","A product page passing under a magnifier that scans its structured-data tags, with a checklist ticking off beside it.","Shopify's free agentic-readiness scanner at shopify.com\u002Fagentic-readiness tests technical structured data only. What its checks cover, and what they don't.",[1942,1945,1948,1951],{"question":1943,"answer":1944},"Is Shopify's agentic-readiness scanner free?","Yes. The scanner at shopify.com\u002Fagentic-readiness is free and needs no login or Shopify plan. You paste any public store URL and it returns a readiness result in seconds. It launched on 28 April 2026 and checks the structured data AI shopping agents read to answer shopper questions.",{"question":1946,"answer":1947},"Does the scanner really run 31 checks?","The \"31 checks across five categories\" figure comes from third-party teardowns, not Shopify's own published spec. Shopify's page does not state a number. Independent reviewers group the checks as AI discoverability, product schema, transaction readiness, trust signals and operational maturity. Treat 31 as scope guidance, not an official count.",{"question":1949,"answer":1950},"Will a high readiness score get my products into ChatGPT or Copilot?","Not on its own. The scanner tests technical readiness only. AI surfaces still pick products on competitive signals it cannot read: review volume, price, conversion and return rate. A perfect score with no reviews and slow shipping can lose to a lower-scoring store with strong reviews and fast delivery.",{"question":1952,"answer":1953},"What should I fix first after running the scan?","Close the structured-data gaps it flags: unblocked AI crawlers, complete Product and Offer schema, machine-readable delivery and returns policies, and review data in JSON-LD. These are concrete ai search optimisation fixes. Then improve the off-page signals the scan ignores, such as review volume and delivery speed.",[872],{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-agentic-readiness-scanner","2026-06-24",{"title":1730,"description":1940},{"loc":1956,"lastmod":1957},[1961,1964,1966,1968,1971],{"title":1962,"url":1738,"publisher":1527,"date":1963},"Agentic commerce audit (readiness scanner)","2026-04-28",{"title":1965,"url":1771,"publisher":1773,"date":1963},"Shopify launches AI agent readiness tool that scores any store URL",{"title":1888,"url":1780,"publisher":1782,"date":1967},"2026-05-06",{"title":1969,"url":1758,"publisher":1527,"date":1970},"Selling everything, everywhere, all at once: The Spring '26 Edition","2026-06-17",{"title":1972,"url":1897,"publisher":1973,"date":1974},"Accepting returns and giving refunds: the law","GOV.UK","2024-01-01","blog\u002Fshopify-agentic-readiness-scanner","MCPFO6dv6rDjzoF_DQ939CLf_njrpl27-E-_k5BpwLg",{"id":1978,"title":1979,"author":7,"body":1980,"cover":2175,"description":2178,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":2179,"funnelStage":348,"labels":2189,"meta":2190,"navigation":345,"path":770,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":872,"publishedAt":2191,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":2192,"sitemap":2193,"sources":2194,"stem":2210,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":2191,"__hash__":2211},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-ai-mode-overviews-uk-shopify.md","Google AI Mode and AI Overviews: the UK Shopify job now",{"type":9,"value":1981,"toc":2168},[1982,1985,1989,1998,2013,2021,2025,2034,2037,2094,2098,2112,2138,2144,2148,2155,2159,2162],[12,1983,1984],{},"Google AI Mode has been live in UK Search since 28 July 2025, and AI Overviews now appear on 14% of shopping queries, up 5.6 times since November 2025. For a UK Shopify store the change is discovery, not checkout: in-AI purchase on Google still runs only in the US, Canada and Australia. The job now is to make your store machine-readable through a Merchant Center feed and Product, Offer and Review schema.",[30,1986,1988],{"id":1987},"what-is-happening-with-google-ai-mode-and-ai-overviews","What is happening with Google AI Mode and AI Overviews?",[12,1990,1991,1992,1997],{},"Shopping answers are moving out of the blue-link list and into AI surfaces. AI Mode, Google’s Gemini-powered conversational search, has appeared as a tab in UK Search and the Google app for Android and iOS since 28 July 2025, per ",[16,1993,1996],{"href":1994,"rel":1995},"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.google\u002Faround-the-globe\u002Fgoogle-europe\u002Funited-kingdom\u002Fai-mode-search-uk\u002F",[20],"Google’s UK launch post"," by Hema Budaraju, Vice President of Product Management for Search.",[12,1999,2000,2001,2006,2007,2012],{},"The shopping shift is now measurable. AI Overviews reached 14.0% of shopping queries by March 2026, up 5.6 times from 2.1% in November 2025, across 20.9 million shopping keywords analysed by ",[16,2002,2005],{"href":2003,"rel":2004},"https:\u002F\u002Fvisibilitylabs.ai\u002Fai-overviews-shopping-queries\u002F",[20],"Visibility Labs"," and reported by ",[16,2008,2011],{"href":2009,"rel":2010},"https:\u002F\u002Fsearchengineland.com\u002Fgoogle-ai-overviews-shopping-queries-report-471981",[20],"Search Engine Land"," on 18 March 2026. Roughly one in seven shopping searches now returns a summarised answer above the listings, so being cited inside that answer is the new front door.",[467,2014,2015],{},[12,2016,2017,2020],{},[472,2018,2019],{},"The headline number."," AI Overviews now appear on 14% of shopping queries, up 5.6 times in four months – roughly one in seven shopping searches. Being cited inside the answer now matters as much as ranking below it.",[30,2022,2024],{"id":2023},"can-shoppers-check-out-inside-googles-ai-in-the-uk-yet","Can shoppers check out inside Google’s AI in the UK yet?",[12,2026,2027,2028,2033],{},"No. UCP-powered checkout on Google, where a shopper buys without leaving the AI surface, runs in three countries only. Google’s Merchant Center help page states the feature “only applies to products with eligibility in the United States, Canada, and Australia, and for participating merchants and partners” (",[16,2029,2032],{"href":2030,"rel":2031},"https:\u002F\u002Fsupport.google.com\u002Fmerchants\u002Fanswer\u002F16837055",[20],"Google Merchant Center Help","). The United Kingdom is not on that list.",[12,2035,2036],{},"So the UK gets the discovery half first. Shoppers ask AI Mode for a product and read an answer that may cite and recommend stores, then click through to your Shopify checkout to buy. The work that earns a citation now is the same work that will support in-AI checkout when it reaches the UK, so nothing you do today is wasted.",[38,2038,2039,2052],{},[41,2040,2041],{},[44,2042,2043,2046,2049],{},[47,2044,2045],{},"Capability",[47,2047,2048],{},"Status for UK Shopify stores",[47,2050,2051],{},"Source",[54,2053,2054,2067,2080],{},[44,2055,2056,2059,2062],{},[59,2057,2058],{},"AI Mode in Google Search",[59,2060,2061],{},"Live since 28 July 2025",[59,2063,2064],{},[16,2065,880],{"href":1994,"rel":2066},[20],[44,2068,2069,2072,2075],{},[59,2070,2071],{},"AI Overviews on shopping queries",[59,2073,2074],{},"14.0% by March 2026, up 5.6x from 2.1% (Nov 2025)",[59,2076,2077],{},[16,2078,2005],{"href":2003,"rel":2079},[20],[44,2081,2082,2085,2088],{},[59,2083,2084],{},"Checkout inside Google’s AI (UCP)",[59,2086,2087],{},"Not in the UK; US, Canada and Australia only",[59,2089,2090],{},[16,2091,2093],{"href":2030,"rel":2092},[20],"Google Merchant Center",[30,2095,2097],{"id":2096},"what-must-a-uk-shopify-store-do-to-stay-discoverable","What must a UK Shopify store do to stay discoverable?",[12,2099,2100,2101,2105,2106,2111],{},"Make the store machine-readable, because AI surfaces rank what they can parse, not what they can see. That is the practical core of ",[16,2102,2104],{"href":2103},"\u002Fservices\u002Fpresence\u002Fgeo-ai-visibility","GEO and AI search visibility",", not a separate trick. Google’s product structured data guidance is direct: “Providing both structured data on web pages and a Merchant Center feed maximizes your eligibility to experiences and helps Google correctly understand and verify your data” (",[16,2107,2110],{"href":2108,"rel":2109},"https:\u002F\u002Fdevelopers.google.com\u002Fsearch\u002Fdocs\u002Fappearance\u002Fstructured-data\u002Fproduct",[20],"Google for Developers","). The feed sends your catalogue to Google; the on-page schema lets Google verify and enrich each product. Prioritise these:",[668,2113,2114,2120,2126,2132],{},[255,2115,2116,2119],{},[472,2117,2118],{},"Product and Offer schema"," with price, availability and a GTIN, in JSON-LD rather than on-screen text only.",[255,2121,2122,2125],{},[472,2123,2124],{},"Review and AggregateRating data"," as structured markup, not a star image.",[255,2127,2128,2131],{},[472,2129,2130],{},"A Merchant Center product feed"," kept current, with VAT-inclusive prices and accurate stock.",[255,2133,2134,2137],{},[472,2135,2136],{},"Crawler access"," for AI bots, so GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot are not blocked in robots.txt.",[12,2139,2140,2141,299],{},"None of this needs a theme rebuild. It is product-data hygiene, applied because a machine is now the first reader of your catalogue. For the full picture, see our guide on ",[16,2142,2143],{"href":834},"agentic commerce for UK Shopify stores",[30,2145,2147],{"id":2146},"does-structured-data-guarantee-a-citation","Does structured data guarantee a citation?",[12,2149,2150,2151,2154],{},"No. Schema makes your store legible to AI surfaces; it does not make your offer the best one. A clean technical profile gets you into the running, then the surface decides on signals it weighs but you do not mark up: review volume, price, delivery speed and returns terms. That is the same boundary Shopify’s free readiness scan draws, which is why a high score does not promise a recommendation, as we explained in ",[16,2152,2153],{"href":1956},"what Shopify’s agentic-readiness scanner really tests",". Treat schema as the entry ticket and your product and service as what wins the citation.",[30,2156,2158],{"id":2157},"where-to-start","Where to start",[12,2160,2161],{},"Audit one best-selling product page for Product, Offer and Review schema, then confirm your Merchant Center feed carries VAT-inclusive prices and accurate stock. That single pass does more for AI discoverability than any redesign.",[304,2163,2165],{"heading":2158,"label":2164,"to":307},"Book a product-data review",[12,2166,2167],{},"If you would rather have the schema and feed work done properly and checked against UK pricing rules, True Noise will get the structured data and feed right for your UK store.",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":2169},[2170,2171,2172,2173,2174],{"id":1987,"depth":313,"text":1988},{"id":2023,"depth":313,"text":2024},{"id":2096,"depth":313,"text":2097},{"id":2146,"depth":313,"text":2147},{"id":2157,"depth":313,"text":2158},{"src":2176,"alt":2177,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-ai-mode-overviews-uk-shopify-hero.webp","A search panel feeding a highlighted product card cited inside an AI answer, above a row of related product tiles.","Google AI Overviews now hit 14% of shopping queries and AI Mode has been live in the UK since July 2025. What UK Shopify stores must do to stay discoverable.",[2180,2183,2186],{"question":2181,"answer":2182},"Can customers buy from my UK store inside Google's AI?","Not yet. UCP-powered checkout on Google runs only in the United States, Canada and Australia, per Google Merchant Center Help. UK shoppers can be shown and recommended your products inside AI Mode, but they click through to your Shopify checkout to pay. The discovery shift is here now; in-AI purchase is not.",{"question":2184,"answer":2185},"What schema should I add to my Shopify product pages?","Add Product and Offer structured data with price, availability and a GTIN, plus Review and AggregateRating markup, in JSON-LD. Google recommends pairing on-page structured data with a Merchant Center feed to maximise eligibility across its experiences. Keep prices VAT-inclusive for UK shoppers and stock accurate.",{"question":2187,"answer":2188},"How many shopping searches now show an AI Overview?","By March 2026, AI Overviews appeared on 14.0% of shopping queries, up 5.6 times from 2.1% in November 2025, across 20.9 million shopping keywords analysed by Visibility Labs. That is roughly one in seven shopping searches returning a summarised answer above the listings, so being cited inside the answer now matters as much as ranking below it.",[872],{},"2026-06-23",{"title":1979,"description":2178},{"loc":770,"lastmod":2191},[2195,2198,2201,2204,2207],{"title":2196,"url":1994,"publisher":880,"date":2197},"AI Mode now available on Google Search in the UK","2025-07-28",{"title":2199,"url":2009,"publisher":2011,"date":2200},"Google AI Overviews now appear on 14% of shopping queries: Report","2026-03-18",{"title":2202,"url":2003,"publisher":2005,"date":2203},"AI Overviews now appear on 14% of shopping queries, up 5.6x in 4 months","2026-03-17",{"title":2205,"url":2030,"publisher":2032,"date":2206},"About the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and UCP-powered checkout feature on Google","2026-01-12",{"title":2208,"url":2108,"publisher":2110,"date":2209},"Intro to structured data markup for products","2026-01-01","blog\u002Fgoogle-ai-mode-overviews-uk-shopify","IfzizErpPd9ybHb20kO0uI9htHBegHdPQBt0-btjh70",{"id":2213,"title":2214,"author":7,"body":2215,"cover":2414,"description":2417,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":2418,"funnelStage":348,"labels":2428,"meta":2430,"navigation":345,"path":280,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":2429,"publishedAt":2431,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":2432,"sitemap":2433,"sources":2434,"stem":2454,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":1715,"__hash__":2455},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fmeta-2-percent-uk-location-fee.md","Meta's 2% UK location fee starts 1 July: what to change",{"type":9,"value":2216,"toc":2407},[2217,2224,2233,2237,2249,2257,2261,2273,2282,2289,2293,2296,2304,2310,2369,2375,2379,2386,2396,2398,2401],[467,2218,2219],{},[12,2220,2221,2223],{},[472,2222,1544],{}," the 1 July start date has now passed. On Meta's announced timeline the 2% fee is live, so it is no longer something to prepare for — it is already sitting on your UK-audience delivery and understating your reported cost-per-result. If you haven't switched your source of truth to the billing hub yet, do it now and re-check the first billed week.",[12,2225,2226,2227,2232],{},"From 1 July 2026, Meta adds a 2% location fee to every ad delivered to a UK audience, a pass-through of the UK Digital Services Tax it absorbed until now (",[16,2228,2231],{"href":2229,"rel":2230},"https:\u002F\u002Ffinance.yahoo.com\u002Fnews\u002Fmeta-charge-advertisers-fee-offset-182506077.html",[20],"Reuters","). The charge sits on top of your spend and shows only on invoices and the billing hub, never in Ads Manager. So your reported cost-per-result holds steady while your real cost rises 2%. Reconcile against billing before 1 July.",[30,2234,2236],{"id":2235},"what-is-metas-2-uk-location-fee","What is Meta’s 2% UK location fee?",[12,2238,2239,2240,2243,2244,909],{},"It is a 2% surcharge Meta applies to ad delivery reaching a UK audience, charged on top of your media spend from 1 July 2026 (",[16,2241,2231],{"href":2229,"rel":2242},[20],"). The fee is set by where your audience sits, not where your business is registered, so a UK store advertising to UK shoppers pays it regardless of company location (",[16,2245,2248],{"href":2246,"rel":2247},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.webtopia.co\u002Fblog\u002Fmeta-location-fees-2026-uk-eu-dtc-brands",[20],"Webtopia",[12,2250,2251,2252,2256],{},"It passes on the UK Digital Services Tax, a 2% levy on revenues large platforms earn from UK users, in force since 1 April 2020 under the Finance Act 2020 (",[16,2253,633],{"href":2254,"rel":2255},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.legislation.gov.uk\u002Fukpga\u002F2020\u002F14\u002Fpart\u002F2",[20],"). Meta absorbed that cost for six years; from July it passes it to advertisers, the same move Google made in 2020.",[30,2258,2260],{"id":2259},"where-does-the-fee-show-up-and-why-is-that-the-catch","Where does the fee show up, and why is that the catch?",[12,2262,2263,2264,2267,2268,909],{},"The fee never appears in Ads Manager. It is added as a separate line item after delivery and shows only on your invoice and in the Meta billing hub, broken down by jurisdiction (",[16,2265,2248],{"href":2246,"rel":2266},[20],"). Campaign reporting, cost-per-result and any API or export pull keep showing base spend only (",[16,2269,2272],{"href":2270,"rel":2271},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.tdmp.co.uk\u002Finsights\u002Fmeta-location-fees-dst-landing-july-2026-costs-billing-and-affected-ads-explained",[20],"TDMP",[12,2274,2275,2276,2281],{},"That gap is the catch. The fee is not deducted from your budget, so a £1,000 UK budget still buys £1,000 of delivery and adds £20, for a £1,020 invoice (",[16,2277,2280],{"href":2278,"rel":2279},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ayko.com\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-advertisers-need-to-know-about-metas-2-uk-location-fee",[20],"Ayko","). Your dashboard ROAS and CPA look unchanged while your real numbers move 2% against you. Optimise to Ads Manager figures and you are working from a cost that is quietly out of date.",[467,2283,2284],{},[12,2285,2286,2288],{},[472,2287,752],{}," The 2% fee never appears in Ads Manager, only on your invoice and in the billing hub, so your reported CPA and ROAS stay flat while your real cost rises from 1 July.",[30,2290,2292],{"id":2291},"how-much-does-2-actually-cost-and-how-does-it-compare","How much does 2% actually cost, and how does it compare?",[12,2294,2295],{},"On UK-audience delivery, 2% is the rate. Enter your own monthly UK ad spend below to see the location fee Meta adds on top, and what it adds up to across a year.",[2297,2298],"tn-calculator",{":input-default":2299,":outputs":2300,"formula":2301,"input-label":2302,"input-unit":2303},"5000","[{ \"key\": \"monthlyFee\", \"label\": \"Location fee\", \"unit\": \"£\", \"suffix\": \"\u002Fmo\", \"of\": \"input\", \"factor\": 0.02 }, { \"key\": \"annualFee\", \"label\": \"Extra per year\", \"unit\": \"£\", \"suffix\": \"\u002Fyr\", \"of\": \"monthlyFee\", \"factor\": 12 }]","Location fee = monthly spend × 2%","Monthly UK ad spend","£",[12,2305,2306,2307,909],{},"A £5,000 monthly budget carries a £100 fee on top, or £1,200 a year, none of which shows in Ads Manager. Meta’s rate varies by audience country. The UK is at the lower end of the schedule Meta published (",[16,2308,2231],{"href":2229,"rel":2309},[20],[38,2311,2312,2322],{},[41,2313,2314],{},[44,2315,2316,2319],{},[47,2317,2318],{},"Audience country",[47,2320,2321],{},"Meta location fee",[54,2323,2324,2332,2340,2347,2354,2362],{},[44,2325,2326,2329],{},[59,2327,2328],{},"United Kingdom",[59,2330,2331],{},"2%",[44,2333,2334,2337],{},[59,2335,2336],{},"France",[59,2338,2339],{},"3%",[44,2341,2342,2345],{},[59,2343,2344],{},"Italy",[59,2346,2339],{},[44,2348,2349,2352],{},[59,2350,2351],{},"Spain",[59,2353,2339],{},[44,2355,2356,2359],{},[59,2357,2358],{},"Austria",[59,2360,2361],{},"5%",[44,2363,2364,2367],{},[59,2365,2366],{},"Turkey",[59,2368,2361],{},[12,2370,2371,2372,909],{},"Advertise across these markets and your blended fee depends on the audience split, not a single headline rate (",[16,2373,2248],{"href":2246,"rel":2374},[20],[30,2376,2378],{"id":2377},"what-should-a-uk-shopify-advertiser-change-first","What should a UK Shopify advertiser change first?",[12,2380,2381,2382,2385],{},"Switch your source of truth for spend from Ads Manager to the billing hub, then rebuild your true cost-per-acquisition and ROAS on the higher number. This is the same kind of ",[16,2383,2384],{"href":1476},"analytics and tracking setup"," discipline that keeps marketing reports honest. For UK-only spend, divide media-derived figures by 1.02; for mixed-market accounts, weight by audience share. Do this before 1 July so the first billed week does not surprise your margin maths.",[12,2387,2388,2389,2392,2393,299],{},"Then reconcile the billing hub against your Ads Manager export each month, and revisit any break-even or target-ROAS rule, because a 2% lift on cost narrows the margin on thin-product campaigns first. This is the same measurement hygiene that underpins how stores get found in AI-led shopping, which we cover in our ",[16,2390,2391],{"href":834},"guide to agentic commerce for UK Shopify stores",", alongside the wider 2026 shift in ",[16,2394,2395],{"href":1669},"what Shopify’s Spring ’26 Edition opened up",[30,2397,2158],{"id":2157},[12,2399,2400],{},"The fee is small per pound and easy to miss, which is exactly why it distorts decisions made on Ads Manager numbers. Fix your cost model before the first invoice lands.",[304,2402,2404],{"heading":2158,"label":2403,"to":307},"Book a measurement check",[12,2405,2406],{},"We will rebuild your true CPA and ROAS against billed spend, so your budget calls hold up after 1 July.",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":2408},[2409,2410,2411,2412,2413],{"id":2235,"depth":313,"text":2236},{"id":2259,"depth":313,"text":2260},{"id":2291,"depth":313,"text":2292},{"id":2377,"depth":313,"text":2378},{"id":2157,"depth":313,"text":2158},{"src":2415,"alt":2416,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fmeta-2-percent-uk-location-fee-hero.webp","An analytics dashboard above a UK ad-spend table, with one figure highlighted to show the added 2% delivery fee.","From 1 July 2026 Meta adds a 2% fee on UK-audience ad delivery. It shows only on invoices, so your true CPA and ROAS need updating first.",[2419,2422,2425],{"question":2420,"answer":2421},"Does the 2% fee come out of my campaign budget?","No. Meta adds the fee on top of your spend after delivery, so a £1,000 UK budget buys £1,000 of ads and then bills £20 more, for a £1,020 total. Your campaign still spends its full budget. The fee is a separate charge that appears on the invoice and in the billing hub, not a deduction from your daily or lifetime cap.",{"question":2423,"answer":2424},"Why is Meta charging this now?","The fee passes on the UK Digital Services Tax, a 2% levy on UK-derived platform revenue in force since 1 April 2020. Meta absorbed the cost for six years and, from 1 July 2026, passes it to advertisers, describing the change as aligning \"with industry standards\". Google made the same move in 2020.",{"question":2426,"answer":2427},"Does the fee depend on where my business is based?","No. Meta sets the fee by where your audience is located, not where your business is registered. A UK-registered store advertising to French shoppers pays France's 3% on that delivery; a non-UK business advertising to UK shoppers still pays the UK's 2%. For mixed-market accounts, your effective rate is a weighted blend of audience countries.",[2429],"paid-media",{},"2026-06-22",{"title":2214,"description":2417},{"loc":280,"lastmod":1715},[2435,2439,2442,2445,2448,2451],{"title":2436,"url":2229,"publisher":2437,"date":2438},"Meta to charge advertisers a fee to offset Europe's digital taxes","Reuters (via Yahoo Finance)","2026-03-10",{"title":2440,"url":2246,"publisher":2248,"date":2441},"Meta Introduces Location Fees on Ads Delivered to UK and EU Audiences from 1 July 2026","2026-03-12",{"title":2443,"url":2270,"publisher":2272,"date":2444},"July 2026 Meta Location Fees for Ads - Explained","2026-03-13",{"title":2446,"url":2278,"publisher":2280,"date":2447},"What Advertisers Need to Know About Meta's 2% UK Location Fee","2026-03-16",{"title":2449,"url":2254,"publisher":633,"date":2450},"Digital Services Tax (Finance Act 2020, Part 2)","2020-07-22",{"title":2452,"url":2453,"publisher":1973,"date":1974},"Digital Services Tax review report","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gov.uk\u002Fgovernment\u002Fpublications\u002Fdigital-services-tax-review\u002Fdigital-services-tax-review-report","blog\u002Fmeta-2-percent-uk-location-fee","gKd8pYiih1VaeoDWU_iaKZ3P88u2piNbc0oHPQxyUko",{"id":2457,"title":2458,"author":7,"body":2459,"cover":2624,"description":2627,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":2628,"funnelStage":348,"labels":2641,"meta":2642,"navigation":345,"path":1669,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":872,"publishedAt":2643,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":2644,"sitemap":2645,"sources":2646,"stem":2653,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":2643,"__hash__":2654},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-spring-26-edition-ucp-catalog.md","Shopify Spring '26: UCP and Catalog open to every store",{"type":9,"value":2460,"toc":2617},[2461,2465,2473,2477,2486,2493,2497,2505,2513,2516,2575,2582,2586,2599,2606,2608,2611],[30,2462,2464],{"id":2463},"what-changed-in-shopifys-spring-26-edition","What changed in Shopify’s Spring ’26 Edition?",[12,2466,2467,2468,2472],{},"On 17 June 2026 Shopify shipped its ",[16,2469,1760],{"href":2470,"rel":2471},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.shopify.com\u002Feditions\u002Fspring2026",[20],", and the headline for store owners is access, not invention. The Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and the Catalog API, which previously needed approval, are now open to every store and developer. In practice your products can appear and sell inside AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Copilot and the Shop app, with no extra apps or manual feeds.",[30,2474,2476],{"id":2475},"is-this-a-launch-or-a-maturation-of-agentic-commerce","Is this a launch or a maturation of agentic commerce?",[12,2478,2479,2480,2485],{},"This is a maturation, not a launch. Shopify built its agentic commerce layer earlier and gated it behind approval. Spring ’26 removes the gate: “Building on Shopify’s agentic commerce layer used to require approval. That requirement is gone,” the company writes in its ",[16,2481,2484],{"href":2482,"rel":2483},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.shopify.com\u002Fnews\u002Fspring-26-edition-dev",[20],"developer announcement",". Developers now register an agent profile and call a public endpoint, and “Catalog access takes just an API key, no approval needed.” The plumbing existed; Spring ’26 opened the taps.",[12,2487,2488,2489,299],{},"For a UK Shopify owner, that shifts the question from “can I be in AI shopping?” to “is my product data good enough to be chosen there?” That is the same readiness question behind our ",[16,2490,2492],{"href":2491},"\u002Fservices\u002Fagentic-commerce","agentic commerce service",[30,2494,2496],{"id":2495},"how-do-ucp-and-catalog-put-my-products-in-ai-chat","How do UCP and Catalog put my products in AI chat?",[12,2498,2499,2500,2504],{},"Your store is already enrolled. Shopify states that “Merchants on Shopify with eligible products are in Catalog by default” and “Shopify merchants are UCP-enabled by default” (",[16,2501,2503],{"href":1758,"rel":2502},[20],"Spring '26 merchant edition","). Catalog standardises and enriches your product data, then syndicates it to AI surfaces. UCP carries the buying flow – search, cart and checkout – so a shopper can complete a purchase inside the assistant.",[467,2506,2507],{},[12,2508,2509,2512],{},[472,2510,2511],{},"You are already in."," Eligible products are in Catalog by default and your store is UCP-enabled by default – there is nothing to install. The only variable is whether your product data is good enough to be chosen.",[12,2514,2515],{},"Here is what each piece does and what it asks of you.",[38,2517,2518,2531],{},[41,2519,2520],{},[44,2521,2522,2525,2528],{},[47,2523,2524],{},"Component",[47,2526,2527],{},"What it does",[47,2529,2530],{},"What your store needs",[54,2532,2533,2547,2561],{},[44,2534,2535,2538,2544],{},[59,2536,2537],{},"Catalog API",[59,2539,2540,2541,70],{},"Syndicates product details to ChatGPT, Copilot, the Shop app and others (",[16,2542,1527],{"href":1758,"rel":2543},[20],[59,2545,2546],{},"Eligible products; accurate titles, descriptions and attributes",[44,2548,2549,2552,2558],{},[59,2550,2551],{},"UCP",[59,2553,2554,2555,70],{},"Carries discovery-to-checkout inside AI assistants (",[16,2556,1527],{"href":2482,"rel":2557},[20],[59,2559,2560],{},"Enabled by default; nothing to install",[44,2562,2563,2566,2572],{},[59,2564,2565],{},"Sidekick guidance",[59,2567,2568,2569,70],{},"Flags what to fix when products surface but do not sell (",[16,2570,1527],{"href":1758,"rel":2571},[20],[59,2573,2574],{},"A habit of acting on its suggestions",[12,2576,2577,2578,2581],{},"Data quality is the lever. Shopify reports that “AI searches powered by Shopify Catalog convert at 2x the rate of those using scraped data” (",[16,2579,2503],{"href":1758,"rel":2580},[20],"). When products appear but stall, Sidekick suggests adding specifications to titles, improving descriptions and filling in missing details.",[30,2583,2585],{"id":2584},"what-should-a-uk-shopify-store-do-this-week","What should a UK Shopify store do this week?",[12,2587,2588,2589,2591,2592,2595,2596,299],{},"Audit the product data that now travels further than your storefront. Check titles, descriptions, specifications and images on your best sellers, because these are the fields AI assistants read and rank. This is the same first-hand quality work we cover in our ",[16,2590,1674],{"href":834},", and it pairs with the ",[16,2593,2594],{"href":1956},"free agentic-readiness checks"," and your wider ",[16,2597,2598],{"href":770},"Google AI Mode visibility",[12,2600,2601,2602,2605],{},"One caveat on in-chat checkout: UK consumer law follows the sale, not the surface. A purchase made inside an AI assistant still carries the online cancellation and refund duties that apply to distance selling. GOV.UK confirms you must offer a refund when a customer cancels within 14 days of receiving an item, and when goods are “faulty, not as described or does not do what it’s supposed to” (",[16,2603,1973],{"href":1897,"rel":2604},[20],"). Your returns and refunds policy needs to be as clear in chat as it is on your product pages.",[30,2607,2158],{"id":2157},[12,2609,2610],{},"Spring ’26 puts your catalogue in front of AI shoppers by default. The advantage goes to the stores whose data is accurate enough to be chosen.",[304,2612,2614],{"heading":2158,"label":2613,"to":307},"Book an agentic-commerce audit",[12,2615,2616],{},"We will tell you which products are ready and which need work.",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":2618},[2619,2620,2621,2622,2623],{"id":2463,"depth":313,"text":2464},{"id":2475,"depth":313,"text":2476},{"id":2495,"depth":313,"text":2496},{"id":2584,"depth":313,"text":2585},{"id":2157,"depth":313,"text":2158},{"src":2625,"alt":2626,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-spring-26-edition-ucp-catalog-hero.webp","A central product catalogue inside an archway, fanning products out to four AI assistant panels above a product strip.","Shopify's Spring '26 Edition opens UCP and the Catalog API to every store, putting your products inside AI chat. What it means for UK shops.",[2629,2632,2635,2638],{"question":2630,"answer":2631},"Do I need to install anything to use UCP or Catalog?","No. Shopify states that eligible products are \"in Catalog by default\" and that \"Shopify merchants are UCP-enabled by default\". There is no app to add and no manual feed to maintain. Your work is in the quality of your product data, not the setup.",{"question":2633,"answer":2634},"Which AI assistants can show my products?","Shopify's Catalog \"syndicates product details to ChatGPT, Copilot, Shop app, and others\". Coverage will widen over time, so the practical move is to keep your product data accurate and complete rather than to optimise for any single assistant.",{"question":2636,"answer":2637},"Does Spring '26 change my UK consumer-law obligations?","No. A sale completed inside an AI assistant is still a distance sale under UK law. You must offer a refund if a customer cancels within 14 days of receiving an item, and refund goods that are faulty or not as described. Make sure your returns policy is visible wherever the purchase happens.",{"question":2639,"answer":2640},"Why does product data quality matter so much now?","Because AI assistants choose what to show. Shopify reports that AI searches powered by Catalog \"convert at 2x the rate of those using scraped data\". Clean titles, full specifications and honest descriptions are what get your products surfaced and bought.",[872,1710],{},"2026-06-21",{"title":2458,"description":2627},{"loc":1669,"lastmod":2643},[2647,2648,2650,2652],{"title":1969,"url":1758,"publisher":1527,"date":1970},{"title":2649,"url":2482,"publisher":1527,"date":1970},"Agentic commerce for every developer: The Spring '26 Edition",{"title":2651,"url":2470,"publisher":1527,"date":1970},"Shopify Editions | Spring '26",{"title":1972,"url":1897,"publisher":1973,"date":1970},"blog\u002Fshopify-spring-26-edition-ucp-catalog","AKXRJRff0G9y8oBR2-B-4wgNe7lUPKwpEnXcuXwCpWw",{"id":2656,"title":2657,"author":7,"body":2658,"cover":2841,"description":2844,"draft":326,"extension":327,"faq":2845,"funnelStage":348,"labels":2858,"meta":2859,"navigation":345,"path":557,"pinned":326,"primaryLabel":617,"publishedAt":2860,"readingTime":348,"schemaOrg":348,"seo":2861,"sitemap":2863,"sources":2864,"stem":2885,"summary":348,"type":363,"updatedAt":1715,"__hash__":2886},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fuk-data-complaints-duty-pecr-fines.md","New UK data-complaints duty: what Shopify stores must do",{"type":9,"value":2659,"toc":2836},[2660,2667,2676,2684,2688,2696,2700,2708,2775,2790,2794,2803,2814,2829],[467,2661,2662],{},[12,2663,2664,2666],{},[472,2665,1544],{}," this duty is now in force. The 19 June commencement has passed, so if a UK shopper complains about how you handle their data, you are already required to acknowledge it within 30 days — the steps below are live obligations, not upcoming ones.",[12,2668,2669,2670,2675],{},"From 19 June 2026 the ",[16,2671,2674],{"href":2672,"rel":2673},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.legislation.gov.uk\u002Fuksi\u002F2026\u002F82\u002Fcontents\u002Fmade",[20],"Data (Use and Access) Act 2025"," gives shoppers a statutory right to complain about how a business handles their data, directly to that business. If you run a UK Shopify store you are a data controller, so you must accept those complaints, acknowledge them within 30 days and respond without undue delay. Separately, since 5 February the maximum cookie-rules fine rose from £500,000 to £17.5m.",[467,2677,2678],{},[12,2679,2680,2683],{},[472,2681,2682],{},"Two dates that matter."," From 19 June 2026 you must accept data complaints and acknowledge them within 30 days. Since 5 February 2026 the maximum cookie-rules fine is £17.5m, or 4% of global turnover – up from £500,000.",[30,2685,2687],{"id":2686},"what-is-the-data-use-and-access-act-complaints-duty","What is the Data (Use and Access) Act complaints duty?",[12,2689,2690,2691,2695],{},"It is a new legal obligation, live from 19 June 2026, requiring every data controller to receive, acknowledge and respond to data protection complaints from individuals. It commences with section 103 and Schedule 10 of the Act under ",[16,2692,2694],{"href":2672,"rel":2693},[20],"The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 6) Regulations 2026",". A complaint is any allegation that you have failed to comply with UK GDPR. A UK Shopify store handling customer names, addresses and order history is squarely in scope.",[30,2697,2699],{"id":2698},"what-exactly-must-a-shopify-store-do-from-19-june","What exactly must a Shopify store do from 19 June?",[12,2701,2702,2703,299],{},"You must offer an accessible way to complain, acknowledge it within 30 days, and investigate without undue delay. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) leaves the method to you, so an existing contact form can carry the duty. The table sets out each obligation and a practical action, per ICO guidance and analysis by ",[16,2704,2707],{"href":2705,"rel":2706},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.squirepattonboggs.com\u002Finsights\u002Fpublications\u002Fthe-data-use-and-access-act-2025-and-the-new-right-for-individuals-to-complain-to-controllers\u002F",[20],"Squire Patton Boggs",[38,2709,2710,2723],{},[41,2711,2712],{},[44,2713,2714,2717,2720],{},[47,2715,2716],{},"Obligation (from 19 Jun 2026)",[47,2718,2719],{},"What it means",[47,2721,2722],{},"Practical action for your store",[54,2724,2725,2736,2753,2764],{},[44,2726,2727,2730,2733],{},[59,2728,2729],{},"Facilitate complaints",[59,2731,2732],{},"Offer at least one accessible route, for example an online form",[59,2734,2735],{},"Add a clear “data protection complaint” route to your contact page",[44,2737,2738,2741,2744],{},[59,2739,2740],{},"Acknowledge within 30 days",[59,2742,2743],{},"Confirm receipt inside 30 days of the complaint",[59,2745,2746,2747,2752],{},"An ",[16,2748,2751],{"href":2749,"rel":2750},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.osborneclarke.com\u002Finsights\u002Fuk-ico-explains-data-use-and-access-acts-new-data-protection-complaints-requirements",[20],"automated acknowledgement email is sufficient"," for electronic complaints",[44,2754,2755,2758,2761],{},[59,2756,2757],{},"Respond without undue delay",[59,2759,2760],{},"Investigate proportionately and report the outcome",[59,2762,2763],{},"Log each complaint with a date and owner; keep the complainant updated",[44,2765,2766,2769,2772],{},[59,2767,2768],{},"Signpost the ICO",[59,2770,2771],{},"Tell people they can still complain to the ICO",[59,2773,2774],{},"State the right to escalate in your privacy notice and replies",[12,2776,2777,2778,2783,2784,2789],{},"The acknowledgement clock starts when the complaint arrives, on or after 19 June 2026. The response itself has no fixed deadline like a subject access request; the ICO asks for action “without an unjustifiable or excessive delay”, judged on the ",[16,2779,2782],{"href":2780,"rel":2781},"https:\u002F\u002Fico.org.uk\u002Ffor-organisations\u002Fhow-to-deal-with-data-protection-complaints\u002F",[20],"complaint’s circumstances",". The ICO now asks individuals to raise issues with the organisation first, and a complaint usually cannot reach the regulator until your internal process has been used, unless there are exceptional grounds, under its ",[16,2785,2788],{"href":2786,"rel":2787},"https:\u002F\u002Fico.org.uk\u002Fmake-a-complaint\u002Fdata-protection-framework\u002F",[20],"complaints framework",". A prompt, documented reply is the most reliable way to settle a grievance before it escalates.",[30,2791,2793],{"id":2792},"what-changed-with-cookie-rules-and-the-175m-fine","What changed with cookie rules and the £17.5m fine?",[12,2795,2796,2797,2802],{},"Since 5 February 2026 the maximum fine under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) rose from £500,000 to £17.5m, or 4% of global annual turnover, matching UK GDPR levels. The Act also added narrow exceptions where you no longer need consent, confirmed by ",[16,2798,2801],{"href":2799,"rel":2800},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.stevens-bolton.com\u002Finsights\u002F102mqbh\u002Fthe-data-use-and-access-act-2025-cookies-what-is-changing-and-what-you-need-t\u002F",[20],"Stevens & Bolton",":",[668,2804,2805,2808,2811],{},[255,2806,2807],{},"Cookies used solely for statistical or analytics purposes, where the data is used only by you as the site operator.",[255,2809,2810],{},"Cookies that customise appearance or functionality, such as accessibility or display preferences.",[255,2812,2813],{},"Cookies that enable emergency assistance, such as location data for emergency services.",[12,2815,2816,2817,2821,2822,2825,2826,299],{},"These exceptions are tight. Advertising tags that share data with third parties, such as the Meta pixel or Google Ads remarketing, are “still caught by the general PECR prohibition and will still require user consent”. For most Shopify stores the practical change is small: your banner must still gate marketing cookies, and the cost of getting it wrong is now far higher. It also belongs with practical ",[16,2818,2820],{"href":2819},"\u002Fservices\u002Fsecurity\u002Fwebsite","website safety",", because consent, tracking and security all sit in the same risk surface. This is also part of being agent-ready, the data discipline behind the ",[16,2823,2824],{"href":834},"agentic commerce for a UK Shopify store"," shift and the ",[16,2827,2828],{"href":1669},"Shopify Spring ’26 UCP and Catalog opening",[304,2830,2833],{"heading":2831,"label":2832,"to":307},"Ready to make your store agent-ready and compliant?","Book an AI-readiness review",[12,2834,2835],{},"We help UK Shopify stores tidy their data governance and cookie consent while opening up AI-driven discovery.",{"title":312,"searchDepth":313,"depth":313,"links":2837},[2838,2839,2840],{"id":2686,"depth":313,"text":2687},{"id":2698,"depth":313,"text":2699},{"id":2792,"depth":313,"text":2793},{"src":2842,"alt":2843,"width":323,"height":324},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fuk-data-complaints-duty-pecr-fines-hero.webp","A UK map, data servers and a locked cookie policy, with a complaint envelope routed towards legal scales and charts.","From 19 June 2026 the Data (Use and Access) Act gives shoppers a direct complaints right, and PECR cookie fines now reach £17.5m. Your actions.",[2846,2849,2852,2855],{"question":2847,"answer":2848},"Is my Shopify store a data controller under the Act?","Yes. If you decide what customer data you collect and why, for example names, delivery addresses and order history, you are a data controller under UK GDPR. The complaints duty applies to controllers from 19 June 2026, so a UK Shopify store keeping customer records is in scope regardless of size.",{"question":2850,"answer":2851},"How quickly must I respond to a data complaint?","You must acknowledge it within 30 days of receipt. The full response has no fixed deadline; the ICO requires action \"without an unjustifiable or excessive delay\", proportionate to the complaint. Keep the person informed and give them the outcome as soon as your enquiry allows.",{"question":2853,"answer":2854},"Do I still need a cookie consent banner after the changes?","Yes, for any non-essential cookie not covered by the new exceptions. Analytics used only by you, appearance preferences and emergency-assistance cookies no longer need consent. Advertising and tracking cookies that share data with third parties still require consent, so most Shopify stores keep their banner.",{"question":2856,"answer":2857},"What is the maximum fine for getting cookies wrong now?","Since 5 February 2026 the PECR maximum penalty is £17.5m, or 4% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher. That replaces the previous £500,000 cap and aligns cookie enforcement with UK GDPR, which is reason enough to confirm your banner correctly gates marketing cookies.",[617],{},"2026-06-20",{"title":2862,"description":2844},"UK data-complaints duty: what Shopify stores must do",{"loc":557,"lastmod":1715},[2865,2868,2872,2876,2879,2883],{"title":2866,"url":2672,"publisher":633,"date":2867},"The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026","2026-01-29",{"title":2869,"url":2780,"publisher":2870,"date":2871},"How to deal with data protection complaints","Information Commissioner's Office","2026-02-05",{"title":2873,"url":2749,"publisher":2874,"date":2875},"UK ICO explains the Data (Use and Access) Act's new data protection complaints requirements","Osborne Clarke","2026-02-10",{"title":2877,"url":2705,"publisher":2707,"date":2878},"The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and the new right for individuals to complain to controllers","2026-06-08",{"title":2880,"url":2799,"publisher":2881,"date":2882},"The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025: cookies, what is changing and what you need to know","Stevens & Bolton LLP","2026-02-12",{"title":2884,"url":2786,"publisher":2870,"date":2871},"Make a complaint: our data protection complaints framework","blog\u002Fuk-data-complaints-duty-pecr-fines","pD1IcRG0U6U10lVVIVRwX9Psr7DS9FAEFdaZxEDsVYE"]