Structured data gets installed once, via a generic app or plugin, and rarely checked again on most ecommerce sites. Here's what actually matters and why it's worth revisiting.
What product schema actually does
It gives Google explicit, structured information about a product: price, availability, brand, and rating, in a format search engines can read directly rather than having to infer from the page's visible content. This is what enables rich results, star ratings and price shown directly in search results.
The fields that matter most
- Price and currency, kept accurate and synced with what's actually shown on the page
- Availability, correctly reflecting in-stock, out-of-stock, or pre-order status
- Aggregate rating, built from genuine reviews, never fabricated
- Brand, particularly important for multi-brand catalogues
Why "installed" isn't the same as "working correctly"
Schema that was accurate when first set up can drift out of sync as a catalogue changes, prices update, or products go out of stock, if nothing is checking it periodically. This is an easy, common way for structured data to quietly stop being useful without an obvious symptom.
Beyond basic product schema
Breadcrumb schema, reflecting your actual site hierarchy, and FAQ schema, built from real content already shown on the page, both add further opportunities for rich results without requiring separate content creation.