Address verification works instantly on your website through Javascript or API. We perform the verification by checking the information your user entered against the USPS or Canadian postal database. It then ensures that the address is aligned with the USPS standard address format. Making sure that you have an accurate, properly formatted address for a user helps your business across the board, from customer experience to reducing packaging and postage costs.
One of the first things you learn when working with consumers is their value of convenience. This has been made even more obvious in the last ten years with the increase popularity of online shopping and mobile apps. This enables users to shop and engage with businesses, no matter where they are. One of the most common issues related to ecommerce is something referred to as “abandon carts”. This occurs when the user leaves a cart full of products without actually purchasing anything.
Why does this happen? The answer is as easy as the solution. Carts are abandoned when consumers think the checkout process is too strenuous. Someone goes to check out, enters their credit card information and then they go to enter in the address linked to the card and things stop working. They keep misspelling the name of their street, they don’t put down an apartment number or they think they live on Wilbur Ave but they actually live on Wilbur St. It seems like a silly reason to leave a purchase, but it happens all the time. That dreaded “buyers remorse” happens before they even confirm their purchase.
Additionally, if your registration process requires a lot of data collection fields, this could cause your users to drop off your site. The good news is that when you use Xverify’s address verification solutions you only need to request for street and zip code. We can automatically prefill the data of city and state.
This is where having USPS address verification and address correction can save a sale. By filling in the rest of the address as the user is putting in their information, you are streamlining the process for them, getting them to the “submit order” button as quickly as possible. It also serves the added bonus of correcting user errors to cut down on frustrations from the consumer. Rather than retyping the wrong address four times before throwing their hands up in anger, with address correction you’re making these corrections for them.
Address verification is especially helpful for mobile users. We’ve all tried to type out long messages on the tiny iPhone keyboard, continually having to back track and correct things that autocorrect changed. No one wants to do that when they’re trying to type in their address to make a purchase. They’re much more likely to just decide they don’t need whatever great product they were going to buy. By filling in the address as they type, you’re pushing the buying process along in a way that feels like a favor to the consumer.
Anything that makes the customers’ experience easier is going to benefit the business, but aside from increasing sales due to convenience on the users’ part, address verification serves the business in many other ways. One of the main reasons people enter in their address is to link a credit card. By making this a quick and easy process you can more efficiently confirm that an address is authentic and related to the credit card being charged, protecting you from processing a fraudulent charge.
The biggest way USPS address verification helps your business is by increasing the efficiency of the ordering process, saving you time and money. When an address is entered in the proper USPS standard address format, it helps to ensure that the address is comprehensive and correct. This is most important when it comes to shipping out tangible items. When your shipping service provider gets the accurate address the first time, you can expedite you package delivery and clean up your fulfillment process.
Another benefit of knowing the precise address the parcel is being sent to is your ability to better estimate the cost of shipping to the user. Depending on what delivery service you use, you could be charged more for shipments to residences than to businesses. Whether you’re asking the user to pay for shipping or you’re taking on the charge, this information can help you be more informed as a business owner and increase your understanding of the cost shipping is having on your company.
Speaking of business funds, protecting your pocket book is incredibly important to us. In fact, that’s why we offer this service. With USPS address verification, you are cutting down on the costs incurred from packages not arriving. Whether it’s a user error, like a misspelling, or improper formatting that made the location difficult to find, misplaced or returned packages cost the business owner big time. Being able to cut out this expense frees up that incidental money to be used on growing your business, rather than making up for easily avoidable mistakes.
When a product works for you and the customer, it’s a win-win. By accelerating the buying process with address verification, you convenience the user and yourself. Countering human error and ensuring an order is placed with a properly formatted address makes sure that the consumer gets the product they love and that you aren’t wasting money on misplaced orders. Happy customer? Happy business owner? That’s what dreams are made of, folks.
Sign up for our newsletter
