Address validation can be a critical ingredient in eCommerce delivery success. With the rise of online shopping, it has become increasingly important to ensure that the addresses entered by customers are accurate and up-to-date. Even the slightest mistake in an address can result in a failed delivery, which costs you financially and damages the overall customer experience.
The bigger and more accessible eCommerce becomes, the more important address validation is likely to be. Online deliveries are reaching more and more remote areas than ever, where getting the minutest details wrong could completely derail a delivery. More and more customers means more and more businesses are starting up too - and with that competition increases. One failed delivery could be the final straw that has a customer switch to a competitor and lose faith in your brand entirely.
Just how harmful are failed and repeated deliveries to your brand perception and profit margins? We've compiled some eye-opening statistics that show just how important it is that you nail your deliveries - or catch a wrong address before the order leaves your warehouse.
How Address Validation Can Save You Money
One of the primary ways that address validation can save you money is by reducing the number of failed deliveries. When an order is delivered to an incorrect address, it can result in a return shipment, which can be expensive for both the retailer and the customer. In addition to the cost of shipping, there are also handling fees and other costs associated with a failed delivery.
6% of first-time eCommerce deliveries fail in the UK, costing an average of £11.60 per order, which scales to a huge £68k per year. Even if these numbers don't map perfectly to your business, it's clear there's a huge amount of money being lost on issues that can be easily resolved. A small tweak to your strategy could see a huge leap in profitability, just from ensuring addresses are correct before your orders are shipped.
Another way that address validation can save you money is by reducing the amount of time and resources that are spent on customer service. When a customer's order is delivered to the wrong address, it can lead to a customer service issue that needs to be resolved.
This can take up a significant amount of time and resources, and can also result in a negative customer experience. By using an address validation tool, retailers can ensure that the correct address is entered in the first place, reducing the number of customer service issues related to failed deliveries.
How Address Validation Can Improve Your Brand Perception
In addition to saving money, address validation can also help improve customer satisfaction. Finally, address validation can also help to improve the overall efficiency of the delivery process. When orders are delivered to the correct address, they are more likely to reach the customer in a timely manner, which can improve the customer experience and increase customer satisfaction. This can lead to repeat business and positive reviews, which can help to build brand reputation and customer loyalty.
The flip side is what impact a negative delivery experience can have on your business. 23% of surveyed individuals said they would no longer order from a company who failed to accurately deliver their item, while 21% said they 'lost trust' in the dispatching retailer.
What's more, 17% suggested they had advised family and friends to avoid retailers with whom they had a bad delivery experience. A poor delivery experience may not just harm your relationship with an existing customer, but also ruin acquisition of new customers, too.
Shiptheory Address Validation
At Shiptheory, we have our own Address Validation tool for eCommerce retailers looking to improve their delivery success rate and enhance the customer experience. Retailers using Shiptheory can automatically block deliveries that don't match an address, or if it's close to a recognised address, it can auto-correct to increase the chances of a successful delivery.
One of Shiptheory's customers, We Tree Kings, delivers high-value Christmas Trees. They use Shiptheory's address validation to increase their delivery threshold and keep customers happy with timely deliveries, even during the busy holiday season. By using Shiptheory's address validation software, We Tree Kings was able to reduce the number of failed deliveries, improve customer satisfaction, and increase the overall efficiency of their delivery process.
The team at We Tree Kings mentioned previous years had been marred by failed deliveries. With cargo as large and time-sensitive as Christmas trees, failed deliveries were something they needed to avoid at all costs. Davey Wallace of We Tree Kings mentioned the final straw was finding out a delivery had ended up at the wrong address 2 days after the apparent successful delivery. This drove them to use Shiptheory's address validation software to increase delivery success, and they haven't looked back since.
Get Started with Address Validation
In conclusion, address validation is an important tool for eCommerce retailers to have in their arsenal. By reducing the number of failed deliveries, improving customer satisfaction, and increasing overall delivery efficiency, address validation can help retailers save money and improve the customer experience. So, if you haven't already, it's time to consider implementing an address validation solution for your eCommerce business.
If you're an existing Shiptheory customer and are interested in getting address validation up and running, or are looking for a shipping automation platform with the ability to switch on address validation, get in touch with one of the Shiptheory team today. You can also read more about it in our Address Validation Support Guide.
