Whether you run an e-commerce website, a blog, or an online marketplace, the goal is to give your users an effortless, friction-free experience.
In practice, that means making it easy for a visitor to find what they’re looking for and complete their task — checking out, signing up for an email newsletter, or comparing products — without having to think too hard.
For SEO purposes, too, it’s important to have a website that is well-designed, easy to navigate, and uses clear and concise language.
One of the key functionalities of a welcoming, well-working website is address autocomplete. Address autocomplete, also known as address suggestion or type-ahead address, is a feature commonly used in web forms and applications to assist users in quickly and accurately entering addresses.
Address autocomplete is an easy integration that can elevate your website with relatively little technical effort.
In this guide, we’ll break down the reasons why every website should consider adding address autocomplete, as well as some tips for getting started.
Introduction to Address Autocomplete
Address autocomplete is a powerful tool that helps streamline the process of entering and verifying addresses. It leverages user input and an address database to predict and suggest complete address suggestions as the user types.
If you’ve ever used Google’s search box, you’re probably familiar with the autofill feature. Once you start typing, Google will attempt to predict the rest of your query or search term.
Address autocomplete works the same way. When a user begins entering text into a form’s address field, the address autocomplete feature dynamically provides a dropdown list of potential addresses that match the entered input.
These suggestions are based on a combination of historical data, geolocation, and real-time validation against a comprehensive address database. Address autocomplete integrates with address databases and postcode lookup services, ensuring that the suggested addresses are accurate and up-to-date.
Address autocomplete has a variety of use cases. It’s commonly used on e-commerce websites, online order forms, shipping and delivery services, ride-hailing apps, and any other scenario where address verification is crucial.
For consumers, the address form is an annoying, but necessary part of the process of checking out, signing up, or logging in. Alleviating that irritation can help your brand build customer affinity and boost sales.
Improved User Experience
Address autocomplete can help to speed up the process of entering addresses. This is because users can simply type in the first few letters of an address and then select the correct suggestion from the list. This can be especially helpful when entering addresses on mobile devices, where typing can be more difficult.
Address autocomplete makes the process of entering addresses quick and effortless, leading to a smoother and more seamless customer journey. The dropdown autofill feature of address autocomplete means that users no longer have to spend time typing in their full address — which can be not only time-consuming but also prone to errors.
Integration with Shipping Carriers
Address autocomplete benefits shipping partners, too. Especially for e-commerce stores, address autocomplete can streamline the delivery process and reduce shipping errors.
Address autocomplete uses up-to-date data sets to suggest only valid addresses. This can help to ensure that packages are delivered to the correct address and that customers aren’t frustrated by delays or undelivered items due to address errors.
For shipping carriers, address autocomplete helps optimize their operations by providing precise location information for routing and planning.
The integration with shipping carriers also allows for real-time shipping rate calculations, enabling businesses to provide accurate shipping costs to their customers. Using the correct zip or postal code associated with an international address, businesses can make smarter business decisions around shipping rates — including whether to offer free shipping to boost customer loyalty.
Increased Conversion Rates
According to data from the Baymard Institute, 17% of US online shoppers have abandoned an order in the past quarter solely due to a “too long/complicated checkout process”.
When it’s too difficult or time-consuming for a user to input their information, shoppers will simply give up. Not only will you lose a potential sale, but you’ll also end up frustrating someone and leaving them with a negative impression.
Address autocomplete significantly reduces the time and effort required to manually enter the full address, thereby providing a smoother and more convenient shopping experience for the customer. When users find it easier to enter their address, they are more likely to complete the desired action.
And, by combining the convenience of quick address entry with the benefits of accurate address data, address autocomplete can play a key role in boosting conversion rates and improving the overall e-commerce experience.
[Read more: Why Is Address Verification Crucial For Online Stores]
Enhanced Security
Chargeback fraud is a type of fraud in which a person disputes a legitimate charge with their credit card issuer in order to receive a refund.
When a chargeback claim is found to be valid by the credit card company, the merchant will be required to refund the customer’s money. The merchant may also be charged a fee by the credit card company.
False addresses are often used to perpetrate chargeback fraud. In this scenario, the criminal will enter a false address to make a purchase and then claim that the item was never delivered. This is a common tactic used by scammers who are trying to get a refund for a product that they never actually intended to receive.
Research shows that merchants lose an average of $3.75 for every $1 lost to chargebacks and fraud.
An address autocomplete tool prevents users from nonexistent or invalid addresses to carry out fraudulent transactions. By using real-time data from leading postal and geographic information systems, businesses can automatically validate information before it is submitted.
Address autocomplete is an easy way to help to prevent fraudulent transactions from taking place – and prevent even unintentional false addresses from costing your business money.
In addition, address autocomplete can protect the privacy of customers. By suggesting only valid addresses, address autocomplete prevents merchants from collecting and storing inaccurate or incomplete address information. This can help to protect customer privacy and reduce the risk of identity theft.
Reduced Data Entry Errors
Manually entering addresses can lead to errors and inconsistencies, such as misspellings or incorrect formatting.
Address autocomplete reduces these errors by providing standardized and validated suggestions. Users are more likely to select the accurate address from the suggestions, ensuring precise delivery or location information.
The autocomplete feature, combined with the address validation function, uses a combination of algorithms and databases to predict the address a user is entering. Address suggestions are all formatted consistently.
This allows users to select the correct address with a few clicks, reducing the likelihood of entering incorrect information.
Better Data Quality
For businesses, address autocomplete helps maintain high-quality data. By leveraging address validation services or databases, autocomplete ensures that user addresses are complete, accurate, and properly formatted. This result improves the integrity of address data for use across your business operations.
With address autocomplete, your company can reduce the rate of typos, misspellings, and poorly formed addresses that can lead to incorrect data — and can harm the reputation of your business.
Final Thoughts
Address autocomplete is a simple, elegant way to meet many business objectives in one tool.
Provide a better experience for your website visitors by streamlining the process of submitting their information. By offering an autofill feature, customers can complete the form in just a few clicks. Reducing the friction helps remove obstacles in the path to getting what they want: a subscription to your newsletter, a piece of gated content, or finalizing the purchase of a product.
For your business, address autocomplete provides a variety of benefits — starting with higher conversion rates. Prevent customers from abandoning the checkout process by streamlining the steps it takes to input their information.
Likewise, address autocomplete includes address validation to ensure the information you receive is accurate and up-to-date. Correct address information is vital for working with your logistics partners to ensure deliveries are on-time. This functionality also helps you better budget for shipping costs, prevent expensive shipping errors, and lower the risk of chargeback fraud.
Finally, correct address information is useful for your other business functions. Address autocomplete reduces errors in your customer database by providing standardized formatting, without misspellings and typos. Marketing, customer service, and sales teams all need accurate address data to help your business grow.
Perhaps most importantly, address autocomplete allows you to eliminate invalid addresses and redelivery fees. With Address Validator, the ROI is clear: with a few simple steps to installation, the address autocomplete function can start reducing your redelivery costs immediately. Plus. you only pay for what you use.
Learn more about address autocomplete and try Address Validator for free.
