As your monthly number of orders and customers increases, your attempts to prevent undeliverable shipments might get increasingly challenging unless you start automating the address validation process.
Why? Tiny human errors like invalid addresses can rapidly become a delivery nightmare for your store, customers, and shipping partners. You have serious reasons to keep your radar on the best Shopify apps developed to ensure a smooth delivery process, including shipping address validation apps.
What is Shipping Address Validation?
Shipping Address Validation is a process that helps you ensure the address provided by your customer is correct and complete. Address validation prevents delivery to an invalid address and all the problems arising from this unpleasant situation, from extra work or shipping costs to a rising number of unhappy clients.
Online shoppers are prone to mistakes as they speed through the checkout process or rely on Google Autocomplete to fill out the shipping address.
Some of the most common address issues eCommerce stores try to overcome are:
- Typos and invalid ZIP codes;
- Missing apartment or unit number;
- Wrong house or street number.
Those “small mistakes” can generate significant delivery delays if your store doesn’t have a functional address validation process.
An automated shipping address validator is the most effective way to verify data accuracy.
Shipping address validation apps are increasingly popular among online businesses that want to switch from checking addresses manually to automating the validation process.
The app automatically verifies addresses, and when inconsistencies are detected, it prompts customers with suggestions and enables them to add a correct address.
You have two validation options when using an address validation app:
- During checkout;
- Right after a customer places an order.
Either way, you want to verify data before starting the delivery process.
If the customer doesn’t add a valid address or select any of the suggested alternative addresses, the issue persists. In this case, the app should allow you to create email notifications for invalid addresses and tag orders so your teams can quickly identify and fix problems.
Once you integrate your store with an address validator app, you gain a competitive advantage and create a micro-moment during checkout that has the power to improve customers’ perception of the overall shopping experience.
Watch the demo below to find how an address validator works and what your customers see when they’re validating their shipping address:
Why is Address Validation Important for Shopify Stores?
An address validator is a must-have if you want to avoid and minimize the short and long-term effects of undeliverable shipments. While Shopify doesn’t have a built-in shipping address validation feature, you can choose a third-party app to prevent sending orders to invalid addresses.
Using an address validation app that integrates with your Shopify store helps you:
Create Better Customer Experiences that Build Trust
Your eCommerce store competes in an experience economy. Customer expectations are high, and one bad experience can ruin all the hard work you put into attracting new customers, keeping existing ones, and building brand trust.
Think of a prospect targeted with multiple ads, browsing your website for a long time. Finally, they decide to make their first order and proceed to checkout. In a hurry, they type the correct street name but the wrong street number.
With no address validator, your store processes the order with an invalid address. On the delivery day, the courier discovers that the address provided by your customer doesn’t exist. The courier’s attempts to call your client for the correct address fail, so the package returns to your warehouse.
Your dissatisfied new buyer requests their money back after a bad first shopping experience and never returns for a new purchase. So, besides the tangible cost generated by this failed shipment, you lost a potential customer who now buys from your competitors.
When you automate address validation, you can avoid most of these situations. The app contributes to a seamless shopping experience and delivery process, which results in more satisfied customers that trust your brand and are less likely to leave you for a competitor.
Reduce the Number of Undeliverable Packages
Thanks to validation APIs, you can reduce human errors during the checkout process and the resources spent on manual verification. The app automatically identifies bad addresses and allows customers to fix them based on suggested alternatives. If they don’t manage to pick a valid address, the app immediately notifies your team and your customers to solve existing problems.
Failed and delayed shipments, package returns, and canceled orders generate costs that affect your bottom line.
Let’s make a simple cost calculation for a store that processes 1500 orders per month, of which 4% are with incorrect addresses. For each order with an invalid address, the redelivery cost is $7, while the support & operations cost is $6. With 60 failed deliveries per month, the store lost $780.
But the store could have fixed 80% of the invalid addresses if they had used an automated address validation tool.
Try the calculator to find the estimated savings and costs for your store.
Benefits of a Shopify Address Validation App
As Shopify doesn’t offer a native shipping address validation solution, integrating your store with a dedicated app is the most effective alternative. Once the integration is complete, you start enjoying the benefits from day one.
Prevent Invalid Addresses
An invalid address occurs when people make one or multiple mistakes while filling out the delivery info, and the order is processed without address verification. The app allows you to catch these errors automatically, during checkout or right after the order is completed, and fix invalid addresses before delivery starts.
Reduce Failed Shipments
New shipment problems arise with each invalid address. Long delivery times, increased shipping costs, and customer complaints affect your profitability and customer relationship quality. When you use an address validator, you reduce the number of failed shipments and save resources you would otherwise spend fixing delivery problems.
Save Customers Typing Time During Checkout
An automated address validator enables a smooth checkout process with intuitive address prompts that draw the client’s attention to wrong or missing information. Your proactive approach makes the customer go through checkout confidently and improves customer satisfaction levels during online shopping sessions.
Enable Address Check Rules
The address check rules in your app help you block undeliverable addresses and prevent failed shipments. Let’s say a customer enters a PO box address and chooses shipping via UPS, but you can’t ship to PO boxes. Based on your rules, the app automatically blocks this address and asks the customer for a valid alternative.
Optimized for Mobile and Desktop Users
Your mission is to simplify checkout and convince consumers they’re making a good choice ordering from you. Along with the friendly user interface, a Shopify address validation app works seamlessly on desktop and mobile devices without slowing down your website or complicating the shopping experience.
Increase Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
The assistance you offer for delivery address validation improves the shopping experience, and customers can rest assured that their ordered products will reach the correct address. People are more likely to return and become repeat clients when they have positive checkout and post-purchase experiences, which allows you to increase sales and customer lifetime value.
Pay as You Go
The price you pay for an address validation app is significantly lower than the costs generated by invalid delivery addresses you haven’t caught on time. For example, if you’d pay a $0.04 fee per shipment and had no additional charges, that cost would be minimal compared to the costs generated by shipping address errors.
How to Use Address Validation in Shopify
To start using address validation within Shopify, you must install an app from the alternatives listed in Shopify App Store, as the e-commerce platform doesn’t offer a built-in solution.
One of the Shopify apps that enables automated address validation is Address Validator, developed by RoboTurk.
The app works for all Shopify stores, no matter what Shopify subscription you have. The installation is effortless and doesn’t require any coding skills. Once installed, the verification API enables automated validation of delivery information.
Address Validator is available for all Shopify stores and processes addresses in numerous countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States.
Installation and Configuration
Address Validator allows you to automate shipping address validation pre-purchase or post-purchase. The difference in the app’s functionality is determined by the capabilities available for your Shopify store type.
1. The post-checkout validation option is available for all Shopify merchants: Shopify Basic, Shopify Plus, or otherwise.
The post-checkout option allows you to validate addresses on the Thank You Page, after the customer has completed their purchase. Even though the validation occurs after checkout, you still enjoy all the benefits brought by the validator.
Watch the video below to learn how to install and configure the app for post-checkout address validation:
2. The pre-checkout validation option is only available for Shopify Plus stores.
Compared to Shopify Basic store, Shopify Plus merchants have extended capabilities and are allowed to add custom code in the checkout process. So, as a Shopify Plus store, you can choose the option that best suits your business.
The pre-checkout validation option allows you to validate addresses during the checkout process, before the customer pays.
Installation for Shopify Plus merchants is explained in detail in this video:
If you need assistance with the installation, our support team is happy to help you make all the settings.
Fully Customizable Interface
We want to help you maintain consistency in the customer interactions, so we offer several customization options:
- Popups and inline embeds – add custom colors and change the messaging to match your brand’s personality;
- Follow-up emails – change the email’s subject line, heading, and body to make it more consistent with your brand and messaging;
- Update forms – change the colors and text to reflect your brand’s look and tone of voice;
- Email domain and address – change the email address, so the emails come from your domain.
Here’s a short walk through our customization features:
If you have any questions or need help customizing the interface, please reach out to our support team.
Install the Address Validator on Your Shopify Store Today!
By installing the Address Validator by RoboTurk, you offer your teams an effective way to solve invalid addresses, and overwhelming failed deliveries become a thing of the past.
The first 100 orders are free, and you need no credit card. Start a risk-free trial and discover the benefits of our fully customizable address validation app.
Give Address Validator a try, and you’ll notice better customer experiences and saved resources from day one.
Shipping Address Validation FAQ
What does address validation mean?
Address validation is the process online stores use to identify and prevent inaccurate shipping addresses that people provide during checkout. Validation allows you to address problems before delivery to ensure online orders reach the correct destination.
Why do addresses need to be validated?
You need address validation because customers might provide invalid delivery addresses. It might be a missing postcode, street number, or an address you can’t ship to, such as PO boxes or parcel collects. By preventing unshippable addresses, you can improve successful delivery rates and cost savings.
How do I verify an address before shipping?
Automated solutions offer great support for your teams, eliminating manual work and reducing failed deliveries. Address validation apps allow you to prompt customers with suggestions for valid addresses. You can also send emails to notify customers about address problems and ensure all address details are correct before shipping.
Does Shopify do address validation?
While Shopify doesn’t offer a native solution, online stores can find several address validation apps in Shopify App Store. When you look for the best app for your business, be sure the developer offers customization options that fit your store type. The app should ensure smooth checkout for your customers, improving the shopping experience.
How much does Shopify address validation cost?
An app’s cost is significantly lower than the costs of failed deliveries. The cost varies depending on the developer. If you choose Address Validator by RoboTurk, you pay $ 0.04 per order, with no additional fees.
