Address validation is a way to capture full addresses through a drop down either on your website or internal data tools. We can help ensure that any address you collect is identifiable and deliverable
Address Validation and How it Works
There are two popular ways to validate an address on a form. They are Postcode Lookup and Address Finder.
Each of these methods allows users to enter a part of their address and select a full and complete address in moments.
Postcode Lookup
Enter your postcode, find your address from the drop down options and the address fields will be filled in with the completed address.
Address Finder
In just a few keystrokes and a response time of less than 100ms, address validation will autofill their address details on the checkout form. Address finder includes fuzzy matching, which is a smart search feature that corrects typos or any errors as users type.
Address validation can be integrated by developers, however there are a few ways to implement it to your application. Deciding which solution to use? Read our Postcode Lookup vs Address Finder guide.
Key Benefits
Save Time and Money
Verifying customer addresses will reduce costs by avoiding failed shipments or undeliverable orders. Failed deliveries cost businesses a lot of money and can affect their brand reputation.
Accurate and Up-to-date Data
Royal Mail updates the addresses daily in their address management system, known as the Postcode Address File (PAF). There are over 1.7 million postcodes recorded in PAF and 30 million delivery points. There are times where properties are not found and this is because they may be in the Multiple Residence or Not Yet Built databases outside of PAF.
Multiple residences in the UK are sub-premises situated within multiple occupancy buildings, and the dataset consists of up to 800k addresses. Not Yet Built lists residential and commercial premises that are under construction or in the planning stage, which contains about 500,000 premises.
View our missing addresses guide for more information.
Improve Quality of Data
Remain consistent with your customer data by ensuring the addresses are in a uniform format. Address validation can help enterprises ensure standardisation across platforms. View more information on correctly formatted addresses recognised by Royal Mail.
Fight Fraud
Avoid fraudulent addresses and purchases by verifying accurate address data when accepting orders through your website.
Improve Staff Efficiency
You can integrate address validation software into your CRM or internal data tools for your sales or marketing teams. They will be able to validate addresses easily whilst on the phone with customers and avoid costly errors.
Customer Segmentation
By gathering correct client addresses you will be able to improve customer service and enhance targeted marketing initiatives.
Customer Satisfaction
For small and medium businesses, accurate customer address data is crucial for efficient operations and high customer satisfaction. Your customers will have a great user experience when they can complete online address forms quickly. Address validation helps SME businesses reduce customers bounce rate and increase conversions.