Google vs Ideal Postcodes Address Validation for Shopify Plus

Which Address Finder Works Better for Shopify Plus?  

We recently launched our One-Step Address Validator for Shopify Plus. Many merchants will be familiar with Google’s address autocomplete integration, which is included in Shopify’s standard checkout setup. It's free to use and offers a simple experience, especially for small businesses just starting out. 

However, as your business grows and your delivery volumes increase, address accuracy becomes more important. Incorrect addresses are one of the most common reasons for failed deliveries and fixing them after checkout often leads to extra costs and customer service delays. 

You need to be confident that every address captured at checkout is valid and complete. This is where Google’s solution begins to show its limitations. 

Key Differences

We’ve spent time building the One-Step Address Validator app to ensure that every address, in every circumstance, can be found and selected by the user during checkout. To show how Ideal Postcodes solves issues in data entry, we’ll use the example address:  

Flat B, 100 Brookhill Road, SE18 6TS 

Handling Typos and Variants 

It’s common for customers to mistype an address or enter information in the wrong order, but Google’s integration doesn’t handle typos well. When we test with a deliberate typo, entering "Flat B 100 Brookhole Road" (note the typo in "Brookhole") returns unrelated suggestions. The results shown are not recognisable or relevant to the intended address. 

Google Address Autocomplete

With Ideal Postcodes, the correct address is returned despite the typo. Our system supports fuzzy matching, which means it can interpret minor errors such as misspellings, transposed characters, or missing words. 

It also understands abbreviations and synonyms. Whether a user types "Rd" or "Road", or makes a small typo like "raod", the correct address is returned. This makes the checkout process more forgiving and helps customers find their address faster. 

Ideal Postcodes Address Finder

Sub-Premises and Flats 

Address autocomplete is only useful if it returns the full, deliverable address. This is particularly important in the UK, where many buildings contain multiple flats. 

Entering the postcode SE18 6TS into Google returns only the building, without any mention of the flats inside. This means the user must manually type in their flat number. This can lead to missing or mismatched data, which increases the chance of delivery failure. 

When the same postcode is entered using Ideal Postcodes, a full list of flats is shown. Sub-premises like Flat A–D are all available to select.  

This is made possible by integrating multiple datasets, including the Royal Mail’s Multiple Residence file. This dataset includes detailed information about sub-premises that often don’t appear in standard address lists. By presenting these options at checkout, customers are more likely to select the correct address. 

Ideal Postcodes Address Finder

Confidence in Matching 

Typing "Flat B 100 Brookhill Road" into Google produces a long list of options, some of which look similar but are from different parts of the country. One result even comes from Bootle, simply because "Brookhill" and "100" are part of the string. 

This may appear helpful at first, with more options to choose from, but it’s actually the opposite. Google is inferring missing data and presenting uncertain matches, even when it can’t confirm that they exist. The API documentation even states: 

“The API can't confirm at least one address component” 
“The API inferred (added) at least one address component” 

Or an address component is “Plausible”. 

This approach introduces risk. If a customer accidentally selects a result that only looks similar, their parcel may go to the wrong place. 

Every address returned by our address finder is a confirmed, complete postal address. We never infer missing components or guess the customer’s intent. If an address appears, it is known to national postal data sources and can be confidently used for delivery. Give our address API a try to check results.  

Country and Language Support 

Shopify’s implementation of Google autocomplete only supports 23 countries, as documented in Shopify’s guide. This means customers outside these locations will not benefit from address suggestions at checkout. 

Ideal Postcodes supports a much wider international address dataset, making it suitable for merchants with global customers. We continually expand coverage to reflect customer demand. 

We also support regional language recognition, synonyms, and alternative formats to writing an address. For example, the Welsh town ‘Y Trallwng’ returns all properties correctly, including those with local spellings and non-English characters. Another example is in Spain, where place names often exist in more than one official language (e.g. Castilian, Catalan, Galician, Basque), our tool can match variations to their correct locations. By recognising these nuances, Ideal Postcodes helps customers enter addresses accurately, no matter the language or format. 

Google vs Ideal Postcodes Summary 

Available Now on the Shopify App Marketplace 

You can install the Ideal postcodes One-Step Validatior from Shopify. It's compatible with Shopify Plus and works with the checkout extension framework. 

To get started: 

1. Create a free Ideal Postcodes account, 

2. Follow our Shopify Address Validation documentation to set up the integration 

3. Test the service with 50 free address lookups 

If you have any questions or need assistance, our support team is happy to help.