Faster address entry for shoppers in the UK, Ireland, Singapore, and the Netherlands
Typing a full address at checkout is one of the slower parts of any online purchase, especially on mobile. Our Shopify app now includes a postcode lookup that lets shoppers find their address from a postcode or postal code in a single step, filling the address form for them.
The app is available for Shopify Plus merchants using Checkout Extensibility. Postcode lookup is particularly useful for merchants whose customer base is concentrated in the UK, Ireland, Singapore, or the Netherlands, since postcode-first entry can be quicker than typing an address in full.
Because postcode lookup and native address autocomplete are both included in the same app, you only need to install once to get access to both.
TL;DR: Ideal Postcodes' Shopify app now offers postcode lookup at checkout for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, and the Netherlands. A postcode search appears above the delivery address form, and selecting a result fills the address in one step. The lookup adapts its label to the destination country and only appears for supported countries. It works independently of the native address autocomplete, so merchants can use either or both.
Address autocomplete has become the default way to speed up address entry at checkout, but postcode-first entry remains one of the fastest options in the countries where it's supported. In the UK, Ireland, Singapore, and the Netherlands, postcodes and postal codes are precise enough to narrow the address to a single building or a small set of addresses, which makes postcode lookup particularly efficient.
Shoppers type fewer characters, and the address that ends up in the order is a verified, correctly formatted one. On mobile, where every avoided field is a real gain, that adds up to a noticeably smoother checkout.
The flow is designed to feel familiar to shoppers who've used postcode lookup elsewhere:
A postcode search field appears above the delivery address form at checkout.
The shopper enters their postcode and clicks Find address.
A dropdown appears with the matching addresses.
Selecting one fills the address form in a single step.
The search field label adapts to the destination country, so the wording matches what shoppers expect:
Postcode for the United Kingdom and the Netherlands
Eircode for Ireland
Postal code for Singapore
The search field label adapts to the destination country, so the wording matches what shoppers expect:
The lookup only shows when the shipping country is one of the supported four. For all other destinations, it stays hidden, so international shoppers see a normal checkout without an unusable search field.
Postcode lookup and native address autocomplete are two independent features in the same app. Shoppers can use whichever suits them, and merchants can enable one, both, or neither.
Postcode lookup tends to work best when the shopper already knows their postcode and wants to skip straight to picking their address from a list. Native autocomplete, which populates suggestions directly inside Shopify's checkout fields as the shopper types, tends to work better when they're happy to start with the address itself. If you'd like more detail on the native autocomplete side of the app, we've covered that in our Shopify address autocomplete blog post.
If you already use our Shopify app, updating to the latest version gives you access to postcode lookup. Setup involves two things:
Add the app block to your checkout, if you haven't already. This is a separate step from selecting the app as your address autocompletion provider. Our documentation covers this in Add the App Block to Checkout.
Enable postcode lookup in the app settings. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > One-Step Address Validation > Settings, and tick Enable Postcode Lookup. If you were previously using the classic search box, consider unchecking it so shoppers only see one address search above the form.
If this is your first time integrating address tools with Shopify, our full Shopify integration guide walks through the installation. You can also find the app on the Shopify App Store.