Retailers urged to clean address data for faster deliveries

Poor quality address data is an issue for retailers when it comes to providing a fast and efficient delivery service, with research highlighting that 71 per cent of businesses blame delivery failures on inaccurate customer address data.

This is to be expected with 20 per cent of addresses provided online containing errors, and data on customer databases decaying at around 25 per cent a year as people move home, get divorced and pass away, according to our own findings.

Also, incorrect address data doesn't support sustainability efforts. Expect to experience an increase in fuel consumption, and therefore expense, as couriers unsuccessfully attempt to deliver to an address that is inaccurate, and then return to sender. It costs retailers on average £11.60 (about $16) per misdelivery, although it can be considerably higher for big ticket items.

Then there's the extra expense of correcting the address and redelivery, which results in delayed fulfilment, and overall delivers a poor customer experience which drives customer churn.

The solution is to have address cleaning processes in place, which includes address verification and cleansing, as well as obtaining geocodes to provide a smooth last mile fulfilment.  

Begin with address verification

By starting with address verification it's possible to confirm that an address exists, is deliverable and valid. Though ascertain if the service has access to data from postal operators, otherwise it's not possible to guarantee the address is real, exists or is usable for fulfilment. Using postal operator data correct, standardised addresses are obtained, which as well as speeding up deliveries supports optimised routing which leads to reduced miles driven per delivery, with lower fuel consumption and emissions.

Avoid using Google Maps or a search engine to check the accuracy of addresses, because they don't usually have access to postal operator data.

When it comes to international logistics address verification is even more important, because each country has its own address format which can cause logistics and fulfilment issues if the address is not correctly standardised and validated.

Address lookup / autocomplete

Address lookup and autocomplete services support address verification at the customer onboarding stage. These tools automatically provide the correct address when the customer begins typing theirs. This helps to avoid errors caused by fat finger syndrome, speeds up the path to checkout, thereby reducing the risk of cart abandonment, while supporting a standout customer experience. 

Similar technology enables real time verification of email and phone data at first contact, strengthening these critical datasets.

Data cleansing and deceased flagging

A vital part of the data cleaning process is data suppression or data cleansing. These services clean address data and help to standardise address formats, as well as highlight those customers who are no longer at an address.

Having access to the National Change of Address (NCOA) database is an essential part of this approach. Available in the UK and US, and some other countries, it highlights those who have moved, and provides their new address. By having quick access to the new addresses of customers who have changed residence retailers will be able to maintain a speedy and accurate fulfilment process.

In addition to removing incorrect addresses data cleansing services should include deceased flagging. This helps to avoid sending mail and other communications to the deceased, sparing their friends and relatives unnecessary distress.

Consider a data-cleaning SaaS platform

Delivering data quality in real time has never been easier. A scalable data-cleaning SaaS platform can be deployed within hours and, as a standalone solution, requires no coding, integration, or extensive training to use. This technology can cleanse and standardise names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers worldwide using authoritative data sources from government agencies, credit bureaus and utility providers. It can do so as new data is being collected, and with held data in batch on-premise. Such a platform is not only available as a SaaS, but can also be accessed as a cloud-based API, and via connector technology like Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce.

Geocoding for delivery accuracy

Once you have an accurate address use geocoding technology to turn it into a geocode. This is important because with latitude and longitude (rooftop level) coordinates delivery to the customer is swift. This level of insight is crucial, particularly when different properties may share an address, such as a plot of land or the street edge of a driveway.

With different conventions for address formats around the world geocoding is valuable when it comes to global deliveries. For example, while the UK uses city, street and house number, in Japan buildings are referenced by the number of the block they belong to, and within each block buildings are numbered as well. Sometimes it's done by order of construction, so the numbers don't necessarily follow each other.

In summary

It is time to ensure that misdeliveries, which are costly in monetary and customer experience terms, become a thing of the past. This requires putting processes in place that deliver accurate customer address data at both the customer onboarding stage and held data in batch. It's something that's straightforward and cost effective to implement.