We’ve witnessed ecommerce leaders embrace data – and all its insights and analysis glory, to gain their edge. Retailers have leaned into investing in paid platforms like Shopify to smooth their path to market as well as ensuring they’re able to take advantage of the insights and analysis data that Shopify can provide.
But when the data is poor quality–in that form fields are wrong or missing– there’s only so much that ecommerce platforms can do. Without validating your information at the source, you risk compromising your entire investment as the inaccurate data makes it impossible to draw conclusions or personalise your approach and run an efficient operation.
Fortunately, that’s where Address Validation for ecommerce comes in handy.
What is ecommerce Address Validation?
Ecommerce Address Validation checks and validates a delivery address on behalf of an online store. Through an Address Validation API, you’ll check that the customer’s address exists, is formatted and spelt correctly, and is reachable by the delivery service you work with. Address Validation for ecommerce works in real time to instantly solve address errors, improving customer experience. Be warned though, not all Address Validation tools are the same. Experian address data is powered by the most authoritative sources, Australia Post, Geoscape and New Zealand Post.
Why do Shopify users need Address Validation?
Customers make mistakes
In a rush to get that product shipped to their home, purchasers can make address entry typos and miss crucial fields. It’s not your fault, but it will come back to bite the store because errors lead to – invalid addresses, failed deliveries, frustrated customers and higher expenses relating to product replacements and refunds. These mistakes also skew the data. They’ll limit your ability to forecast sales and profits, predict customer behaviour based on geographical patterns and analyse your overall performance.
An accurate address is likely to result in faster, accurate deliveries. Leaving your customers with positive experiences and willingness to buy again.
Address Validation leads to better insights
With better customer segmentation, ecommerce stores benefit from accurate profiling. This can feed into decision-making, enabling merchants to personalise communications and improve overall conversion rates. IKEA Australia saw a 12% lift in their data quality match rate when they switched to Experian’s Address Validation, this lift then meant a higher campaign return as customers could be correctly identified and segmented.
Address Validation ecommerce app for Shopify
Shopify is the second most popular global platform for ecommerce, it makes sense that dedicated Shopify ecommerce Address Validation is available.
No-code solutions help store owners forego technical installation woes, with simple plug-and-play apps making the installation a breeze.
Consider ease of installation
Experian’s Address Validation is built on the latest checkout extensibility feature, so Shopify Plus merchants can easily set up and configure Address Validation as soon as it is installed. It’s a no-code installation, alternative options can require significant code development. You’ll be able to add Address Validation without redirecting customers to external sites or forcing them to create third party accounts.
Opt for real time autocomplete
Not every Shopify ecommerce Address Validation tool is made equal. Features can vary from a simple verification that the address exists, to entry-point correction and more. But real-time autocomplete could be the most important for your customer.
In 2024, 22% of customers say they’ve abandoned their cart due to a checkout process that’s too long or complicated. But real-time autocomplete works by predicting an address based on the first few keystrokes typed. It means that customers don’t have to type out their entire address and can instead select the correct option from an interactive drop-down list.
Autocomplete is one of the best ways for users to search for address data, as it provides a faster and more seamless checkout experience.
Shopify uses autocomplete to offer 1-click checkout, which multiplies ecommerce conversion rates by 1.72 times. Similarly, Experian’s Address Validation autocomplete simplifies and speeds up the checkout experience, reducing data entry time by up to 80%.
Choosing the right vendor
During last year’s Cyber Week, Experian validated 109 million addresses, including 26 million on Black Friday alone. At its peak Experian delivered a response time of less than 86ms. All of this was delivered while maintaining a Service uptime of 99.95%.
Make sure you select a vendor that isn’t going to let you down when you need them most.
Check international coverage locations
We know that global locations matter, which is why Experian is one of the largest providers in terms of coverage, with 250 countries and territories supported. What’s more, our solution offers 24/7 support by providing hubs in different regions.