Are bad addresses failing your business?

Poor addresses are no one's fault but everyone's problem. Learn how adding a what3words field to your checkout page with nopCommerce helps you collect more precise address information at checkout helping to make deliveries smoother and solving the issues of poor addresses.

In the years leading up to 2020, the world experienced an eСommerce boom. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this growth, with retail eСommerce sales rising by 25.7% in 2020¹. Today, customer expectations are at an all-time high, and with businesses offering same-day and one-hour delivery, competition is fierce. It’s now more important than ever to provide a good delivery experience.

Failed and late deliveries have a negative impact on customer experience and cost businesses time and money, from the customer service agents attempting to resolve issues over the phone, to the couriers redelivering the parcels. In 19% of failed deliveries, the cause cited is inaccurate addressing².

What’s wrong with addresses?

A survey by what3words found that 74% of people have had friends, services and deliveries struggle to find their front door³. That’s because map pins often drop in the centre of buildings, rather than at entrances or dedicated delivery points.

To add to the problem, street names are often duplicated – there are 14 Church Roads in London for example. New build addresses take a while to be added to databases, and in rural areas, homes often have names, not numbers, making it harder for delivery drivers to find the right house.

What’s the impact?

Leading address management service, Loqate (GB Group plc), found that 41% of customers place blame on the retailer if their order is late2. According to Accenture’s 14th Annual Holiday Shopping Survey, 56% of consumers say they won’t shop with a retailer following an unsatisfactory delivery experience⁴.

What’s the solution?

While GPS coordinates are very accurate, they’re hard to remember, easy to get wrong, and just not very human-friendly. Customers need a simple way to share exactly where they want their goods delivered. It should be:

• Precise enough to indicate a front door or delivery bay
• Easy to add to a checkout page or delivery information
• Simple for couriers to find and navigate to
• Human-friendly

what3words’ innovative address system is a solution. It has divided the world into 3 metre squares and given each square a unique address made of 3 random words. For example, ///filled.count.soap identifies the exact location of what3words HQ’s front door.

Every front door, back entrance and delivery bay has a what3words address. When added to a regular street address, the 3 words make delivery information more precise and reliable so couriers know exactly where to go. It's equally important for fashion, electronics, beauty, healthcare, food and beverage eСommerce, etc.

nopCommerce now offers a free plugin that can be switched on to add the address field to your online checkout

It gives customers a convenient way to say exactly where they want to receive their deliveries, and supplies your delivery provider with that exact location. AutoSuggest, what3words’ smart error detection feature, helps spot mistakes by suggesting locations in a drop-down list, improving user experience. Many logistics companies, including Hermes, Aramex, Metapack and DB Schenker are already set up with what3words. Even if a logistics company isn’t yet fully integrated, adding a what3words address at checkout provides extra information for drivers, who can use the free what3words app to find the location.

This means customers receive a great service all around, from your seamless online checkout to a timely, no-hassle delivery. Merchants also benefit from better reviews and repeat business.

Join thousands of businesses using more precise addresses by adding the free plugin to your checkout page.

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