Among the hidden costs incurred by e-commerce merchants come from incorrect or unverified shipping addresses. This can be especially prevalent if you are using the services of third party carriers, since you can't immediately disrupt the shipping process once you've spotted an error.
Fortunately, these carriers have built substantial databases with standardized and verified addresses. By registering your business to UPS, FedEx, or USPS, you can then use their database on your own website for verification purposes.
Connected Business's e-commerce module integrates Address Verification into your workflow. Our solutions are optimized to analyze shipping and billing information in real time, so that your shoppers can continue to have a hassle-free shopping experience. Using such services cuts down on inefficiencies and improves your bottom line.
What Are Potential Shipping Surcharges?
If the address printed on your order does not match up with your third-party carrier's database, at least two types of unplanned expenses may be added to your costs.
First, the carrier might try to correct the address. This will add around $12 to your expenses if you're using UPS or FedEx. A second scenario occurs if an alternate address cannot be found and the package is deemed undeliverable. If this is the case, it will then be sent back to you at your expense.
Applying Address Validation features to your checkout page minimizes such issues. When a new customer has typed in a new shipping or billing address, the verification process is automatically activated. If the address does not exactly match database records, a pop up window appears showing suggested address formats.
The check-out process also allows shoppers to override the suggestion and continue to enter the shipping address on their own. This way, you can balance the need for validated addresses and your customers' preferences.
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Getting Started
We support address validation using three major verification databases: FedEx, UPS, and USPS. Before activating address validation through your web store, make sure that you have a fully functional account for either of these carriers.
You can learn more about setting up an account through these links:
- FedEx Web Services
- UPS Development Kit
- USPS Merchant Web Tools
Once you have integrated your address database account into the Connected Business system, you need to configure your Shipping module. To further learn how to set up address validation for your web store, read our online documentation demonstrating the process. You can also contact are Support Team to implement address validation in your business.