Ecommerce automatic address verification

Automatic address verification combines address prediction technology (autocomplete) with verified address data to minimize the potential for a database to contain invalid or incomplete addresses. This one doesn’t involve email addresses, just mailing addresses.

Automatic address verification (AAV) is like a smart assistant that checks, corrects, and formats addresses in real time to prevent delivery issues. When someone starts typing their address, the address autocompletes it with suggestions, reducing errors and speeding up checkout.

Address verification then verifies the address in real time by cross-checking it with authoritative address data, ensuring it’s accurate and deliverable. If there’s a typo or missing detail, AAV corrects it automatically while standardizing the format to match postal guidelines. It then enriches the address with extra information surrounding the address so you get the whole picture.

So, what’s the big deal? Without automatic address verification, packages could be delayed, sent to the wrong place, or lost. That’s a lot of wasted money, time, and energy.

Your guide to unlocking greater success with address autocomplete and verification is finally here. Are you so excited?! Maybe not? That’s ok. We’re excited enough for everyone. We’re accurate address nerds. 🤓

Smarty is the address data leader who isn’t afraid to let you try the product before you buy, so go ahead and test these bad boys out for yourself, or keep reading below to be even more convinced that automatic address verification is a key to your success.

Here’s an outline of the incredible knowledge we’re about to drop:

• What is automatic address verification?
• How does automatic address verification work?
• Why does automatic address verification matter?
  • Cost of incorrect data
  • Checkout perfection and revenue gains
• I already have autocomplete. So, I don't need verification, right? (Wrong!)
  • Error proofing your data
  • Address changes
  • Data blending
  • Extra sweet details at your fingertips
• Choosing the right address data provider
• Conclusion

What is automatic address verification?

The word “automatic” in the phrase “automatic address verification” (automatic address validation) refers to the real-time address suggestions that populate as a user types.

Smarty’s address autocomplete suggests only verified/validated customer addresses, while other providers offer invalid addresses. Address verification checks that an address match can be found from authoritative official databases (like the one that the USPS maintains). The process is the same for the US and international address validation.

The difference comes in what databases are used to verify addresses. Combining these two forces creates an automated address verification system named Chuck, and he's practically unstoppable. We tried to stop him once, but he just verified our location and kept going. 🦶🏼👊🏼💥

We’re guessing you want to know how to automatically verify an address. You need autocomplete and verification technology. They’re the power couple that creates your customers' most efficient and wonderful ecommerce experience.

Integrating an automatic address verification process keeps your database squeaky clean (fixing invalid addresses and removing duplicates), boosts your organization’s operational efficiency, and makes for bigger checks in your favorite financial institution.

How does automatic address verification work?

From the first keystroke, your customers see a list of verified addresses in a drop-down menu. Smarty’s products further narrow down to the most relevant suggestions as customers continue typing until they see and select their postal address (mailable by the USPS) or non-postal address (also known as non-USPS addresses).

Even if an address contains a PO box or is the number of a home in the back of a mobile home park, Smarty’s location-based services can find and verify it.

Verification also comes with a ton of extra data surrounding the input address, so you and your team can use business rules to optimize internal operations (such as determining shipping methods based on which companies can service specific locations, etc.).

Simple enough!

Why does automatic address verification matter?

With more people shopping online than ever, the global ecommerce market will reach $7.4 trillion in 2025. However, customers have loads of options to choose from, so creating an exceptional personalized customer experience (CX) is vital for your company.

Implementing an automatic address verification solution is one of the top ways to impact the user experience and prevent any errors in real time for a speedy checkout. This checkout guide offers more ideas for creating the best checkout process. Make sure you’re checking off all the boxes because when you get it right, customers will return to purchase from you again.

Getting it wrong and not using address autocomplete and verification to tag team accuracy on your forms could cost you significantly more money.

Cost of incorrect data

The typical pain points in ecommerce checkout are cart abandonment, delivery errors, high return rates, and customer dissatisfaction (1-star reviews, anyone?), and the numbers don’t lie. Many of these pain points are entirely avoidable by just adding automatic address verification to your business operation behind the scenes:

• 98.1% of address errors are eliminated with verification systems. How many poor address formats could be corrected in your dataset?
• Returns are expensive, but an address verification service and autocomplete solutions could save you an average of $30 per return.
• 21% of customers abandon carts due to complicated checkout processes. Address autocomplete shortens the time and effort required to type in and get a standardized (correctly formatted to the local postal authority like the USPS for US addresses or La Poste for France) and verified address into a checkout form. It’s a simple way to boost conversions and make customers happy.

Experian reports that companies believe that, on average, 26% of their data is inaccurate.

If your checkout process isn’t optimized with automatic address verification tools, you’re leaving money on the table and frustrating your customers.

Checkout perfection and revenue gains

Autocomplete speeds up checkout by reducing keystrokes by about 78%, making it easier for customers to enter their correct address in your checkout or registration process the first time.

Enhancing the customer experience

First, let’s say your customer lives on 123 Main Street, Springfield, IL 62074.

✖️Without autocomplete: Your customer must manually type their full address into your form (risking typos or invalid/wrong addresses with every keystroke.) If they continue their checkout (18% of people won’t), they’ll pay for their order, including shipping costs (or maybe you will if you offer free shipping), and patiently wait for the item to arrive. But, if there’s even one incorrect address element (like a little typo), their package may ship to the wrong address, leaving your support team to deal with their annoyance, paying to handle and reship the package and possibly eating the cost of the initial order since there’s no guarantee the first item will successfully return to you.

✅ With Smarty’s autocomplete: Accurate, correctly formatted, verified addresses will immediately populate in a drop-down after your customer types any key. Addresses are narrowed down further as the customer enters additional information. In about 1/5 the time of entering an entire address, the customer selects their address in the drop-down list, and voilà - your database captures the officially standardized, verified address.

Note of interest: More than 50% of your customers abandon their carts if the checkout process takes over 30 seconds! Address autocomplete helps keep their momentum going.

Speed isn’t the only consideration for autocomplete; you also want a solution that includes as many complete addresses as possible. Smarty’s addresses are complete, which means they include each component of the address, including secondary numbers, such as floor, suite, apartment, lobby, PO box, etc. We call this out because not every provider includes these numbers, which are vital to a successful delivery.

What if your customer lives in a rural area? Don’t worry—we also accurately locate those over yonder non-USPS addresses.

You can configure autocomplete tools in multiple ways to suggest addresses as accurately as possible. For example, you could make it so addresses are populated based on your customer’s city+state (derived automatically from their IP address). Maybe you only ship to certain states or cities. You can structure autocomplete so that it only suggests addresses in those areas. Whatever makes sense for your business, you can set up autocomplete to suggest the most relevant addresses for your customers.

Pretty sweet, right?

I already have autocomplete. So, I don't need verification, right? (Wrong!)

So… why do you need an address verification service if you already have autocomplete? It sounds like autocomplete does both already.

GREAT question!

Error proofing your data

Address verification software eliminates costly spelling errors, fat-finger errors, and duplication errors before they happen, and having an address autocomplete solution that only suggests validated addresses is a great start, but what if any of these things happen:

• You’re currently using a less accurate autocomplete like… maybe Google? and the address data provider is suggesting invalid addresses to your customers. 😮
• After your customer selects their validated postal address from the populated list, their cat walks across the keyboard, inserting a typo. The customer quickly removes their cat, glances over the screen, and then moves on to the next step in the checkout but misses the typo. Without verification, their incorrect address is now in your database, and you’re paying for their mistakes.
• The city updated an address (not even the customer knows!)
• During a customer service call, your service team member updates the address manually in your dataset. Perhaps they get it completely right, but have you ever worked a customer service job? These people are tired and human and might make a mistake. (psst! This can easily be solved by having autocomplete power your internal form entry, as it only suggests valid addresses and limits the number of keystrokes required for an accurate address to be entered into your database.)
• Despite your helpful autocomplete suggestions, a customer manually enters their address. Some people have to be in control, or maybe they really like to hear the clickety-clack of the keys as they type. 🤷Human error can strike once more.

AND, those are just the human-error-prone ways that prove address verification software is important for your organization. There’s also a need to validate addresses again whenever you acquire additional data to be merged into your own. If you're getting data from sources that don’t standardize or validate their addresses, you could be prone to duplicate addresses, invalid or incorrect addresses, and all the messy and expensive headaches related to them.

Address changes

Additionally, even a correct address changes over time, sometimes without notifying those it affects. Streets are renamed to honor local heroes (changing from a numeric street address to a name format address). New construction shakes up roads and adds physical locations or natural disasters wipe out entire structures that have been rebuilt differently. Growing institutions and corporations are given unique ZIP Codes to assist with a postal service’s mail delivery. All of these things are completely out of your control as a business owner. 😥

Automatic address verification is the X factor that protects your organization from human errors and changes that occur behind the scenes.

Data blending

Another huge benefit of an automatic address verification process is seamlessly blending data with a persistent unique identifier (PUID) included with Smarty’s address verification products.

Have you ever needed to merge multiple customer orders, shipping records, and loyalty program data to get a full view of your customers? If so, this can be a huge pain because these datasets come from different sources and formats. Not to mention, variations can occur each time a customer or your team directly enters data. One person might write "123 Main Street," while another enters "123 Main St." Even small differences can prevent you from correctly linking records, and then, your data is all messed up. 😭🔥

With Smarty’s address verification, you can easily blend the data from your:

• CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho)
• Email marketing platforms (Klaviyo, Mailchimp)
• Loyalty programs & purchase history
• POS systems (Square, Shopify POS)
• Marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Walmart)
• Web analytics (Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics)
• Warehouse & inventory management systems (NetSuite, ShipBob)

With Smarty’s persistent unique identifier (PUID), SmartyKey™.

SmartyKey makes sure that (no matter how it's entered) every address in your system has an unchanging ID (we use a 10-digit code). So, regardless of how many hands are in the data, you’ll be able to:

• Merge records accurately from different data sources with varying formatting and convert them into the same standard format.
• Human proof your data sets, so even if a customer or an internal team member types an incorrect input or formats address differently each time, your system will recognize it as the same location.
• Standardize addresses across all platforms (e.g., checkout pages, CRM, shipping system).
• Keep addresses up to date by regularly validating them.

Extra sweet details at your fingertips

Address autocomplete is great at validating addresses upon entry, but address verification gives you the extra information your business needs to determine deliverability, understand shipping costs, and get the whole picture of an address before making any marketing moves or expansions.

In addition to maintaining confidence and reliability in your database, more incredibly useful features of address verification are the 55+ metadata points included for each address like:

• Residential vs. Commercial indicator (RDI): RDI insight helps you choose the most cost-effective shipping method. Since residential deliveries often cost more, it also helps you avoid overspending and ensures efficiency in last-mile delivery.
• Latitude and Longitude (geocodes): Coordinate for optimized delivery routes, provide accurate ETAs, and ensure drivers arrive at the correct location — reducing failed deliveries.
• County and Region: These are tied to an address to automate tax calculations, create targeted marketing campaigns, and improve distribution planning.
• Census and Demographic Codes: These give you access to demographic insights, allowing you to customize your marketing campaigns, product recommendations, or promotions to match the preferences of your target audience.
• Time Zone: This is linked to the customer’s address to assist you with appropriately scheduling emails, SMS messages, and delivery windows to reach customers at the right time — improving engagement and conversion rates.
• Delivery Point Validation (DPV): This indicates whether an address is deliverable by USPS or not. It helps you prevent shipping to undeliverable addresses and choose the best logistics carrier, all while reducing failed deliveries, returns, and customer service headaches.

And those are just a few ways to use metadata in conjunction with address autocomplete and address verification services. If you want to learn more, you can head over and read case studies.

✖️Without verification: Your dataset will contain address aliases and duplicate records (costing you extra money in direct mail campaigns like it was for the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota), your data set will contain inaccurate data (costing you money in angry customers, reshipping costs, administrative time to fix orders, annoyed customers who didn’t get timely deliveries, and incorrect inventory counts), and your marketing approach will be less targeted than you think it is.

✅ With Smarty verification: Your business relies on the data to make accurate business decisions, so cleaning your database should be routine, fixing any spelling mistakes made by new additional staff, making sure every address is in the correct standardized format, eliminating the need for manual verification and save you time and money. As many as 2 billion addresses a day are processed for improved accuracy and efficient deliveries, all while avoiding costly errors. 🙌Then, even if someone in the renaming jurisdiction tries to throw a wrench in your streamlined ecommerce experience, you’ll be ready with your awesome address data quality and enjoy peace of mind.

Why do you need an automatic address verification solution?

• Because you want boosted checkout speed and accuracy
• Because you want cart abandonment rates to decrease and conversion rates to increase
• Because delivery failures have high direct and opportunity costs
• Because you want to build customer trust and loyalty
• Because you like making more money
• Because customer satisfaction IS NOT having to type in your postal code
• Because the answer to your problems is right in front of you, easy to set up, set, and forget.

You need an automatic address verification provider.

Choosing the right address data provider

There are a lot of considerations to make before jumping into a contract with the first shiny, new provider you see. Here are a few questions (and what their answers SHOULD be) that you should ask a provider before signing the dotted line.

Do you provide real-time address verification software and autocomplete, with address autofill suggestions?

A: Yes! We provide autocomplete capabilities worldwide and tell you the accuracy of our results so you can check your contact and recipient addresses for accurate mailing. Real-time address verification happens behind the scenes at incredibly fast speeds, and we will fix any address correction that is needed. Our address database is updated monthly and includes 20 million non-postal/non-USPS addresses for the most comprehensive approach.

Is your solution scalable?

A: Yes! We have many international clients who use Smarty for address lookup and address validation in 250 countries or territories. Our address correction tools can be easily integrated with virtually any system or line of work, including ecommerce, insurance, healthcare, real estate, and telecommunications platforms. Whether you’re using USPS or Royal Mail, you’ll find the accurate delivery address. We can also help you find each country's different address format requirements. You’ll say goodbye to address entry errors with address data verification software.

How hard is it to get started?

It’s not hard at all. In fact, it’s super easy. Smarty's accurate address solutions are designed to be straightforward and user-friendly. Get a 42-day free trial and explore address autocomplete and verification to create an automatic address verification system. See for yourself how quickly you can be up and testing with this autocomplete quick start guide.

Are you ever going to give me up, let me down, run around, or desert me with the wrong addresses?

A: Gotcha! Ha, just kidding. This ain't no Rick Roll.

Our support team is made up of real humans who speak freely and without a script. They know how to walk you through the most simple to the most complicated tasks, and they sit at our headquarters next to the developers who built our stuff, so even if our support doesn’t know, they’re near someone who will.

Do you have rooftop geocode accuracy?

Yes, we’re known for having best-in-class rooftop geocodes and providing you with hyper-accurate latitude and longitude. If we can’t get you rooftop geocodes (it’s rare, but it does happen), we let you know the level of accuracy we can provide for all coordinates in our address database. You’ll have confidence that you’re getting accurate and transparent mailing locations so postal services deliver your packages without a hitch. Zip 9 geocodes are included with address verification.

How many addresses can you process in a second?

Address verification starts at 25,000 per second for limited-lookup plans. Spoiler alert - that’s super, super fast. Address autocomplete results appear in milliseconds (response time: ~27ms), ensuring a seamless user experience.

Conclusion

Address autocomplete and verification are a dream team for improving your checkout process and achieving business growth. Autocomplete makes things fast and easy for your customers, while verification steps in behind the scenes to double-check that every address (existing and those coming in from 3rd parties) is accurate and ready for delivery without hindering user experience. When you use both, you can cut down on shipping issues, save money, have even happier customers, boost conversions, and create more productive staff from reduced returns and a lack of angry customers shouting, “Where’s my order!?”

The best part? You can now try address autocomplete and address verification using your current address. No smoke and mirrors, no complicated setups, just pure address-verifying goodness. Sign up for a 42-day free trial with the leader in address verification and address autocomplete solutions, and we won’t even ask for your credit card. You can also just play around on our API playground to experience address validation technology, address autocomplete, or even geographic coordinates finders on your own.

Ready to join the automatic address verification API party? Choose any of the links at the top of the article. You know you want to click them. 🔮Your future self and current staff will thank you for making high-quality data part of your business processes.