How Does a Website’s Address Autocomplete Function Work?

Chances are you use the address autocomplete function regularly when you buy anything online, and you don’t even notice. The address autocomplete function may seem simple automation, but it is powerful. It can help any user experience (UX), product, or marketing team create more successful onboarding, checkout, and information-capture flows.

The reason is simple: eliminating errors. An incorrectly filled-out online form can have minor to major consequences. One is delays due to the wrong shipping address. Another would be bringing an order to the wrong destination. Companies can eliminate inefficiencies, improve the checkout flows, and minimize expensive errors.

Matters of Scale

When anyone fills out a form online, several issues can arise. These include putting in the wrong information, typos, and abandonment. These challenges add up for large companies with a high volume of transactions. That can result in more work for logistics and substantive financial losses.

Address autocomplete is especially important when end-users are hurrying to check out or using a mobile device to make purchases. Manually typing in an address increases the likelihood of mistakes, leading to delivery issues.

The best way to help customers complete their transactions is to reduce the amount of information they must type in manually. Most end-users may not even notice the address autocomplete in progress, but it is a great help for the business.

Organizations can enhance their data quality by utilizing address autocomplete as part of their long-term strategic planning. Precise address data can assist in identifying potential marketing campaigns, loyalty programs, and proactive customer support initiatives. It can also facilitate site planning for future store locations.

How does the address autocomplete function work?

The address autocomplete function uses an application programming interface (API) you can integrate with your checkout process. With this capability, an e-commerce website can verify the address, phone number, and email in real time as the customer types them in.

The program corrects information using address verification software. It accesses a national data set and aggregates multiple reference sources into a consistent, reliable single-best record. Companies can instantly access complete, accurate, and validated addresses almost anywhere globally.

The address verification software uses geospatial data, official postal authority, mapping, and other relevant datasets. It will standardize information into the official format used by local postal authorities in the US. High-performing software can validate address information and auto-populate forms with minimal lookups.

How To Choose an Address Autocomplete Solution

When choosing an address autocomplete solution, ensure it can scale with your business. The ideal address autocomplete API functions as a core part of your technology stack, meaning the process will seem invisible from your customer’s perspective. The following capabilities are essential for an effective solution:

• Building unit data. The ideal database includes apartments, suites, rooms, floor numbers, and the address of the outer building. Customers should be able to find internal units.
• Tech stack integrations. Good address autocomplete solutions are customizable for multiple business use cases, so you can integrate address autocomplete capabilities into your tech stack. They are easy to install and integrate with various eCommerce platforms.
• Simplified UX. Address autocomplete technology aligns with how people typically search for addresses in different countries, formats, and languages. Fuzzy matching effectively captures an address even when there are misspellings, typos, and other input errors.
• Location detection. The solution orders result in the geographic proximity of the user. It automatically detects where the user is when matching addresses. That enables you to create a single checkout form for all clients.
• Scalability. It can support high-volume transactions quickly, enabling you to process thousands of queries a minute.
• Quality data. The ideal address autocomplete API accesses data from reliable data sets, like the national postal services, where updated and complete address information is available.
• Cross-device compatibility. The technology should support customers’ natural cross-device browsing experience.

Address Autocomplete Makes It Easy

Companies can devote attention to more strategic business areas with an address autocomplete platform. Less time spent fixing issues resulting from customer address typos means more time for innovating, expanding technical capabilities, and launching creative campaigns. An address autocomplete function integrated into your website means streamlined processes and a better user experience.