Why address verification is essential for your business

Are your customer addresses up-to-date? Have any of your customers moved since the last time you checked their address?

Outdated, inaccurate customer address data can cost your business a lot of money and waste a lot of time. From typos when entering an address to a customer moving to a new home, it’s surprisingly easy to have incorrect address information.

That’s what makes address verification so important for your business. By validating addresses, you make sure your customer data is clean and accurate. This helps your packages and mail reach their destination on time.

What is address verification?

Address validation is the process of checking an address for inaccuracies and fixing any problems. Address verification tools from Experian look for inaccuracies in your existing address lists. When an incorrect address is found—whether it’s due to incomplete street data or improper formatting—the system fixes the mistake. Real-time tools can also be used to check customer data as it enters your database.

4 Address verification benefits

1. Improve the customer experience: Have you ever ordered a package that arrived long after the expected delivery date? You probably didn’t order from that company again. On-time arrivals make customers happy and ready to purchase from you again. It’s important to create a good customer experience—starting with accurate addresses for on-time deliveries.
2. Increase delivery speed: The right address formatting can potentially increase delivery speed. An address with the wrong formatting may make it to its destination, but it will likely take longer to be sorted and sent to the right distribution facilities. Address verification standardizes address formats, so shipping companies don’t have to spend as much time processing the package.
3. Save money: Address verification saves your business money. For example, a valid address gets delivered to the correct address the first time, saving you the money you would otherwise spend on reshipping a package to the correct address.
4.  Save time: You’ll also save time when you verify your address lists. Each time a package or mail is returned to your business, you lose valuable minutes and hours updating the address and reshipping the package. By using address verification, you’ll also save time you’d spend dealing with upset customers who are wondering why they haven’t received their packages. Finally, your employees won’t have to manually update address records or delete duplicate entries.

Address verification benefits in action

• Retail businesses: Whether you offer local deliveries or just want to send marketing mailers to the community, you’ll want to make sure you have the correct addresses for local customers.
• eCommerce shops: Online retailers often exclusively deliver goods through the mail. That’s why customer addresses need to be correct. You might also have customers around the globe and need international address verification to make sure you have the right formatting. With address verification, you can get packages to customers on time—whether they’re across town or the world.
• Business professional services: If you’re a business that works with other businesses, like a business bank or lawyer, you can use business address verification to make sure you’re sending important documents and files to the right address. Company address verification works just like residential verification using the latest business address data.
• Service providers: Businesses like plumbers, landscapers, and on-site computer repair companies rely on accurate addresses to get to customer appointments on time. With address verification, service business owners can feel confident knowing your crews are headed to the right location each time they make a service call.
• Restaurants: More and more restaurants are exploring delivery as an additional dining option for customers. Investing in real-time address verification helps you collect the correct address from the start, so your deliveries arrive fresh.

Keep addresses clean and updated

Having a database of clean, up-to-date addresses is important for your business. On-time, accurate deliveries and service not only help you save time and money, but also give your customers a better experience. Happy customers are often repeat customers who will recommend your business to their friends and family.

Learn more about validating addresses by working with Experian’s data quality team. Contact us today to get started with a free trial.