How wrong addresses can mess up your delivery system

Companies that deliver orders face challenges pretty often, and one of the most simple reasons some packages never reach a customer is an incorrect address. Mistakes in shipping addresses are fairly common and can be a challenge for companies.

In this article, we’ll discuss what causes addresses to be incorrect, how it impacts companies’ deliveries, and how to fix the issue.

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Wrong addresses: whose fault is it?‍

Ecommerce website forms. Some website forms don’t allow customers to enter important delivery information, such as their apartment number.

Some forms may have only one text field for the address, resulting in incomplete information. The less you help your customers provide a shipping address, the more likely you are to receive incomplete information.

In order to make sure that you have the correct address and better assist your customers, you should use a system that will auto-suggest an address to customers once they start entering their information. They will then be able to select their address from a menu.‍

‍Customers’ lack of attention. Wrong addresses can sometimes result in a customer entering their delivery information too quickly, misspelling a word or forgetting a number.

It happens to all of us. We order something online and we get too excited or want to fill out the purchasing form rapidly. We don’t notice that we might make a mistake in the shipping address — a missing letter, the wrong number, a detail we forgot to mention, such as the apartment number or entrance door code.

Filling out a form can be annoying, and impatient people will try to rush it as they are eager to complete the transaction.‍

Brick and mortar errors. Some customers will place their order in-store but ask for home delivery. They will give their address to the vendor, who will enter the information in the system to schedule a delivery. However, vendors might make mistakes when entering the address.

They can mishear what the customer said and type in the wrong number or street name.

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Wrong addresses: a real problem for companies

While it might seem like a minor issue, an incomplete or misspelled address can be a problem for delivery companies. An incorrect address may even cause a package to bounce back, which can be costly for companies as they will have to pay twice for the shipment fees.

While incorrect addresses are sometimes the customer's fault, most companies pay to re-ship the product. However, it can be costly for low-margin companies, and delivery costs will quickly add up. 

According to an EasyPost survey, 4.7% of customers make mistakes when filling out a form. While shipping costs for one package might not seem too expensive, it is a different story when it happens to hundreds or thousands of packages a year.

If you deliver 100,000 packages each year, at least 47,000 parcels may not be delivered on the first attempt and will have to be shipped again once the address has been corrected.

Also, if a package is delivered to the wrong street number because there was a typo in the address, a neighbor might keep the parcel, and the customer might never get it. Therefore, the company will have to send another parcel.

Here are several reasons why an address might be incomplete or wrong:

• The system couldn’t verify the address
• Several addresses were found for the customer
• Some information was missing (e.g., apartment number, suite number)
• The postal code was invalid
• The street name was invalid
  

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An issue particularly expensive for big box deliveries

While no company likes to pay twice for a single delivery, wrong addresses are usually even more expensive for big box deliveries. The reason is that big box deliveries imply unloading and installation time, sometimes taking more than one hour. Companies schedule this time for each delivery. 

If the driver cannot find the customer's home, they will have wasted time. Learn more about big box deliveries in this blog.‍

Negative impact on the customer relationship

Although wrong addresses can sometimes be the customer’s mistake, companies never want to blame them. Instead, they'll want to leave a good impression in order to have the customer purchase from their store again. 

Most customers value delivery speed and might get upset if their package takes double the time to arrive. If they think your company is not efficient in delivering products quickly, they might not purchase again from your brand.

The delivery is the last part of the customer’s buying journey. Therefore, it is the last impression customers will have on your business. They might enjoy the product they receive but will most likely remember if their package was delayed.

Missed deliveries, as we’ve mentioned in this blog, can seriously impact a company’s delivery costs. While some missed deliveries occur because the customer is not home, others fail due to an incorrect address in the customer's profile.‍

Wrong addresses can easily be avoided

While wrong addresses can mess up your deliveries, they can easily be corrected. In order to correct them, you will have to make sure you are using delivery software that will automatically notify you of the wrong addresses you’ve entered.

It is very simple: you enter your customer’s information manually. With a CSV file or using API, the platform will notify you of the orders with incomplete, wrong, or misspelled addresses. When you intend to save the orders prior to creating a route, you will receive a notification with the list of the incorrect addresses.

Sometimes addresses will just miss a space or a postal code, which the system will suggest to you when you try to modify the address. Click on the address and a list of suggestions will appear so that you can correct it with the information provided.

This will only take a few minutes, and you will then be able to validate your deliveries for the day and be ensured all addresses are correct.‍

Meet CIGO Tracker

CIGO Tracker is a delivery management software that allow companies to automate their delivery operations. Its intelligent route builder allow them to create routes and dispatch orders in only a few clicks.

Curious to learn more? Schedule a demo today.