Missing Postcodes Cost Online Businesses £146m a Year, Says Postcode Anywhere
New research shows poor address data is to blame for poor service and missed deliveries
Worcester, United Kingdom, April 14, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Incorrect delivery addresses cost online UK businesses over £146m every year, according to a study released by Worcester-based IT firm Postcode Anywhere this week.
The Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) and Postcode Anywhere report found that every year 5.8 million items ordered online failed to deliver first time because of an error in the address.
Postcode Anywhere MD Guy Mucklow said: “It’s shocking that in this day and age we still can’t seem to fill out our addresses accurately. But the problem doesn’t lie with the customer: more often it’s a result of poorly-put-together online forms and ill-conceived data capture.
“E-commerce businesses are shooting themselves in the foot if they take shortcuts with their address forms. According to our results, every delivery that fails due to an incorrect address costs an average £25.50 to put right, through refunds, redeliveries and wasted man-hours.
“Averaged out, current levels of delivery inefficiency add 70p to the cost of every single parcel dispatched in the UK, and 75p for every delivery.
“Clearly, there is a strong argument for e-tailers to take more care in how they collect customer information. It even affects customer service levels: as consumers, we’ve probably all experienced the frustrating scenario of being forced to select a US state from a drop-down box, or abbreviate words because they won’t fit in the fields.
“While we’ve learnt missed delivery levels are high, it also seems likely that even more customers will never go through with the order in the first place if they meet with a particularly troublesome form.
“Solutions do exist which make the purchase process quicker for customers, and ensure addresses are captured accurately and easily. In fact, by installing technology that auto-fills an address from a UK postcode - such as that available from Postcode Anywhere - e-commerce vendors can sidestep these problems altogether.
“Postcodes collected from online forms cannot be underestimated – they’re even useful for delivery drivers’ sat-navs.
“We asked our customers, and two thirds of them said they’d noticed a reduction in the number of items lost in the post after implementing address auto-fill technology. Over 70% agreed it reduced shopping cart abandonments.
“But as this study shows, although many of the big names in e-commerce are wise to the benefits of address auto-fill and validation, a significant percentage of vendors can’t see what they’re missing.”
The research made findings representing more than 12 million online consumers, 3.5 million active online shoppers and almost 800 million home deliveries.
To see Postcode Anywhere’s award-winning range of UK and international address auto-fill and validation software, visit www.postcodeanywhere.com.
###
Media contact
Jim Williams – PR Executive, Postcode Anywhere
jim@postcodeanywhere.com
+44 (0) 1905 888 570
Press Centre at: http://www.postcodeanywhere.com/press-centre/
Press Pack download: http://www.postcodeanywhere.com/assets/PDFs/press-pack-2010.pdf
Notes to Editors:
About Postcode Anywhere
Postcode Anywhere has been providing address services for ten years and is the fastest-growing reseller of Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF). A multi-award-winning organisation, it has also appeared in successive Deloitte fast-growth European technology company lists.
Postcode Anywhere supplies software and services which improve the day-to-day operations of over 8,000 organisations worldwide. Best known as a provider of address auto-fill and verification software, the company offers a range of data-driven services, including route planning and customer profiling.
For more information about Postcode Anywhere, please visit www.postcodeanywhere.com.
Notable Awards and Recognition for Postcode Anywhere
· Named in 2009 Deloitte Technology Fast 500
· Dell Small Business Excellence Award (UK finalist) – 2009
· Small-Medium Sized Business of the Year (regional finalist) - National Business Awards 2009
· Named in 2008 Deloitte Technology Fast 500
· Orange Best Use of Technology (Midlands) - 2008 National Business Awards
· Best Use of Technology in an Emerging Business - European Retail Solutions Awards 2007
· ITC BET Award 2007
· Orange Best Use of Technology in Business - National Business Awards 2006
· Best Growth Through Use of Technology - Sage Daily Telegraph Business Awards 2005
· Most IT-Enabled Small Business (less than 500 employees) - Computing Awards 2005
· Best Address Management Software - Smart Awards 2004
The Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) and Postcode Anywhere report found that every year 5.8 million items ordered online failed to deliver first time because of an error in the address.
Postcode Anywhere MD Guy Mucklow said: “It’s shocking that in this day and age we still can’t seem to fill out our addresses accurately. But the problem doesn’t lie with the customer: more often it’s a result of poorly-put-together online forms and ill-conceived data capture.
“E-commerce businesses are shooting themselves in the foot if they take shortcuts with their address forms. According to our results, every delivery that fails due to an incorrect address costs an average £25.50 to put right, through refunds, redeliveries and wasted man-hours.
“Averaged out, current levels of delivery inefficiency add 70p to the cost of every single parcel dispatched in the UK, and 75p for every delivery.
“Clearly, there is a strong argument for e-tailers to take more care in how they collect customer information. It even affects customer service levels: as consumers, we’ve probably all experienced the frustrating scenario of being forced to select a US state from a drop-down box, or abbreviate words because they won’t fit in the fields.
“While we’ve learnt missed delivery levels are high, it also seems likely that even more customers will never go through with the order in the first place if they meet with a particularly troublesome form.
“Solutions do exist which make the purchase process quicker for customers, and ensure addresses are captured accurately and easily. In fact, by installing technology that auto-fills an address from a UK postcode - such as that available from Postcode Anywhere - e-commerce vendors can sidestep these problems altogether.
“Postcodes collected from online forms cannot be underestimated – they’re even useful for delivery drivers’ sat-navs.
“We asked our customers, and two thirds of them said they’d noticed a reduction in the number of items lost in the post after implementing address auto-fill technology. Over 70% agreed it reduced shopping cart abandonments.
“But as this study shows, although many of the big names in e-commerce are wise to the benefits of address auto-fill and validation, a significant percentage of vendors can’t see what they’re missing.”
The research made findings representing more than 12 million online consumers, 3.5 million active online shoppers and almost 800 million home deliveries.
To see Postcode Anywhere’s award-winning range of UK and international address auto-fill and validation software, visit www.postcodeanywhere.com.
###
Media contact
Jim Williams – PR Executive, Postcode Anywhere
jim@postcodeanywhere.com
+44 (0) 1905 888 570
Press Centre at: http://www.postcodeanywhere.com/press-centre/
Press Pack download: http://www.postcodeanywhere.com/assets/PDFs/press-pack-2010.pdf
Notes to Editors:
About Postcode Anywhere
Postcode Anywhere has been providing address services for ten years and is the fastest-growing reseller of Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF). A multi-award-winning organisation, it has also appeared in successive Deloitte fast-growth European technology company lists.
Postcode Anywhere supplies software and services which improve the day-to-day operations of over 8,000 organisations worldwide. Best known as a provider of address auto-fill and verification software, the company offers a range of data-driven services, including route planning and customer profiling.
For more information about Postcode Anywhere, please visit www.postcodeanywhere.com.
Notable Awards and Recognition for Postcode Anywhere
· Named in 2009 Deloitte Technology Fast 500
· Dell Small Business Excellence Award (UK finalist) – 2009
· Small-Medium Sized Business of the Year (regional finalist) - National Business Awards 2009
· Named in 2008 Deloitte Technology Fast 500
· Orange Best Use of Technology (Midlands) - 2008 National Business Awards
· Best Use of Technology in an Emerging Business - European Retail Solutions Awards 2007
· ITC BET Award 2007
· Orange Best Use of Technology in Business - National Business Awards 2006
· Best Growth Through Use of Technology - Sage Daily Telegraph Business Awards 2005
· Most IT-Enabled Small Business (less than 500 employees) - Computing Awards 2005
· Best Address Management Software - Smart Awards 2004
Contact
Postcode Anywhere
Jim Williams
+44 (0)1905 888 550
www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk/
Jim Williams
+44 (0)1905 888 550
www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk/
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