Like the best and most exciting car races, competition in the auto industry is often fast and furious. When vehicles need repair – as they inevitably do – customers demand speed and efficiency to acquire spare parts.
Queensland-based OnlineAutoParts.com.au has taken the wheel with both hands to meet this challenge and drive its success through the use of technology.
Since its founding in 2006, the company has been focused on its mission to deliver high quality auto and 4×4 spare parts and accessories directly to customers in Australia and overseas at competitive prices.
OnlineAutoParts’ Chief Technology Officer, Alberto Gomez, says the company had long sought an address validation API that could help bolster several key aspects of its online operations including shipping quotations and delivery.
To solve these online fulfillment challenges, the company recently implemented Intech’s IQ Office address validation API.
“There are quite a few options for address validation out there, but the biggest issue we needed to address was capacity,” says Gomez.
“When you’re trying to do thousands of validations per day, that’s where the costs
can really go crazy. Our site can receive up to 5,000 orders in a day, so we
need our API solution to be fast and capable of handling such traffic. Intech’s
solution provided all the capacity that we needed.”
Whilst on-line shoppers were previously required to only provide a postcode to get a quote on parts and shipping, this often led to resistance at the checkout stage where a full address field was required for delivery details.
“It’s daunting when you go to a website to order something and you just want to get in there and pay for it, but then you have to fill in ten different fields with your details before you can proceed,” says Gomez.
By using Intech’s API, OnlineAutoParts solved this through implementing a rapid type-ahead and predictive address validation feature which enables easy capture of a full validated address at the quote stage. The address is then pre-populated at the checkout, resulting in a marked reduction in buyer friction.
“The potential for cart abandonment at this point is a real challenge, so minimising five fields into one reduced that customer pain point, which helped a lot.”
In rolling out this solution, Gomez adds, “What stood out most about Intech’s API was how easy it was to integrate. The address validation has also been especially useful to rectify and validate incorrect address information passed though via platforms such as Amazon and eBay to our courier delivery partners.”
Gomez also attributes the solution’s success to Intech’s flexible and supportive guidance for its implementation.
“At the beginning, it was hard for me to establish a timeline for when this project was going to be completed, because I couldn’t find the right partner,” he says.
“With Intech, I found a lot of flexibility and they asked me a lot of questions about what we were expecting to do with the site, which countries we wanted to sell to, and our expectations for address validation.
“They got us started on a demo, which meant I was able to really get to understand their API, test their services and their claims for the solution, because obviously, some salespeople make bold claims about what their product can do but when put into service, it’s a different story.
“It was good to be able to test the waters with Intech, who proved that their API solution was actually doing what we expected.”
Office IQ address validation – a powerful tool for online retailers
As attested to by OnlineAutoParts, Intech’s address validation software serves as a powerful tool for online retailers to streamline the checkout process, reduce
shipping errors, and improve customer satisfaction.
It does this in several ways:
1. Speeding up and simplifying the checkout experience
Autofill and real-time address lookup features improve the user experience during checkout, reducing typing errors and the time it takes to complete an order. This encourages higher cart completion rates and more satisfied customers, reducing cart abandonment and checkout friction.
2. Reducing failed deliveries and returns
By verifying and correcting customer addresses in real time, the number of
packages that get returned or lost due to incorrect or incomplete address
information is significantly reduced. This cuts down on unnecessary costs and
prevents the delays and frustrations that come with chasing lost packages.
3. Improving data accuracy and consistency
Address validation software standardises and parses address formats, ensuring
consistency in related customer databases. This in turn reduces confusion for
carriers and helps keep CRM, ERP, logistics and other business management
systems in sync.
4. Improving marketing and customer communications
A clean, validated address database can be used in marketing campaigns without the waste of sending catalogues or mailers to invalid locations. This ensures that promotional materials and customer follow-ups actually reach the intended recipients, increasing the effectiveness of campaigns.
Overall, address validation software is vital for any online retailer looking to maximise efficiency, lower operational costs, and keep customers happy from the moment they click ‘Get a quote’ until the package arrives at their doorstep
Learn more about address validation and
IQ Office from Intech Solutions.