Address Autocomplete API for eCommerce

When an online order is placed, the customer must enter a complete and accurate address. But entering an address is easy to mess up, especially on mobile devices. Overzealous autocorrect or simply typing too fast can lead to typos and missing digits in the address fields. These errors can create a bad user experience and increase cart abandonment. An ecommerce website can greatly improve customer experience by adding an address autocomplete tool to its registration and checkout forms. An address autocomplete tool uses an application programming interface (API) to correct and validate addresses in real time as customers type them into form fields on your website or ecommerce platform.

A high-performing address autocomplete API can suggest addresses as a user begins to type, reducing the number of keystrokes needed to input an address and improving form completion rates. The best address autocomplete tools use verified address data sets that aggregate multiple reference databases into a single, consistent and reliable single-best-record, providing users with instant access to accurate and relevant results. An ideal solution will support secondary unit designators, such as apartment or suite numbers.

Not all address lookup and autocomplete solutions are created equal, however. Some, like Algolia’s autocomplete API, will predict addresses based on only the first few characters of the house-number-street-city-state input and not the entire address. Such inaccurate information can create problems with shipping or billing, and will result in extra costs and delays for the business and its customers.