- Accurate address location is important to enable access to services such as online shopping, medical and other physical delivery services.
- Research shows about 19% of failed deliveries are due to inaccurate delivery address details.
- That is why analytics company Lightstone has partnered with what3words to launch a product which enables exact delivery location.
Analytics company Lightstone has launched an address search and location intelligence service to help businesses that rely on accurate geolocations.
It anticipates that Lightstone Search will significantly improve delivery services to customers.
Accurate address location is a point of contention when accessing services such as online shopping, medical and other physical delivery services, said Roger Blewett, geospatial solutions consultant for Lightstone, during a webinar about the new offering on Tuesday.
"About 19% of failed deliveries are due to inaccurate delivery address details, while a further 27% of consumers have had problems entering address information. This can become quite a conundrum in an e-commerce environment that continues to intensify in the wake of the [coronavirus] pandemic," said Blewett.
"Though we all knew that services like online shopping, food delivery and medical accessibility would become more digitised, the impact of Covid-19 has hastened this scenario. Businesses need an accurate geo-enabled and user-friendly checkout facility. Without this, companies will continue having to manage frustrated customers due to lack of delivery whilst wasting resources and money on re-delivering packages."
A Lightstone survey indicates that nearly 62% of shoppers have experienced a late or failed delivery in the last year.
"There is a significant divide in South Africa when it comes to accurate addressing services. The formal sector - where businesses and residences are relatively well indexed in terms of addressing - can easily engage with businesses and services for online deliveries. However, in stark contrast, the informal sector is poorly indexed, complicating access to all forms of service delivery in these areas that house a significant percentage of the population," said Blewett.
"The South African context is one of complexity and inequality is a reality. Customers need to reach businesses and businesses need to know how to get their products to the customer. Correct addresses matter. Our new product brings the formal and informal factors together to ensure deliveries on time."
No national address database
This matter is compounded by the fact that South Africa has no national database of addresses. Lightstone has, therefore, teamed up with solutions company what3words to improve geolocation services.
Repetition of street names, language differences and outdated geolocation information are examples of typical obstacles faced when collating geospatial or address datasets. Even finding the correct address on large lifestyle estates can be a problem. Lightstone's integration with what3words also enables the ability for those without a formal address to access online services.
Phoebe Parry-Crooke, partnerships manager at what3words, said during the webinar that studies conducted by what3words have indicated that 80% of retailers say that customers often don't realise failed deliveries are due to human error when mistyping address details. A further 66% of companies say the accuracy of address details is critical to their business.
Data captured from what3words has shown a marked improvement in a company's ability to provide improved services for their clients.
"We were able to prove that deliveries of local companies in South Africa that used our word-based addresses were 44% faster than simply using traditional address information," said Parry-Crooke.
"The issue of challenges with existing address systems is a global problem, especially in relation to e-commerce deliveries. It is important for the customer experience to be able to communicate exactly where they are located. Some people are blessed with lovely addressing, but not all are."
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