Quality of customer data is fundamental to running a thriving business. Poor physical address data always leads to business tragedy – from poor business operations, bad customer experience and lower profit. This notion applies in every situation including the current COVID-19 pandemic environment.
No doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark in history as physical distancing and other restrictions have changed our lives. Practically every activity we took for granted in the past such as going to work, physical shopping, hanging out with friends, or going to the gym – has been changed.
Noticeably, there is a sudden shift from offline to online (digital) environments. Webinars, digital entertainment, virtual doctor visits are examples of solutions where physical contact has been restricted therefore replaced with digital solutions and given a boost to online/telephone ordering and delivery services as well as staff telecommuting. This means bricks and mortar stores and physical office locations have seen a tremendous shift to online shopping and staff telecommuting backed by a substantial growth in delivery of goods to physical addresses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An essential element for successful delivery of goods to support online and telephone ordering is good quality and accurate Delivery Address. An address is also the single most important indicator of risk in any digital transaction. Inaccurate address data can result in shipment delivery to the wrong address, incorrectly post-coded correspondence or to the wrong person, which might cause customer frustration, missed sales opportunities, damaged customer loyalty and destroyed brand image. According to recent Fixing Failed Deliveries report, “19% of failed deliveries are due to inaccurate delivery address details, and the average total failed delivery cost to businesses every year is US$216,171”. It is therefore crucial for customers’ physical delivery address be of high quality and accurate to reduce the level of failed deliveries, increase on-time delivery rates and reduce volume of customer frustration and complaints.
Similarly, empty houses are often used as drop points for fraudulent orders and a large number of packages and mail are often marked “return to sender” that usually costs a business a great deal of money. According to Gary Starr – Executive General Manager – Australia Post in a personal letter dated 15th May 2020 to their clients, “cancelled flights, social distancing requirements and massive parcel volumes have led to significant delivery delays. We understand this may have caused a lot of frustrations….there are some small things that you and your customers can do to help us deliver for you including – Asking your customers to update their delivery address details if working from home”. Therefore, in the current climate of increased online and delivery activities, it is essential for businesses to use verified, updated and accurate address data.
As a marketer, if you have a database with the precise address information, you are also able to gather important facts and statistics about your business. You can start to learn about your audience’s analytics, demographics, spending patterns and ‘what type’ of people are using and choosing your business. At the same time, knowing your customers’ new addresses when they move helps you save money and time as well as increasing your customer satisfaction level.
If you’ve invested in a fully validated and accurate delivery addresses of your customers, (healthy database) and are busy sending out and delivering goods to your customers or staff during this period, you can ensure that your goods will end up in the right letterboxes or to the right recipient.
If you need a database cleansed and updated, get in touch with Datawash, a real-time address cleansing and updating solution provider. We use Australia Post’s Postal Address File and the National Change of Address plus other National Reference information to cleanse and update the information that will bring your business successful ROI, whilst improving customer retention.
Through our National Change of Address and Address Validation solutions you'll ensure that your marketing material, invoices and shipments reach their destination. You'll also reduce wastage and excess print or delivery costs.
Visit us at www.datawash.com.au, register, upload a file and receive a free statistical report within minutes (depending on size of database).