What Does an Incorrect Address Cost? How Good Input Validation Saves Your Webshop Money
Need input validation for your webshop? Save costs, prevent returns, and increase customer satisfaction with smart address checking in your checkout.
One incorrect address seems like a small problem. But when you calculate the real costs, it is surprising. The investment in address validation pays for itself with the very first error you prevent.
What Goes Wrong with an Incorrect Address?
An order with an incorrect address typically goes through this process:
- Package is delivered to the wrong address or returned
- Customer contacts customer service
- You investigate the order and contact the carrier
- You resend the package (with a new shipping label)
- Customer is frustrated — returns the package or buys from a competitor
What Does Such an Error Cost on Average?
| Cost item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Return shipping | €4 – 7 |
| Customer service time (15–30 min) | €5 – 10 |
| Resending | €4 – 7 |
| Total per incorrect address | €10 – 25 |
If you have 10 incorrect addresses per month, your losses add up to €100 – 250 per month. And that is without the indirect costs: negative reviews, lower customer satisfaction, and lost repeat purchases.
The Solution: Real-Time Address Validation
With address validation at checkout, you prevent 95% of all address input errors. The customer only fills in the postal code and house number — street and city are automatically completed from the official address registry (BAG for the Netherlands).
That means:
- No typos in street names
- No swapped postal codes and cities
- No missing house number additions
How Does It Work with ApiCheck?
Customer types: 1092CX + 12
API returns: Linnaeusstraat 12, Amsterdam
The form automatically fills in the street and city. The customer immediately sees whether it is correct and does not need to make any corrections.
Quick Calculation
How many returns per month do you have due to incorrect addresses? Multiply that number by €10 to €25 — that is your current monthly loss. ApiCheck costs you less than one prevented return shipment with the Small package (€4.95/month).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this also work for Belgian addresses? Yes, for Belgium ApiCheck offers an autosuggest feature where the customer starts typing the street name and sees matching options.
Do I need technical knowledge? Not if you use WooCommerce, Magento 2, or Contact Form 7. Our free plugins are installed in a few minutes.
Is customer data stored? No. ApiCheck does not store any data. The API checks the address and returns the result — without logging personal data.