On January 26, 2015, online marketplace Etsy rolled out a new feature to help improve the deliverability of packages for its U.S. customers: USPS address verification. Now, buyers can verify their addresses against USPS records before they make a purchase.
The new feature is good news for sellers too since it saves them the trouble of having to confirm an address before shipping an order. Address edits include: adding the remaining 4 digits of a zip code, inserting an approved USPS abbreviation (e.g., “ST” versus “Street”), etc.
Sellers will be notified when they receive an order that has undergone the USPS address verification process. If an address has not been verified by the buyer, then sellers will be prompted to verify when producing shipping labels.
More information is available on the Etsy website.
How does this fit into the bigger ecommerce picture?
Etsy’s new feature comes on the heels of the U.S. Postal Service implementation of new requirements for their Intelligent Mail Parcel Barcode (IM®pb). The IMpb similarly strives to increase package deliverability by including all the shipping information needed for The Postal Service to track packages from pickup to final delivery.
As ecommerce continues to grow, package tracking becomes increasingly important — both to buyers and to sellers. Verified addresses are one way to ensure that packages reach their destinations – and of course, tracking barcodes provide even greater visibility still.
Expect to see more changes in package tracking coming. We’ll keep you updated on what those changes are – right here on the blog!
For more insight, check out our ecommerce tips and trends page.