An addressing system fit for 21st century e-commerce

Existing addressing systems are not suitable for the rapidly modernizing world of e-commerce. Postcodes and zip codes cover large areas, road names are duplicated or sometimes simply aren’t available. All of these issues can make delivering goods and services effectively incredibly difficult and inefficient.

what3words provides a solution. By dividing the world into 3m squares and assigning each one a unique combination of three dictionary words, they have made it possible to refer to any precise point in the world with just three simple words. From exact delivery entrances, loading bays to spots in parks and fields – suddenly places that previously were very difficult to describe are now easy. This revolutionary system opens up new possibilities for the world of e-commerce not only in its potential to solve a lot of the inefficiencies around finding locations but also in the raft of new possibilities for where deliveries can be made.

When a delivery fails, everyone loses. Time is wasted, goods are lost and customers have a frustrating experience that often backfires on the retailer – compromising their experience and making them less likely to shop there again. By implementing what3words as an accepted location for deliveries, customers are able to offer up an exact location for where they want their goods delivered and those that are getting them into their hands know precisely where they are headed.

How it works is simple:

Customers can access the free what3words app or mapsite to discover and choose the precise 3 words for the location of where they want their parcel delivered – maybe a front door, a side passage or even the middle of a field at an event.  When checking out on page they enter the 3 words into a simple address field, made available by one of our range of plugins.

Our technology for e-commerce businesses allows your business to convert these 3 words into GPS coordinates that can then be used in any route optimization, delivery or logistics tools. For smaller businesses or delivery solutions it is also possible to navigate via the what3words app – simply by opening it up, speaking or entering the 3 words and choosing to navigate to the 3 word address, whereby the precise location is passed to your preferred navigation app like Google or Waze.

With 3 word addresses available in over 35 languages, what3words is already used effectively by e-commerce and delivery partners around the world including Aramex, DB Schenker, Blujay Solutions and Shop&Ship.

To find out more about how what3words could game-change your customer experience, get in touch with Pierre.

Pierre François speaks on this topic at Connecta Bern.