Singapore Post Address Validation: Features, Shortcomings, and Alternative
Did you know that the number of ecommerce frauds in Singapore has sharply increased, from 4762 in 2022 to 9763 in 2023? Moreover, the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority in Singapore had to suspend their online change of address service. It was because scammers were accessing the individual address and altering the details. What is common between them? It is the lack of address verification.
If you don’t cross-check the address before using it for any purpose, such as delivery or analysis, you risk becoming a fraud victim. Moreover, an unverified address can lead to misdelivery and inaccurate marketing decision-making. The Singapore Post launched SGLocate, the national address verification solution, to prevent this.
This blog will examine SGLocate and its features, benefits, and shortcomings. We will also explore what makes PostGrid a suitable alternative to SGLocate.
Key Takeaways
- Singapore Post’s official address validation and verification solution is SGLocate. It provides an API that checks the information and a dataset that helps maintain address records.
- It provides businesses with instant verification and autocomplete suggestions. It also offers a tool to find a location’s postal codes and accurate address information, all to maintain a clean database.
- It ensures accurate, on-time deliveries and enhances customers’ experiences. Its insights will help create highly targeted marketing strategies that yield desirable results.
- SGLocate is an expensive tool that does not offer verification for addresses outside Singapore. Additionally, it provides only limited information and does not allow batch verification.
- PostGrid is a better and more holistic address verification tool than SGLocate. It is a cost-effective solution that offers international address verification, rooftop geocodes, and many other features.
What is Singapore Post Address Validation?
Singapore Post designed SGLocate to simplify the collection and verification of postal addresses in Singapore. In addition to preventing fraud, it ensures address accuracy, which can help businesses ensure correct package delivery and proper communication with customers. It also allows companies and developers to access precise, up-to-date postal information to enhance operational efficiency. SGLocate works in two ways.
- SGLocate API is a cloud-based web API that businesses can integrate into their websites, web forms, mobile applications, and desktop applications. A few lines of code help verify and validate the addresses within Singapore by cross-checking them with the Singapore Post. The API also provides geocodes and autocomplete suggestions.
- SGLocate Datasets: This is the set of postal addresses that businesses can use for various purposes. It helps them create and maintain a database of verified and validated addresses with latitudes, longitudes, and autocomplete suggestions.
Features of Singapore Post Address Validation
Find a Postal Code
If you are looking for the postal code of an address, you can use this tool. You can get the details through three options, which are as follows:
- Street: To get the postal code, you must provide the building, block, or house number and street details.
- Landmark: Here, you must enter the name of a prominent building near your address, and the tool will provide the postal codes.
- PO Box: To get postal codes through PO Box details, you must provide the type, number, and location of the PO Box.
Instant Verification
It verifies addresses in real-time to ensure accurate delivery of service. As the customers type in the address, it will cross-check them with the postal records of Singapore Post and return a verified address of Singapore. For instance, you can verify the address while making a phone booking. This will prevent the possibility of delivering to an inaccurate or fictitious address. With instant address verification, the possibility of delay in order fulfillment is prevented. You don’t have to wait for an external system or manual intervention to check and correct the address.
Address Autocomplete
When the customer types an address, it offers autocomplete suggestions about properties in Singapore. This feature speeds up data entry and prevents mistakes like typos or missing information. Customers who spend less time entering and correcting the address are more likely to complete the purchase, as the process appears seamless.
Database Maintenance
Using SGLocate, a business will always have access to up-to-date and accurate address information. This information can help prevent delays or misdelivery. It can also reduce the frequency of lost packages and returns, saving the business significant costs. Additionally, timely and accurate deliveries will result in fewer customer complaints, thus enhancing the customer experience.
Moreover, the insights can help analyze customer distribution patterns and optimize service areas, ensuring judicious resource allocation and improving the marketing return on investment. Furthermore, instant verification will save you time you will invest in manually checking and cleaning the records.
Geocoding Data
Knowing a place’s latitude and longitude enhances the delivery’s accuracy. SGLocate provides coordinates up to the general building or street details for addresses in Singapore. Shipping and delivery companies can use this information to route their logistics and ensure precise delivery. Additionally, geocoding can help verify whether the given address aligns with the region where the transaction occurs. This detects fraudulent activities due to mismatches in shipping and billing addresses.
Benefits of Singapore Post Address Validation
Correct Deliveries
It checks the address at the point of entry and provides valid suggestions for addresses in Singapore. It reduces the possibility of typos, incorrect addresses, or incomplete data. Moreover, the system converts the address into longitudes and latitudes, matching it to a known location on a map. These features help the business avoid misdelivery or delay.
Optimized Market Targeting
Address analysis can prove instrumental in segmenting customers and attracting them with tailored marketing campaigns. Using SGLocate, you can categorize your customers in Singapore based on city, region, and postal codes. Based on the insights, you can create and run promotions or ads specific to the location. This will ensure that the message resonates with the needs and preferences of the local customer, thus maximizing the impact.
Moreover, combining address data and demographic insights will help marketers understand untapped or under-targeted regions. They can use this information to know where the demand is growing or where the competition is less active and expand into new and profitable zones accordingly.
Daily Updated Address Data
The SGLocate address database is updated daily. Your business will only have up-to-date and accurate address information for customers living in Singapore. If you have customers in Singapore, you can integrate this tool into your website or application to ensure correct communication and delivery of packages and services.
Enriches Customer Experience
Businesses with verified addresses can ensure the package is delivered to the right place the first time. Customers who receive the package on the expected date are satisfied and willing to purchase more. Additionally, when businesses segment customers based on addresses and send relevant and targeted promotions and advertisements, they feel valued, which increases the likelihood of responses.
Transparent Pricing
Although expensive, SGLocate is transparent about the different packages it offers and how much it charges for its services. Its website provides a proper breakdown of the cost. There are no hidden charges, and the prices of all the optional variables you might want to verify, such as floor or coordinates, are mentioned. If your demand exceeds the packages it offers, you can contact them to discuss prices for your custom plans.
Also Read: Limitations of Singapore Post Address Validation
No International Address Verification
Both the SGLocate API and dataset only provide verification and maintenance services for addresses in Singapore. Businesses that cater to a global audience will find this restrictive and challenging, as the lack of address verification for countries besides Singapore can lead to misdelivery. The inability to verify foreign addresses might also lead to misrouted packages. You must spend additional money on address correction, manual verification, and package reshipping.
If customers frequently experience misdelivery, it might deter them from making future purchases from the business. The lack of international address verification also makes the company vulnerable to fraudulent orders, which could lead to chargebacks and financial losses.
No Address Parsing or Standardization
It doesn’t parse and standardize the addresses as per the Singapore Post. An address verification system lacking these features will have a fragmented database with disintegrated information collections and duplicate entries. This will impact deliveries and data analysis for marketing.
The postal services provider will be confused by the unstructured address and might drop the package at the wrong address or return it to the sender. Businesses will then have to bear the cost of reshipping. Moreover, with this disintegrated data, companies will be left wondering how to utilize it to understand customers and create marketing strategies.
Additionally, a lack of address standardization would require businesses to clean up addresses manually and format them before processing them. This would increase operational costs and lead to inefficiency in data handling.
Lack of Premise-Level Geocoding
SGLocate geocoding information is only limited to the general building or street area. This can leave the delivery agent wondering where to keep the package, which can be problematic, especially in densely populated areas or places with complex buildings. Ambiguity in address can lead to misdelivery or delays. Customers will be frustrated when they know their package has been delivered but haven’t received it because of the wrong address. The dissatisfaction will lead to customer complaints and negative reviews, adversely impacting the brand image.
Additionally, use location-based targeting for promotions and offers with inaccurate location information. You will send irrelevant mail, leading to the failure of your marketing efforts and the waste of your money.
Technical Expertise Required
Implementing the SGLocate API into web, desktop, and mobile applications can be challenging. The person dedicated to it should have coding knowledge and experience in the development field. While a developer’s guide is provided, the person must spend significant time understanding the input, output, endpoints, configuration, and other related terms.
Additionally, businesses had to rely only on the guide to understand how to implement the API. This is because SGLocate does not provide guidance other than contacting customer support through the form and waiting for them to reply.
Does Not Allow Bulk Batch Address Verification
You can’t verify bulk addresses in one go through SGLocate. This can be problematic for businesses that ship packages and send mail regularly. They will have to verify each address manually. This will slow down the operation. Relying on manual sources to check the address will also invite mistakes, as the employees might overlook minor discrepancies such as the format. This can lead to undelivered or returned packages. This can affect the customer experience. Additionally, when you don’t have a Bulk batch address verification tool, you must allocate more time and staff for manual verification. This will lead to higher operational costs.
Expensive
SGLocate is quite expensive for an address verification solution that only checks national addresses. You will have to pay $30 per month. This is just for the essential details, like the street, city, and state. You must pay an additional fee for specific information like floor, building type, or coordinates. For instance, if you wish to verify the floor details of an address, you will have to pay $45 per month.
What Makes PostGrid Address Verification a Suitable Alternative?
We offer an all-inclusive Address Verification solution that parses, validates, verifies, and autocompletes addresses. It ensures accurate delivery and assists in business analytics for informed decision-making. Let us look at the comparison table to understand what makes it a better solution than Singapore Post address validation.
| Factors | PostGrid | SGLocate |
| Address Parsing and Standardization | It breaks down address elements and then structures them per the respective country’s postal standards. | It does not parse and standardize the address elements. |
| International Address Verification | Businesses can verify addresses for over 250 countries and territories. | It only verifies addresses within Singapore. |
| Geocoding | It offers rooftop geocoding, i.e., latitudes and longitudes of the roof of the building, for delivery accuracy. | It provides coordinates up to the street or building where the recipient lives. |
| Bulk Batch Address Verification | You can verify up to 200k addresses in one go. | It does not offer bulk verification. |
| Address Autocomplete | It provides relevant suggestions corresponding to the IP address of the person typing the details. | It provides suggestions from across the country without considering the person’s location. This can generate a long list of places sharing the same name, like a street or municipality. |
| Pricing | It is built for businesses of all sizes and offers affordable packages with 500 free credits. | It is expensive and only provides basic verification. You must pay additional fees to cross-check premise-level details like floor, building, etc. |
Get Highly-Specific and Verified Details With PostGrid
Your address validation solution should be easy to use and offer quick, real-time verification. This will ensure correct delivery the first time. Moreover, the details should be specific enough not to confuse the delivery agent. From the details above, it is clear that PostGrid offers a competent and cost-effective solution compared to Singapore Post Address Validation. Talk to our sales team to see how you can leverage our solution’s benefits.
