With this article, we’ll explore the Canada Post Address Validation feature and see how to implement it on your WooCommerce store. You will learn how this feature could help your customers enter the correct ZIP code for the shipping address on the Checkout page.
What is WooCommerce Canada Post Address Validation?
Address validation is an important tool that helps both the store owners and customers to verfiy and ensure correct shipping address. Having this feature on your online store would definitely help you save time and money by a lot.
WooCommerce has a basic algorithm check that only verifies the format of the entered values(zip codes, city name, etc.,).
Luckily the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin offers the Address Validation feature that helps your customers enter the valid ZIP code for the shipping address every single time. Let’s explore this in detail.
How to configure the Canada Post Address Validation feature in the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin?
The WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin is the only official Canada Post shipping solution that offers a complete shipping solution. With it, you can generate shipping labels, fetch real-time rates from the Canada Post API, provide live shipment tracking, and so much more. The address validation feature is available by default and you don’t have to configure it or do anything else to set up it on your website. Please make sure the Live account is configured within the plugin.
How does the WooCommerce Canada Post Address Validation work?
Unlike the official Canada Post Address Complete where Canada Post is able to provide you with a list of addresses in a drop-down to choose from, the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin automatically determines if the Zip/Postal code entered is valid and matches that of a location which is serviceable by Canada Post.
WooCommerce Cart Page Address Validation
Proceed to the cart page and try entering a wrong/incorrect ZIP code. The error message will appear above the cart as shown in the red banner (below) stating ‘Please enter a valid postcode/ZIP‘.
The customer is notified when a wrong/incorrect ZIP is typed out on the checkout page. This states ‘Billing Postcode/ZIP is not a valid postcode/ZIP. Shipping Postcode/ZIP is not a valid postcode/ZIP. No shipping method has been selected. Please double check your address, or contact us if you need any help.‘
WooCommerce Checkout Page Address Validation
Moving to the Checkout page, if the customers enter an incorrect ZIP code the error message doesn’t permit them to complete the payment and place the order. However, in the instance where either the Flat Rate Shipping or Free shipping service is available, the order will get processed anyway. But it’s up to the store owner to get in touch with the customer to obtain the right address or choose to cancel the order. Here’s what the Checkout page looks like when an incorrect ZIP code is entered.
Address Validation during Package and Shipping label generation
The store owner will receive the following error message on the Order Details page of his store if the entered address is incorrect. This error will not permit you to either ship the product or generate the packages and create shipping labels. Error message: (Canada Post Create Shipment Error: Error Code: Server Error Msg: /rs/0002008260-0008789159/0002008260/shipment: cvc-simple-type 1: element {http://www.canadapost.ca/ws/shipment-v7}requested-shipping-point value ‘T1Y2EE’ is not a valid instance of type {http://www.canadapost.ca/ws/shipment-v7}PostalCodeType)
What is AddressComplete?
Canada Post provides its users with a premium feature called AddressComplete. Once a buyer starts typing the address or postal code, the AddressComplete takes care of the rest by providing him or her with suggestions in a drop-down. The suggestions provided in the drop-down are obtained from some of the major Postal service providers in the world. Canada Post acquires this information by going over the master international data set (a complex tool to minimise any and all error) and further supplementing those values with the address data received from the Postal service providers. This is ideal for those e-commerce business owners who would prefer a faster and accurate checkout experience.
How is it any different from the Canada Post Address Validation?
Canada Post Address Validation, on the other hand, confirms if the ZIP code entered into the form is valid or not. Notifications, error messages, and generally pop-ups appear in case the ZIP code that is entered is incorrect.
Sample screenshots of the functionality of AddressComplete
In the first screenshot, you see an option toward the bottom right corner of the drop-down. This enables the user to select the country of choice.
The second screenshot depicts the list of addresses in Canada beginning with the number 2.
Select and International/Overseas country and the drop-down provides you with the list (176 addresses – shown below).
Conclusion
We hope this article would have helped you understand the usage and importance of WooCommerce Canada Post Address Validation. If you are having issues or face any difficulty setting up the plugin, Contact PluginHive Customer Support. Our team would definitely help you out.
Happy selling!