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Adding what3words to e-commerce checkout
Every checkout experience differs, so we’ve created three ways to integrate what3words into your checkout pages. This tutorial explains how e-commerce businesses can integrate what3words at checkout to enhance delivery accuracy.
Why use what3words for e-commerce?
A quarter of street addresses don’t lead to a front door. When orders don’t reach customers, time is wasted dealing with extra delivery admin and delays also affect customer satisfaction.
E-commerce businesses can offer customers the option to share a precise what3words address at checkout, alongside their traditional address information. This gives customers more confidence in placing their order, knowing it will arrive in exactly the right place.
By making it easy for your customers to enter an exact delivery location at checkout, you’ll be able to reduce lost parcels, improve customer experience and avoid delivery admin – therefore reducing the costs associated with failed deliveries.
How do I start using what3words? (2 Steps)
There are three ways you can capture what3words addresses at checkout. Which is best for you depends on your site architecture. It is also possible to capture what3words addresses in multiple locations e.g. a Dedicated Field and Delivery Notes.
Please choose your option below:
Add a dedicated field to your checkout page
This integration adds a dedicated what3words address field to your checkout, alongside the traditional address information you already collect. The field is entirely optional, so customers can choose to fill it in or leave it blank. This field can be added via a plugin or a what3words component.
For instructions on how to add the dedicated field to your checkout, please choose the appropriate option below.
Solution: Use a what3words plugin for your platform
Convenient what3words plugins are available for many popular e-commerce platforms. See this guide:
If you cannot find your e-commerce platform, please get in touch with us at technology.partnerships@what3words.com and our solutions team will explore options with you.
Solution: Implement the what3words component
A what3words component comprises a full what3words entry field, complete with AutoSuggest for validation. The components are fully localised and the style is easy to customise, enabling a native appearance within your existing checkout.
Now that you’re able to capture what3words addresses on your checkout page, the next step is to ensure these what3words addresses are passed onto your carrier or delivery drivers.
Retrieval of the what3words address
You will need to extract or isolate the what3words address within the order data to pass it on correctly.
- E-commerce platforms: For instructions on retrieving what3words addresses from your platform, click the link below and select the e-commerce platform you use.
- Bespoke/Self-built e-commerce sites: See the following guide, which describes how you can use what3words API wrapper functions such as “IsPossible3wa”, “FindPossible3wa”, “isValid3wa”, or the what3words RegEx formulae to detect a what3words address format. Using these tools, you can extract and validate what3words addresses from a bulk of text, so that you can isolate it and pass it forward as required.
Delivery to the what3words address
Assess where your customer-provided address data flows in third-party systems and ensure that what3words is sent to the correct data field.
- Order management systems: Many order management systems will have a dedicated field for what3words. Check with your account manager or contact us at Technology.partnerships@what3words.com for further support.
- Last mile carriers: Many last mile carriers have a dedicated field for what3words addresses to be sent, within delivery order creation. Contact your account manager to check, or contact Technology.partnerships@what3words.comfor further support.
You can see a full list of our carriers and logistics software partners here.
Follow these steps if you have your own delivery fleet or handle all e-commerce deliveries yourself. You can retrieve the coordinates for any what3words addresses sent to you by consumers.
- To retrieve the coordinates for a what3words address, use the
convert-to-coordinatescall of the what3words API. See this guide: Public API – convert-to-coordinates; - If you are using a what3words component, the
return_coordinatesparameter may be used for simplicity in retrieving the coordinates; - Important notes regarding convert-to-coordinates:
- This call type is chargeable – see available API usage plans here;
- If you are retrieving coordinates for what3words addresses, the
convert-to-coordinatescall must be executed once for every e-commerce delivery made to a what3words address. This applies even for repeat deliveries to the same what3words address, to comply with what3words T&C’s.
Contact Support
Have any questions?
We’re here to support you! If you have any questions while using our what3words Regex expressions, get in touch with us by writing us an email at support@what3words.com.