Complexities of Address Books in Online Auction Platforms

How Address Books Benefit Buyers

Address books play a vital part in making sure people bid on the correct items and that those items get to the right locations. Let’s take a look at some of the simple and complex aspects of address books you need to consider when you launch or upgrade your eCommerce auction website.

Billing vs Shipping

B2B eCommerce deals with an array of companies, many of which will have corporate offices that are separate from warehouses. It’s extremely important that these are differentiated and that the design of the website makes it very obvious where the billing is sent and where the purchased item is physically shipped to.

Adding and Changing Addresses

Much like a customer should be able to find items quickly and easily with search and filtering options, the ability to add or change addresses should also be very obvious. A customer should not have to spend more than a few moments finding the option that lets them change or add addresses, whether those are billing or shipping addresses.

Split Shipping

Customers should have the ability to split orders between multiple addresses. They might purchase 100 widgets and want 25 sent to four different warehouses. Such shipping can get very complex, which is why it’s important to have a robust API system that’s providing an array of real-time shipping rates.

The need for split shipping may also occur for franchisees. A home office might purchase items at auction and want them shipped to various locations so that every restaurant can have the same item.

API Shipping Quote Integration

Potential buyers might not want to bid if they don’t have a good idea of how much shipping is going to cost. When their address is verified, shipping integration via APIs can give them a much better idea of how much something is going to cost from their preferred carrier.

Address Verification

Address verification for buyers can be very important to ensure shipments get where they’re going on time. Mistakes happen; employees can put in the right street address but type in the ZIP code for their own house out of habit. The address book page can automatically identify these errors and suggest options to the buyer.

Maps and Limitations

Having accurate addresses for companies can also help them decide which auctions they want to bid on. For instance, an eAuction site that offers farming equipment may not offer shipping, and a bidder might not be interested in something if they have to travel more than 200 miles to pick it up. These parameters can be a part of the filtering system, allowing buyers to filter without having to enter their ZIP code every time.