32 blog posts tagged "Customer experience"

You finally track down an essential addition to your collector’s set of [insert item of your choice], and you're hyped to buy it until the chaos begins. The cart is hidden in a fly-out on the side, cluttered with blocky, overwhelming text. You spend way too long just trying to find the "Proceed to Checkout" button. 👎 That’s bad UI (user interface): messy, confusing design that makes navigation a chore. You make it to the checkout and start entering your info, but the site keeps rejecting your address.

This June, Klarna and PayPal made some big moves into the physical card space. Klarna teamed up with Visa to launch a BNPL (buy-now-pay-later) debit card, while PayPal’s partnership with Mastercard aims to help the brand make the jump from phone to wallet. Coupled with other wave-making announcements like Stripe’s all-in moves on AI and stablecoins, PayPal and Klarna’s announcements emphasize a broader industry shift as fintechs transform from niche digital players to comprehensive financial services platforms.

Address verification is an essential tool that property insurance companies should use when analyzing risk. Perils are often associated with potential hazards located on or near a property, but they can also be tied to the general area a property is in. Verifying addresses ensures that a policy falls within a covered area, which is vital for both an insurance company and their customers. To start, the insurance policy premium needs to be priced for the property's actual location. Otherwise, a premium could be mispriced because of a misclassified risk area.

OREM, UT, May 2025—The Stevie Awards announced that Smarty won the bronze medal for “Achievement in Customer Satisfaction. ”We’re thrilled to have received this award, as winning a Stevie signals that our customers trust and love Smarty products. What are Stevie Awards?Winning a “Stevie” is a prestigious honor for businesses, often referred to as the “Oscars of the business world. ” Each year, thousands of entries from around the globe are submitted to The American Business Awards® to be judged by more than 200 industry professionals.

In the world of address validation, not all providers stick to the script. Some go rogue. And while that might work for improv geniuses like Robin Williams or even our own Brady Amundson, when your verification tools start improvising results, creating fictional addresses, and hoping you don’t notice… well, it's like watching a movie adaptation of your favorite book and thinking, “Wait… they burned down the Burrow?!?” (Harry Potter fans, I’m still mad. )If your address verification tool is delivering results that feel more like fan fiction than factual data, and geolocating “validated” addresses in the middle of lakes, it might be time to reconsider the cast.

“Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop. ” Time Magazine (1966). This statement is laughable in today’s society. In the last 60 years, online purchasing has become a daily event, and more online purchases are being made every year. In fact, ​In 2024, total ecommerce sales in the United States reached approximately $1. 19 trillion, marking an 8. 1% increase from 2023. Notably, ecommerce accounted for 16. 1% of total retail sales in 2024, up from 15. 3% the previous year. These purchases aren't just small dollars anymore.

Getting deliveries right starts with getting addresses right. In today’s “I want it now“ world of online shopping, customers expect their orders to show up on time and without any hiccups. And the stakes are high: 87% of customers trust brands with excellent customer service. That’s a big deal when it comes to loyalty. But when something goes wrong — like a package sent to the wrong place, delayed by days, or lost in shipping limbo — trust takes a nosedive. Frustrated customers are less likely to come back and more likely to spread the word (the not-so-good kind).

Ever feel like your address data is cursed?Customers claim their packages never showed up. Your CRM swears by an address that doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, your checkout form mysteriously rejects a perfectly valid street name like it's possessed. Healthcare claim denials, failed insurance verifications, suspicious fintech delays—something strange is definitely going on. Instead of avoiding or running away terrified, we’re investigating the eerie and mysterious on Paranormal Day, May 3. We tip our foil hats to Charles Fort, the original chronicler of the weird and unexplained, and investigate a real threat to your data systems: unverified addresses.

Bigfoot. Sasquatch. Ol’ Filthy Albert. No matter what you call him, you know who we’re talking about: the hairy giant cryptid who haunts our collective imagination and, according to about 13% of the US population, wanders the American wilderness. The traditional perception of Sasquatch is that of a solitary creature whose run-ins with people are the unavoidable consequence of human development and exploration. If recent sightings are any indication, it seems the legendary creature may have more on their mind than just staying hidden.

There are plenty of address data solutions in the sea. You might need to let them off the hook if:Their data accuracy is sufferingToo many false positivesSpotty data availability (lack of international support? Beuller?)Off-the-mark geocoding (not truly rooftop-level accurate)Missing data enrichment (RDI, FIPS, unique ID, secondary addresses, etc. )They don’t flirt nicely (or at all) with your existing systemsThey don’t have an accurate address autocomplete solutionYour relationship with them has become robotic and mundane (When you need help, you have to talk to a robot instead of a real person for support… ew.

In 2024, it’s estimated that online purchases, or ecommerce, made up more than 20% of global retail, with 2. 77 billion people shopping online, and those numbers will only get bigger in the following years. With so much online shopping, more goods and services are being shipped than ever before—including during the height of the Sears catalog in 1970. Side note: If you’re reading this and you don’t know what the Sears catalog was or how much it impacted the average home, it’s worth taking a trip down memory lane and seeing how your elders used to shop.

Shipping optimization is rapidly evolving the retail landscape with advancements in shipping technology. From using robotics to increase efficiency and protect workers from dangerous jobs to autonomous vehicles and drones taking items to hard-to-reach areas, shipping has drastically evolved from the infancy of ecommerce in the 1990s. Sure, the 90s are currently having a pop culture resurgence, but your customers don’t want their shipping experience to go retro. One of the most impactful ways to ship effectively is to use a Shipping Execution System (SES).

The customer experience (CX) landscape is changing faster than a squirrel on espresso 🐿️☕, driven by technological advancements, consumer expectation evolution, and the need for all things to become digital. Maybe you wanna keep up with the change. That’s great. Or even better, you want to get ahead of all the other guys. That’s where Smarty comes in. Looking at what the future of customer experience will be like in 2025 and beyond (supported by relevant statistics and insights from various studies we’ve collected), address autocomplete and verification play a bigger role than you might suspect.

Webinar recap: The holiday sales race is almost on, and if you’re not prepared with your checkout game plan, you might be left behind with a sea of cart abandonments and “Where’s my order?” calls. But fear not! We recently held a webinar with address data experts Caroline Roweton and Brent Francom to talk about the ways bad address data can WRECK your holliday sales bump. They covered 7 ways you can use address data tools like autocomplete and address verification to crush the competition faster than a Black Friday doorbuster crowd will crush your beautiful holiday displays.

Everybody in ecommerce, marketing, or sales knows that it’s not just about the 1st sale–you want customers to come back—a lot. On the surface level, it seems fairly simple to understand why. #MoreMoney 💸Return customers liked their first interaction with your company and product so much, they’ve returned to purchase from you a second time. There’s no set schedule to when they’ll return again, and they may only make one more purchase. Repeat customers are loyal customers who keep coming back again and again.

84% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products or services, according to a Salesforce report. Over the past decade, the insurance market has become saturated with endless products and options. Buyers have adjusted and evolved in response to the buffet of insurance options, becoming more sophisticated and specific in what they need and want. To keep these sophisticated buyers at your insurance smorgasbord rather than the other guys’, it’s essential to understand their new and improved expectations.

Don’t panic. We’re not telling you to set up your Christmas lights in July or tune into your favorite holiday station. We’re not crazy here (mostly). But also, do your thang. What we ARE saying is that if you’re in ecommerce, you know just as well as Smarty does that you have to start prepping for those big holidays months in advance. Today is as good as any to see how setting up the right real-time address capabilities, like suggesting verified customer addresses as they type, can get your business in the black on Black Friday.

May 7, 2024 - PROVO, UTAH - Smarty, a preeminent provider of address data solutions, announced today its service partnership with Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER), providing accurate, real-time address data for the ride-sharing leader. Smarty's comprehensive address intelligence services will bolster Uber’s extensive address data capabilities across its global operations, encompassing ride-sharing, meal delivery and local courier services. Jonathan Oliver, CEO of Smarty, said, "It’s evident Uber has the highest commitment to delivering delightful customer experiences and operational excellence.

In our recent webinar, we hosted Jeffrey Duncan, our Technical Product Manager, who discussed the complexities and nuances of managing address data across various international formats. While seemingly straightforward, addresses are quite complex, especially when dealing with international data. Jeffrey highlighted the variability in address formats, which can range from the number of address lines to the order of address components, differing significantly from one country to another. For instance, while a US address typically follows a structured format, addresses in countries like Germany or India can have a completely different setup, impacting data entry and management.

In a recent webinar, Berk Charlton, Chief Product Officer at Smarty™, provided an in-depth look at our industry-leading address intelligence suite designed to provide highly accurate geocoding and address validation. Here are the main points Berk covered during the session:Comprehensive product suite: Smarty offers a wide range of products, including address validation, rooftop geocoding, global address auto-complete, and address data enrichment. These tools are designed to handle various aspects of address management and enhancement in industries from Insurance to Healthcare to Telecom and more.

In the growing world of ecommerce, providing a seamless checkout experience is key for customer satisfaction and conversion rates. Fabletics, a leading activewear brand, embarked on a conversion-improving journey with Smarty™ to enhance their checkout process. We recently hosted a webinar filled with insights from Mel Cummings, Vice President of Product Management and UX at Fabletics. Unlocking ecommerce successConsider this common scenario: your customer is navigating through an online checkout process, only to be thwarted by an error, often related to address entry.

In the fast-paced and competitive world of telecommunications, where high customer expectations and intense rivalry prevail, the strategic use of address data intelligence, including geocoding and address verification, is increasingly essential. For professionals in the telecom sector, understanding and utilizing these tools can significantly streamline operations, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive business growth. This article delves into how Smarty's address data solutions address common pain points in the telecom industry.

We're delighted to announce that Smarty has been honored with the Silver Award in the Support Department of the Year category at the 13th annual Best in Biz Awards. We want to emphasize what this recognition means for you, our customers and partners. At Smarty, our primary focus is providing the best supported, documented, and easiest-to-implement address APIs and data. Winning Silver in the Support Department of the Year category speaks volumes about our commitment to delivering an outstanding customer experience.

Quick deliveries, instant search results, and speedy interactions have become the norm in our fast-paced world. Efficiency in online transactions has never been more critical. This goes double for businesses and their investors who are continuously seeking solutions that balance speed and accuracy. Just imagine a scenario where a customer is filling out a form on your website - the more time it takes, the more likely they are to abandon the process and navigate away. Our new ebook, "Revolutionizing Address Entry: Magical Benefits of Address Autocomplete," delves deeply into this topic.

We have the luxury at Smarty of working with some incredibly intelligent, kind, friendly, and in many cases, funny individuals. Today we showcase one of those fantastic individuals, Adam Charlton. Adam came to us with a fantastic amount of technical knowledge. Not only has he worked as a developer performing UI, database management, and security projects for companies such as Qualtrics, but he also comes to us with a robust data analytics background. These experiences have given Adam the technical skills and abilities to code in Go, Java, Javascript, SQL, Python, and C++ and expertise in data visualization, including R and Tableau.

In our recent webinar, we brought together two of our software engineer experts, Adam Charlton and Ryan Cox, to demonstrate how to build a working application using ChatGPT to generate most of the code. We know what you're thinking: ChatGPT can't take our jobs; we've tried. This is wonderfully true. ChatGPT can pull together useful bits of information but still needs to be guided and curated by a human, preferably one with subject knowledge. The exact working scenario given by Adam and Ryan was:Write code in Python that takes an address and delivers the ten closest addresses to that address.

June 27, 2023 – PROVO, UTAH - Smarty, the location data intelligence leader, has teamed up with Sapiens, a global provider of software solutions for the insurance industry, to help insurers take their business-critical location data to the next level. With access to Smarty's cutting-edge tools, Sapiens customers can now transform the way they underwrite policies, manage risk, and process claims. Leveraging Smarty's technology allows insurers to refine risk profiles, write more profitable policies, insure properties more effectively, and improve the claims lifecycle while simultaneously reducing costs, risk, and liability.

Many businesses now collect data online. One could argue that it is nearly impossible to succeed in modern business without some sort of online portal in which there is an exchange of information between the provider and the customer. But how do you ensure that the information being input by the customer (or potential customer) is accurate?While there is no way to ensure that Bobby Duncan doesn’t put “Sammy Sosa” in the name line on a form, there IS a way to ensure that he’s putting in a valid mailing address for you to mail his package to.

Provo, UT - Smarty, a leader in location data intelligence, is pleased to announce the release of International Address Autocomplete to help companies better serve their global customers and users. Smarty International Address Autocomplete predicts global addresses in real time while users complete forms with address fields. Whether companies use address forms for customers on a website or for employees via internal applications, International Address Autocomplete streamlines the data-entry process through predictive analytics while the user types.

At approximately 1:30 PM Mountain Time (3:30 PM Eastern) on November 13, 2018, we observed a significant latency spike from our external monitoring tools that we configured to access our load balancing tier of our cloud-based APIs. These monitoring tools provide full, end-to-end testing and are meant to simulate a complete user experience with our application. By design our systems can easily process in excess of 25x the usual amount of traffic we receive. We do this because of our customer usage patterns wherein we may observe a 10-fold increase in traffic within a short period of time—usually a few minutes or even a few seconds.

While it's an unfortunate truth of of today's e-commerce world, it is one that cannot be ignored: Fraud is ever-present in online transactions. The expense of unnecessary shipping costs and human resources, disgruntled customers, and the time it takes to investigate disputes adds up. And the damage to a company's brand may result in untold amounts of lost sales. Using an address verification service (or AVS) as one of the tools in your fraud management toolbox is a smart and cost-effective move.

Must have address to playEvery month, tens of billions of apps are downloaded from the Google Play store. Users of those apps have historically had limited contact with the app developers for asking questions or lodging a complaint. And getting a response from some developers has proved to be a very difficult experience. Google briefly considered requiring app developers to provide their physical address or have their app removed from Google's play store. Providing a physical address where customer questions or complaints can be handled would work well for developers that have a separate business address.