What is address normalization?

High quality addresses are important for any delivery service provider. They significantly improve efficiency of delivery and reduce the number of return to senders, lowering the overall delivery costs. To make sure an address is valid and deliverable, it needs to go through a data cleaning workflow.

What address normalization is

Address normalization is the first step in an address cleansing process. It consists of identifying the component parts of an address and giving them attributes so they can be converted to a different format. The normalization algorithm also parses addresses, identifying the most likely address attribute to associate with each component of the input address. The algorithm thus recognises address components such as name, house number, street name, postal code, and locality and labels them. Each component is then validated to see whether it actually exists in the real world and rendered into a normalized format.

What address normalization is used for

The advantage of address normalization is that the raw address data that is put in initially may be unstructured or semi-structured. All unwanted characters are eliminated or replaced in a process called “scrubbing” and each component is turned into a normalized format. From there the address can be standardized according to any country’s standard database or to the standard of a geocoder. This makes address normalization one of the most decisive determinants for producing accurate geographic coordinates.

Why address normalization is useful

Address normalization helps delivery service providers make faster deliveries by avoiding time fixing bad addresses. By automating the address correction and validation process employees can plan their tasks more efficiently. They get more accurate geographic coordinates and customers are happy to receive their delivery in one go.

Address normalization is the first step in the address cleansing process and precedes address standardization.

Steps from a low quality address to a clean and validated address.

Are you interested to understand how address cleansing for the delivery industry works? Book a demo with Bettermile product owner Octavio at https://bettermile.com/book-demo