Addresses by country
Each country writes addresses its own way, and some places inside the EU sit outside its VAT area. Format the address as the destination expects and check it before the label is printed.
The address on a label is read by machines at the depot and by a driver at the door, and both expect the format of the destination country. A checkout that accepts any free text, and a label that prints it as typed, are where most delivery failures begin.
Address formats in the main markets
Germany and Austria put the house number after the street name, Musterstraße 12, and use five-digit postcodes in Germany and four in Austria. France puts the number before the street, 12 rue de la Paix, with a five-digit postcode before the town; the surname is often written in capitals. The Netherlands uses a postcode of four digits and two letters, 1012 AB, and a house number that can carry a suffix. Spain and Italy use five-digit postcodes, and Italian addresses often name the province in two letters after the town. Portugal uses four digits, a hyphen and three digits; Poland two digits, a hyphen and three. Ireland uses a seven-character Eircode. The United Kingdom uses an alphanumeric postcode in two parts, and the postcode alone locates a street or a few houses, so it has to be exact.
Two habits cause most failures across all of them: a flat, floor or building name typed into the wrong field, and a business address without the company name on it.
A driver can find a badly written street. A sorting machine cannot read a postcode that is wrong.
Territories that need customs
A handful of territories belong to a member state but sit outside the EU's VAT area, and some outside its customs area too. The ones a brand meets most often are the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, the French overseas departments (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte), the Åland Islands, Livigno in Italy, Mount Athos in Greece, and Heligoland and Büsingen in Germany. A parcel to any of them needs a customs declaration and is subject to local taxes on arrival, even when it leaves from inside the same country. Treat them as an export at checkout, with the price and the delivery time that go with it.
Jersey and Guernsey sit outside the UK's VAT area, so parcels from the United Kingdom to the Channel Islands also travel with customs data.
Address checks
Address validation runs at label creation on every plan, against the format and the postcode of the destination, so a missing house number or a postcode that does not match the town is caught at the bench. The address comes from your store with the order, and a correction made in your account is the one printed on the label. Where a destination needs customs data, the declaration is built from the product record, as set out in Customs data per product.
Checkout fields in your store
Set separate fields for street, house number and additional address line, so the number does not end up in the street name; make the phone number required for countries where the carrier messages the recipient; check the postcode format for the country selected; and add a company name field for business deliveries.
Questions we get asked.
Do parcels to the Canary Islands need customs?
Yes. The Canary Islands are outside the EU VAT area, so a parcel from mainland Spain or anywhere in the EU travels with a customs declaration and local taxes apply on arrival.
Why does the house number need its own field?
Because sorting systems and drivers read it separately, and in several countries it follows the street name. A number lost inside the street line is a common cause of a failed delivery.
Does validation check that the person lives there?
No. It checks that the address exists in the destination's format and that the postcode matches the place. Whether the recipient is in is a question for the delivery option.
Is a phone number required?
Many carriers use it to message the recipient before delivery, which reduces failed attempts. Collect it at checkout for every European market.
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