The Importance of Eircode

The creation and introduction of the Eircode was a game-changer for Irish addressing. Before 2015, Ireland was one of the few developed countries that didn’t have a defined postal system.  Part of the complexity involved the fact that over 35% of properties share their address with at least one other property. 

This meant it was extremely difficult to send and receive orders, with both businesses and consumers dealing with several challenges from checkout through to delivery. Throughout Ireland there are approximately 800,000 non-unique addresses – meaning that they have no house name or number. Typically, these addresses are in rural areas and getting deliveries to them used to be a challenge. Customers frequently had to provide detailed and lengthy directions for the delivery driver, making a simple delivery into a scavenger hunt.  

Thankfully, that’s no longer necessary. Eircode was specifically designed to overcome Ireland’s addressing problem. Unlike other countries where postcodes define a cluster or group of addresses, a unique Eircode is assigned to each residential and business address, removing the guesswork from finding addresses. 

What does an Eircode look like?

An Eircode is seven character alpha-numeric code made up of two parts.  

Part one: A routing key that is made up of three characters and defines a principal post town span of delivery.

A96 KF49 

Part two: A unique identifier that is different for each address and distinguishes one address from another.  

A96 KF49

Most other countries use a system (like a postcode in the UK or a zipcode in the US) that identifies a group of properties in select region. Eircode is a much more advanced postcode system, with a unique Eircode for every home and business address which will help everyone find addresses easier. 

This provides several benefits for everyday people, businesses and public services. 

Benefits of Eircode 

Each Eircode is unique, which is helpful for emergency services, people making deliveries, and those looking to find their destination. 

Since August 2016 the National Ambulance Service has been using Eircodes to help make it quicker and easier to locate an address in an emergency. Providing an Eircode in addition to an address can help the Emergency Call Taker and Emergency Medical Dispatcher swiftly and accurately identify a caller’s location. 

Eircode also makes it easier to shop online. Getting a customer’s Eircode on your website checkout form helps delivery and service providers to accurately identify addresses so your deliveries get to the right location – saving time and money on both ends. This helps to ensure that the packages go to the right place the first time, helping to avoid lengthy delays and frustration while waiting for your order.  

But it doesn’t just help the everyday consumer – Eircode is also extremely beneficial for businesses.  

Eircode Benefits Business  

Eircode is an extremely valuable advancement for any business that works with Irish addresses. 

An Eircode will accurately identify delivery and pick-up points. This is particularly useful for the 35% of addresses in Ireland without a name or number, allowing for improved logistics and distribution planning. It also provides better and faster customer services based on a customer’s location, which improves user experience and reduces the chance of cart abandonment. 

It makes sense; if customers are unable to find their address at the checkout, they’ll likely abandon. Likewise, if delivery drivers can’t find the customer’s address, they’ll likely send it back. Including a field for Eircode solves that problem. 

Eircode can also help your business to plan more effectively and provide essential services within communities such as social education, housing and health services.  

By capturing and storing Eircodes, you’ll provide your customers with a more efficient, user-friendly service, boosting your reputation and driving success in Ireland. 

The Autoaddress Solution 

To access Eircode information effectively, you need the gold standard of Eircode Address Validation. That’s where we come in.  

Autoaddress is the leading supplier of Eircode address solutions in Ireland. Since 2000, we have been helping customers in every industry, from government and financial to retail and insurance and beyond.  

Not only did we design the Eircode format, but we also encoded 46 million government address records – in short, we know what we’re doing.

Ireland’s non-standard addresses require a custom solution.  Our experience will save you time and money. Our team and are processes are quality driven, continuously improving and the best in the industry.

You can start attaching Eircodes to your customer records in two ways; with our custom API software and with our Data Processing services.

Not only will our custom API allow you to capture addresses effectively on your website or crm system, but we can also append eircodes to your existing address records, without having to ask your customers for the information. This accelerates the benefits of Eircodes to your business at a reduced cost.

You can significantly reduce your efficiency and available insights if even 1% of your addresses have the wrong eircode appended. It isn’t just your data analytics that will be affected – communicating an incorrect eircode to your customers is a reputational risk.

Don’t chance it – Eircode enable your organisation today!