Fixing Customer Addresses in Merchanter

Over time, customer address records can become outdated or contain incomplete information, particularly postcodes and town names. this can be essential information when planning delivery's or using couriers. Merchanter includes a tool that helps you review and correct these address details across your entire customer base and fix incorrect address in orders, either manually or through an automated web service lookup.

This guide explains how to use the Fix Addresses feature to maintain accurate customer UK postcodes and town data.

Accessing the Fix Addresses Tool

To begin, ensure you are logged into Merchanter with a Prime user account, or you will not have sufficient privileges to access the feature. Then navigate to Settings → Customer Settings → Fix Addresses.

The system will generate a filtered list of all addresses within your ledger. This overview page displays the current address information for your customers, allowing you to review and correct records as needed. the Default filter for the address list is for addresses missing the City.

The system also includes a Check Addresses function that flags addresses with invalid postcodes and updates addresses for display and search purposes as required. We advise that you Click the blue Check Addresses button the first time you open the tool as it will check all of your post codes to see if they are valid UK post codes.

Please note that any post code out side of the UK will be flagged as Invalid. This is an invalid UK post code and may not be invalid in the home country 

Using the Issue Filters

To help you quickly locate addresses that need attention, the tool includes Issue Filters at the top of the overview page. These filters allow you to narrow down the displayed list to specific problem types:

• All - Shows a list of all addresses in Merchanter
• Missing City - Shows only addresses where no City has been recorded
• Missing Postcode – Shows only addresses where no postcode has been recorded
• Invalid Postcode – Shows only addresses where the postcode is present but does not validate against expected format or web service lookup (built after running the check addresses procedure.

Using these filters helps you focus on the records that require correction, whether you plan to fix them manually or run the automated process on a targeted subset of addresses.

Manually Correcting Addresses

Once the address list is displayed, you can manually edit individual records directly within the grid:

Overtype the Postcode – Click into the postcode field for any address and enter the correct postcode. 

Overtype the Town – Click into the town or city field and update the name as required

These manual corrections are saved immediately, allowing you to fix specific addresses quickly without running a full automated process.

Using the Fix Button for Automated Lookup

For larger address lists, the system includes an automated web service lookup that can retrieve the correct town or city based on the postcode.

To use this feature, Select the addresses you wish to correct. Left clicking an item will select or deselect it. You can also select individual records, a filtered subset, or click Select All to process the entire grid.

after making your selection Click the Fix button

The system will then perform a web service lookup for each selected address, retrieving the corresponding town or city based on the postcode provided.

Depending on the size of the list this could take a few minutes to complete.

Reviewing the Results

After the fix process completes, the system provides feedback on what worked and what did not:

• Successful updates – Addresses that returned a valid town or city are updated automatically
• Failed lookups – Any postcodes that did not return a town or city are listed separately, along with the reason for the failure

This feedback helps you identify which addresses still require attention. Common reasons for failure might include invalid postcodes or postcodes not recognised by the web service..

The Check Addresses function runs alongside this process, flagging invalid postcodes and updating addresses for display and search purposes as needed.

Fixing Remaining Addresses

Once the automated lookup is complete, you can:

• Review the list of failed postcodes along with the reason each lookup failed your list should be a lot smaller now.
• Manually correct the remaining addresses using the in‑grid editing functionality
• Re‑run the Fix process on specific failed records after correcting the postcode

You can also use the Issue Filters to quickly locate any addresses still flagged as having missing or invalid postcodes after the automated process completes.

This iterative approach ensures you can gradually clean up your address data, with the automated tool handling the bulk of the work while still allowing manual intervention where needed.

Practical Applications

Regular use of the Fix Addresses tool helps maintain accurate customer records for:

• Delivery route planning and optimisation
• Customer communications and marketing mailings
• Integration with external systems that require valid address data

Summary

The Fix Addresses tool in Merchanter provides a straightforward way to review and correct customer address information across your entire ledger:

• Access the tool via Settings → Customer Settings → Fix Addresses
• Use the Issue Filters (Missing Postcode, Invalid Postcode) to quickly find problem addresses
• Run the Check Addresses function to flag invalid postcodes automatically
• Manually overtype postcodes and town names directly in the grid
• Use the Fix button to perform automated web service lookups on selected addresses
• Review feedback on failed lookups to identify and correct remaining issues

By keeping your address data accurate, you ensure smoother operations across deliveries, communications, and system integrations.