Can the Introduction of Eircodes Revolutionise Irish eCommerce

13th July 2015 saw the launch of Eircode, Ireland’s new postcode system, which has the potential to revolutionise ecommerce deliveries for the Country.

Previously addresses in the Republic of Ireland were less specific and rural addresses were formed by the county, nearest postal town and the townland.  A townland is specific area only found in Ireland, it is a small division of land of ancient Gaelic origins.  This method of creating an address means that the same address can be used for a number of premises.  This is complicated further as not all rural properties have house numbers or names so identifying a destination could prove problematic to those unfamiliar with the area.

The problems is lesser in urban areas as addresses are specified by County, town or city name, road name house number and flat or apartment number.

Now with the Eircode system every home and business will have a unique postcode.  The system, developed by Capita Ireland, has caused a divide in support as the codes are comprised of an area coded, called the “routing key”, consisting of a three characters and a unique identifier which is a generated four character code made up of a selected set of numbers and letters.

The nature of the formation of these codes means that neighbouring premises will almost certainly have different postcode endings, so an input error or transposition of a part of the code has the potential of sending you far from where you need to be.  Which is not ideal in an emergency, for example.

However, a positive side is that with the correct details you are guaranteed to locate an exact destination using an Eircode, which is unlike the systems in use in many other counties, where a postcode is used for a range of addresses, and you are reliant on a house number or name to find the exact address.  So, the Eircode system has the ability to improve the speed and accuracy of deliveries which will support ecommerce growth and can make navigating journeys more efficiently; that is if the system is embraced by all individuals and companies, as at present the use of Eircodes is optional.