'Three-word address' tech supports local deliveries

Wednesday 13 May 2020

Local businesses are benefiting from the help of a technology company that uses unique three-word addresses to make their deliveries safer and more accurate during the health crisis.

What3words – a company which has divided the globe into 3x3m unique three-word addresses - enables customers to choose very specific and easy to find delivery locations when completing their sale.

Delivery drivers have access to a free app, which is available in 36 languages, with which they can source their customers' three-word address and deliver their items to an accurate location. 

It was developed after company research found that using a traditional street address will only take the driver to 30% of the front doors of houses, with rural areas the worst affected.

Pictured: 'What3words' has divided the globe into 3x3m unique three-word addresses.

In Guernsey, a coffee company using the app says it has managed to cut time spent on deliveries by up to 15%.

Jersey’s Emergency Services are already using it, and now GetFresh.je - an online service designed to help local producers trade with customers more easily - has come on board.

“Jersey is only a small island, but it is notoriously difficult to find places without local knowledge,” Alaistair Jerrom-Smith, Technical Director for Getfresh.je, said.

“For a business that is relying on accurate deliveries, I felt that What3words offered the most effective method to support this. We have already had great feedback from the delivery drivers who are using this system and finding it much easier than other alternatives. It has definitely been the best choice for us.” 

Pictured: GetFresh.je is an online service designed to help local producers get their products to islanders.

Digital Jersey said it hoped other businesses would embrace the technology

“It can be surprisingly tricky to navigate around Jersey, which is not helped by our unreliable address searching in Google Maps, something Digital Jersey are working with Government to overcome,” James Haywood, Business Development Manager at Digital Jersey, said. 

“We see this app benefitting many sectors, including utilities, businesses making site or home visits and hospitality.”

“It is incredible to see how the use of What3words has spread across Jersey, with companies like GetFresh leading the charge,” Chris Sheldrick, CEO and co-founder of What3words said.

“There’s a huge appetite to buy from local suppliers and support small businesses, and it’s phenomenal that What3words is able to help scale up operations to assist this."