How to Configure Address Validation and PO Box Restrictions in Concierge

Address validation is one of Zest's most powerful tools for protecting your brand from costly reshipments, returns, and fulfillment delays. Zest Concierge automatically checks every recipient address — whether entered manually or uploaded in bulk — and flags issues before your orders ever reach fulfillment.

Before you start:

When a recipient address is entered manually or uploaded via CSV, Zest runs it through a real-time validation process using the Google Maps API. This checks for a wide range of potential issues, including:

Validation happens automatically — no setup required. Results appear directly in your Concierge dashboard, making it easy to see which recipients need attention before you submit the order.

Zest surfaces address issues in two ways, so you can distinguish between problems that must be fixed and those that just need a second look.

Errors block order submission until resolved. Common causes include:

Recipients with errors must either have their address corrected, be removed from the order, or have the restriction manually bypassed by a brand admin.

Warnings flag potential issues but don't block submission. They appear when Zest suggests an address correction — for example, a spell-corrected street name or a normalized city name. You or your collaborators can:

You can choose to block all shipments to PO boxes in your shipping settings. Here's how:

Once enabled, any recipient address containing a PO box will be flagged. The recipient will see a message explaining that your brand doesn't ship to PO boxes and will be prompted to provide an alternative address or remove them from the list.

The PO box blocking toggle is an all-or-nothing setting — you cannot block PO boxes for certain regions while allowing them in others. Brand admins can manually override the PO box restriction for individual addresses on a case-by-case basis.

If you need to make an exception for a specific recipient — for example, a customer who can only receive shipments at a PO box — brand admins can bypass the restriction directly in the Concierge dashboard. This does not change your global setting.

Your shipping profile defines exactly where Zest will ship for a given program. If a recipient's address falls outside those boundaries, it's flagged as an error.

Zest uses an allowlist model: you define which countries and states are included in your shipping program. Any address outside that allowlist is automatically flagged.

For example:

Changes take effect immediately for new uploads and address entries.

When a recipient's address falls outside of a shipping profile, you have several options as a brand admin:

When you bypass a shipping restriction, you can set a custom shipping method and rate as a line item on the order — for example, a flat-rate charge for an international shipment. This gives you full flexibility to handle edge cases without disrupting the rest of your order.

Only brand admins can bypass shipping errors. Collaborators and customers cannot override these restrictions.

Instead of going back and forth over email to fix address issues, you can share access to your Concierge portal directly with the corporate gifter or recipient list owner. They can review, edit, and correct their own addresses in real time — and you'll see updates reflected on your dashboard immediately.

Once they have access, collaborators can:

Collaborator limitations: Collaborators can dismiss warnings and edit addresses, but they cannot bypass hard errors (like addresses outside your shipping zone) or change your shipping settings. Only brand admins can do that.

Zest supports bulk recipient uploads via CSV and validates every address automatically after upload.

Addresses that require multiple lines — such as university dorms with building names and room numbers — may not validate cleanly in every case. If a complex address produces unexpected validation results, review it manually and contact Zest support if needed.

Zest validates international addresses using the Google Maps API, which supports a wide range of countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and many others.

Address autocomplete relies on the Google Maps API. Occasional outages or slowdowns can affect autocomplete suggestions. If autocomplete stops working, customers can still type their full address manually — the form doesn't require autocomplete to function. The issue typically resolves on its own.

For recipient lists with many addresses, validation runs in the background and may take several minutes. The system is processing, not frozen. If you've been waiting an unusually long time, take a screenshot of the current state and contact Zest support. For time-sensitive orders, consider uploading in smaller batches.

If the country dropdown stops functioning and prevents you from selecting international destinations, contact Zest support immediately. This is a known technical issue that has occurred in the past and can be resolved quickly by the support team.

The PO box blocking feature only detects "PO Box" text in an address — it does not catch military addresses. APO, FPO, and DPO addresses use a different format entirely. If you need to restrict shipments to military addresses, contact Zest support to explore a custom solution.

Zest uses Google Maps for address validation. Some carriers use USPS-based validation, which can differ from Google in edge cases — particularly around zip code boundaries and city name variants. If a carrier rejects an address that Zest accepted, cross-reference the address against multiple sources. When in doubt, ask the recipient to confirm their mailing address directly.

No. ZIP+4 codes (the extra four digits after a US ZIP code) are not required. If a postal code warning appears, it most likely means the ZIP code itself may be incorrect. Check the address in Google Maps to verify the correct ZIP code, and confirm the ZIP and state match.