We've had a number of requests from our US customers to add an option for zip code only searching in our Store Locator software. The reason that many of you have given us for needing this feature is that when the autocompletion feature suggests possible matches for certain zip codes, the suggestions don't always include the actual zip code that's being searched for. To demonstrate this happening in practice, I've searched for the zip code 21212 and here are the suggested addresses:

The reason why this is happening is because we use the Google API to provide automatic suggestions for addresses based on what has been entered in the search box and Google tries to provide the best possible match with an existing address for the word or numbers that are entered in the search box. Unfortunately, in the case of the zip code 21212 (and some other US zip codes), the best match that is found by Google is for a street number / address that includes 21212 as opposed to the Baltimore zip code (although Baltimore is still 2nd on the list)

Our new search option allows your customers to search US zip codes only. You can enable it via the Settings page as usual; here's the option you need:

 

And here's the result. We'll try searching for the same zip code and this is the resulting suggestion list:

That's all for now! As usual, we are always looking for ways to improve our widget so if you have an idea like this one, please let us know!

 

One final note: if you don't want to limit your searches to just US zip codes but want to see zip codes prioritised higher in the autocompletion suggestions, try setting "Bind Location Searches to Map" setting on your Settings page to 'Disabled'. When this is Enabled, it limits searches to the geographic area being shown and also means street numbers are given priority in the automatic suggestions list (instead of zip codes).