As an eCommerce business owner, understanding and effectively increasing the Average Order Value (AOV) is important for maximising revenue, profitability and gaining a competitive edge. Without constantly attracting new customers, but by encouraging your existing customer base to spend more per transaction, you can optimise your profit margins.

At WIRO, we’ve worked with a range of ambitious DTC brands, helping them unlock their growth potential by using strategies that focus on increasing AOV. Whether it’s through tailored upsell solutions or curated product bundles, we’ve seen first-hand how impactful AOV optimisation can be.

What is Average Order Value (AOV)?

Average Order Value (AOV) is a key metric that measures the average amount spent by customer per transaction at your store. It's an essential metric for evaluating customer behaviour and performance of your eCommerce business.

Why You Should Aim for a Higher Average Order Value?

Average order value is an incredibly important metric as its allow you to benchmark customer behaviour and use the information to improve the amount each customer spends. A higher AOV allows you to extract more value from each transaction, improving profitability. Increasing your AOV has several benefits:

• Higher revenue and profits
• More cost-effective than acquiring new customers
• Provides valuable insights into customer behavior

For example, WIRO recently helped a luxury homeware brand boost their AOV by 15% through a cross selling features and targeted product recommendations. By increasing AOV, brands not only gain more value from each transaction but can also offset customer acquisition costs, making their overall marketing spend more efficient.

How to Calculate Average Order Value?

Before moving into the strategies, it is essential to understand how AOV is calculated.

Average Order Value is calculated by dividing total revenue by total number of orders received:

Average Order Value (£) = Total revenue (£) / number of orders

For example, if your store generated £30,000 in revenue from 300 orders, your AOV would be £100. It’s important to calculate your AOV regularly and track changes over time. This will help you identify trends and adjust your growth strategies accordingly.

6 Ways to Increase AOV

1. Implement a Loyalty or Reward Program

Customer loyalty program can be an incredible way to not only improve customer retention but also increase the AOV when they do spend. Customers are more likely to spend more if they see a reward for doing so. By offering points or discounts for higher-value orders, you not only increase the average order value but also improve customer retention.

For one of our clients “Sister’s and Seekers”,  we developed a loyalty programme which was highly custom and leaned in to their brand in a really cool way. This approach was all about engaging with a younger audience and gamifying loyalty.

2. Cross-Selling Across Your Range

Frequently bought together upsells is a powerful way to increase your average order value ****and Amazon is a great example of how to do this effectively. Amazon utilise product recommendations and strategically placed upsell/cross-sell prompts to suggest complementary or higher-priced items to customers. This cross-sell option offers a great customer experience and a great tactic to increase AOV.

For example,  We worked with “ Wright Bros”  and implemented cross-selling  to boost the total cart value. The "You May Like to Add" section is cross-selling by offering higher-priced items like the "Catch of the Day Fish Box" (£49).

3. Free Shipping Threshold

Shipping costs can significantly impact a shopper’s intent to purchase. Offering free shipping can encourage customers to purchase more items and increase the AOV.  By setting up a spending threshold, retailers can motivate customers to add more to their carts, thus increasing in your site’s AOV. If you know your current AOV is £44, consider adding a free delivery threshold of £55.

We recently added a indicator of free shipping eligibility to Duke + Dexter's. For totals under the threshold, the bar will be show partially filled and may persuade customers to add an additional product. For totals above the threshold, it reminds customers they get free shipping.

4. Offer Bundles and Product Packages

Creating product bundles or packages that offer a combined value at a discounted price can encourage customers to purchase multiple items together, thereby increasing the overall order value. Bundling related products or creating themed bundles can attract customers to explore additional offerings and make larger purchases.

We recently introduced product bundles to one of our client Piglet in bed.

5. Create Special New Customer Offers or Limited-Time Offers

Discounts and special offers are always an effective way to encourage customers to spend more on your website. Offering special new customer deals or limited-time offer is a proven and effective method to increase AOV. For instance, new customers can be attracted with an offer, such as 10% off their first purchase if they subscribe to the mailing list.

6. Offer Flexible Payment Options

Flexible payment options such as pay later or pay in instalments are proven way of increasing AOV without the need of offer discounts. Customers may be more willing to make larger purchases if they have the option like this.  Integrating payment options like Klarna, Shop Pay or Clear Pay can reduce the friction of high-ticket purchases. Since they are not required to pay immediately, customers are more likely to purchase big items and split the payments.

Conclusion

Increasing your average order value (AOV) isn’t just about selling more—it’s about increasing your existing customer’s lifetime value. By adopting strategies like product bundling, cross-selling, and special promotions, you can enhance the customer experience while boosting your store’s revenue. Focusing on AOV optimisation helps you maximise your marketing spend, improve profitability thus driving long-term growth for your business.

WIRO as a Shopify Plus eCommerce Agency and Shopify Partner, help you optimise your product discovery experience by increasing your AOV.