How to increase AOV on Shopify: everything you should know
Are you maximizing each sale in your Shopify store? With the average conversion rate hovering around 2.5%, every order counts - and the more you can get customers to spend per order, the more profitable you’ll become.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to increase average order values (AOVs) using various upsell, cross-sell, and other strategies that you can implement in any Shopify store.
First off, how do we calculate average order value?
Calculating your average order value is pretty straightforward once you know how to access Shopify’s analytics page.
Here’s how you can see all your store’s metrics:
- Sign into your Shopify admin panel
- Choose the ‘Analytics’ ribbon in the top-left of the dashboard
- Your total sales, total orders, and average order value should be accessible on the main dashboard or by scrolling.
If you can’t find the ‘average order value’ chart, you can also divide your total sales by your total number of orders.
What’s a good AOV to shoot for?
Unfortunately, there’s no specific average order value that’s good for every business.
Average order values depend on the type of products you’re selling, the industry you’re in, and how high-end your brand is.
For example, a furniture store will have a higher AOV than stores selling food because the products cost much more on average.
If you want to compare your store against others in your industry, check out XP’s eCommerce Benchmark Report.
Here are a few common averages for different industries:
- Luxury & Jewelry - $391
- Home & Furniture - $351
- Consumer Goods - $218
- Fashion - $110
- Beauty & Personal Care - $73
11 ways to increase average order value on Shopify
Growing your AOV isn’t always easy, but with the right strategy, you can put yourself in a position to sell more products and generate additional revenue to grow your business.
Here are eleven ways to increase your AOV on Shopify.
1. Free shipping and gift minimums
Customers hate paying for shipping - and up to 48% may abandon their cart for this reason.
Free shipping minimums encourage customers to buy more products instead of spending their money on shipping, allowing you to generate additional revenue while paying lower-cost shipping to maximize your margins.
Free gifts at certain thresholds can also be a way of increasing average order value because customers end up spending more than they intended to - effectively paying for the “free product” - just to get something free.
2. Know when to use upsells and cross-sells
One of the easiest ways to get customers to spend more is to give them a great deal.
Upsells and cross-sells allow you to offer discounted upgrades, add-ons, and complementary products to your customers. These offers are based on the main product they’re buying, allowing you to control what kind of items you’re offering to ensure they’re relevant to the original purchase.
With the right Shopify upselling app, you can add upsells and cross-sells throughout the sales process, including:
- On product pages
- In the cart drawer
- On the cart page
- At checkout
- On post-purchase pages
- On the ‘thank you’ page
These offers are easy to set up and low-risk because they don’t interrupt the checkout process, especially post-purchase offers that trigger after the initial payment is already authorized.
As an added benefit, they also improve the value customers receive and create a more complete shopping process.
3. Use frequently bought together bundles
You’ve seen them on Amazon plenty of times–and if Amazon does it, it probably works.
Frequently bought-together bundles are sets of items that customers usually buy together. You can create this type of cross-sell manually by choosing products you know are relevant or use Shopify’s Recommendations API to leverage your sales data and find which products customers buy at the same time.
Frequently bought together bundles work well on product pages and carts, but you can place them anywhere.
4. Offer discounts on larger order volumes
If a customer buys multiple products or spends a lot on a single purchase, it’s great for your AOV. However, you usually have to incentivize these larger purchases with volume-based discounts.
Checkout Extensibility, Shopify’s checkout system, allows you to create dynamic discounts triggered based on factors like order quantities or cart totals.
For example, if someone buys three products from a set, they receive a 10% discount on the total cost. If they buy 5, they get 15% off, and so on. Or, once they hit $500 in total purchases, they unlock a 10% discount.
5. Offer limited-time deals
Online purchases are almost always self-guided, making it harder to push customers towards checkout. You need a way to instill urgency, create a fear of missing out (FOMO), and encourage them to make a decision. Otherwise, they may leave and never come back.
Limited-time offers, like discounts that expire on a certain day, in a specific amount of time, or when a product runs out, can prevent shoppers from leaving and checking your competition before they complete their purchase.
6. Create a customer loyalty rewards program
Loyalty rewards are an effective customer engagement strategy alongside improving AOV. You’ll be able to collect their information for marketing campaigns when they register, helping you increase your advertising reach.
When you create a loyalty program, you also encourage customers to spend more to earn points or increase in rank so that future purchases may be discounted or special perks will be provided. It also increases the chances that they’ll return to buy again, improving your customer lifetime values as well as average order value.
7. Use buy one, get one free discounts
Everyone has heard of buy one, get one (BOGO) deals. They’re an effective strategy for encouraging customers to spend more than they planned because they’re already buying the “one,” but the “get one” is extra revenue (unless they “get one” for free).
Stores that sell consumables benefit most from BOGO deals because customers may consider spending more now so that they don’t have to pay a separate shipping fee or remember to reorder later. Selling two products also increases the chances of products being shared with others to grow your audience.
8. Add a checkout timer
Motivating people to complete the checkout comes down to human psychology. Creating urgency with a timer works! People will feel urged to complete the steps before the time runs out.
9. Add a 1-click upsell widget
Think about a supermarket. When you’re checking out, you’re surrounded by small items you can purchase for a couple of dollars. That checkout real estate is precious and supermarkets know that.
In e-commerce, your checkout real estate is the final page before completing a purchase. We’ve built a smart recommendation widget that allows upselling right on that page. With one click, the customer can add a recommended product to their cart. This boosts AOV and brings in extra revenue.
10. Highlight protection plans and warranties
Some customers like to have the peace of mind that their purchase is going to last. If you sell products that undergo wear-and-tear or have a higher risk of malfunctions, like electronics, insurance can help.
While usually a fraction of the original purchase price, protection plans and warranties are simple ways to increase customer order values. However, you’ll need to be certain that your prices make up for the amount that the warranties cost you over a product’s lifetime, so it may be harder to implement warranties quickly.
11. Create discounted annual subscriptions
What’s better than getting a customer to sign up for a monthly membership? Collecting a whole year upfront.
Plans, subscriptions, and memberships that are paid every month are great for providing extra cash flow. However, you risk the customer canceling within a few months and generating less revenue over their lifetime.
Offering discounts for upfront payments that span a term period can improve average order values. Instead of worrying about a customer canceling, you can lock them in for a specific term by making a prepaid offer when they’re most excited—at the initial purchase phase.
How UpsellPlus helps you increase your AOV
The upselling and cross-selling strategies we’ve included above can be easily implemented with the right app for Shopify. Fortunately, UpsellPlus and our partners can help you achieve them - and more - to help you begin increasing your AOV.
With custom offer builders and AI-assisted product recommendations, you’ll be able to implement any BOGO or cross-sell deal. Use logic to ensure your offers always make sense, A/B testing to find what works best, and advanced reports to help you refine your strategy for better results.
Get started today with a free 7-day trial.
Boost your sales by over 20%
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