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How to Increase Average Order Value: Tactics That Actually Work
Average order value (AOV) is the average amount a customer spends per transaction. Raising it improves profit without needing more traffic, which makes it one of the highest-leverage metrics in ecommerce.
The tactics below range from pricing and bundling to cross-sells and post-purchase upsells. Most are cheap to test and compound over time.
Quick comparison table
| Option | Best for | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Storefront with upsell and bundle apps | Paid from around $29/mo |
| WooCommerce | WordPress stores wanting flexibility | Free plugin (self-hosted costs separate) |
| BigCommerce | Larger catalogs and B2B | Paid from around $29/mo |
| Klaviyo | Segmented email and SMS for AOV | Free to 250 contacts; paid from around $20/mo |
| Rebuy | Advanced upsells and bundles | Paid app, pricing varies by plan |
| Recharge | Subscriptions and recurring orders | Paid from around $49/mo |
Understand the AOV math
AOV is total revenue divided by number of orders. A small increase matters: if you do $50,000 in revenue on 1,000 orders, AOV is $50. Nudge it to $55 with the same traffic and you add $5,000 without spending more on ads.
Because AOV multiplies with traffic and conversion, improving it even slightly often beats chasing more visitors.
Bundle and tier your products
Bundles let customers buy more at a perceived discount while raising the total. Group complementary items — a camera with a case and memory card — and price the bundle below the sum of its parts.
Volume tiers work well too: buy two, save 10%; buy three, save 15%. Make the middle option the obvious value choice so customers trade up rather than down.
Place cross-sells and upsells well
Cross-sells suggest related products at the cart or product page; upsells offer a better or larger version at the point of decision. Place them where intent is highest, not randomly.
The highest-converting spot is often right after checkout, when the card is already out and attention is on the order. A one-click post-purchase offer avoids a second checkout and rarely cannibalizes the first sale.
Use free shipping and discount thresholds
Free shipping thresholds are one of the simplest AOV levers. Set the bar slightly above your current AOV so customers add one more item to qualify.
Show a progress bar — “you are $12 away from free shipping” — to make the gap concrete. The same logic works for tiered discounts and gift-with-purchase offers.
Lean on retention and email
Repeat customers spend more, so retention raises AOV over time. Segmented emails with personalized recommendations, replenishment reminders, and loyalty perks bring people back.
Abandoned-cart and post-purchase flows are especially effective: recommend a complementary product after the first order and you lift the value of the relationship, not just one basket.
Optimize the product page itself
Price presentation and page layout quietly shape order value. Anchor pricing by showing a larger option first, use plain language for value, and make the add-on decision easy with checkboxes at the cart.
High-quality photos, clear specs, and reviews reduce hesitation, which lets you hold or raise prices without losing conversion. Test price points and page layouts on real traffic rather than guessing, and keep the changes that lift total revenue rather than just units sold.
Pros
- Raises revenue without extra ad spend
- Most tactics are cheap to test
- Compounds with retention over time
Cons
- Aggressive upsells can annoy customers and hurt trust
- Bundles and free shipping cut into per-item margin
Frequently asked questions
What is a good average order value?
It depends entirely on your category and price point — track your own trend over time rather than comparing to generic benchmarks.
Does free shipping always increase AOV?
It often does, but the shipping cost has to be absorbed by the added margin; run the numbers before setting the threshold.
Should I upsell before or after checkout?
Post-purchase upsells are usually safest because they do not disrupt the checkout flow, while pre-checkout upsells can lift baskets but risk friction.
Verdict
Increase AOV with bundles, well-placed cross-sells and upsells, shipping thresholds, and stronger retention. Test one change at a time, measure against your baseline, and keep what works. Small, consistent gains here beat one-off promotions.
Read more: upsell and cross-sell · reduce cart abandonment.