The holidays are approaching, which means people are spending their free time browsing online stores. Stores like yours. They may have a particular item or person in mind as they peruse your selection, and that means they are primed to buy. Just what we all want, right? Right. But while you have their attention, you might as well do all you can to increase the average order value.

How to Increase the average order value.

The average order value (also known as the AOV) is the average amount of money your customers spend per transaction. Want to know what your AOV is? Use this formula:

Total Revenue / number of orders = average order value

A helpful hint: the Shopify customers report actually calculates this number for you so you can keep a close eye on your progress. Now, while we always want to attract more customers to our stores, we should also aim to make the most of the customers who already spend time on our sites. So, let’s discuss how to increase the average order value.

1. Provide product recommendations

The most logical and possibly most obvious method to increase the average order value is to provide your customers with recommendations. Unlike in a physical store, online shoppers often navigate directly to what they’re looking for. Browsing is less common. So it’s important to put your products in front of them where they’ll see them.

Shopify Apps for product recommendations:

• ZEN.AI Product Recommendations
• Cross Sell
• Visely Product Recommendations
• Recomatic Related Products
• AutoCommerce

2. Upsell or cross-sell like products

Similarly to product recommendations, This method involves adding recommendations to your products page. But instead of simply showcasing your most popular items or products at random, this method employs some strategy. Are they looking at an item that would go perfectly with another? Or maybe you know if they like one thing they’ll definitely like another.

Cross-selling is where you recommend a product that would pair nicely with another.

Upselling is when you offer a strategic suggestion that’s slightly better (and priced higher) than the one they are considering.

3. Set order minimums for discounts

This method is pretty simple and straight-forward but very effective. People love to get a deal. Develop a discount strategy that rewards customers the more they spend.

4. Offer a customer loyalty program

Much like the previous method, this one rewards those who spend the most money with your store. This can be set up in a multitude of ways, but ultimately the goal is to encourage your most loyal customers to spend more money.

5. Bundle products or create packages

While this method may seem somewhat obvious, it’s a tactic that is often overlooked. Instead of simply offering product recommendations like suggested earlier, go ahead and create the bundled package to make it as easy as possible for your customer to increase their average order value.

Are you ready to get started and rock your own e-commerce business? Get in touch. We’re Arya Creative, a branding, web design and development agency who specializes in e-commerce and Shopify.