How to Increase Average Order Value? [11 Important Tips]

What indicates the success of your WooCommerce business? Good lead conversion and decent traffic, right?

But, there is another important metric that plays an important role as well. 

And that’s the average order value, otherwise known as the AOV. 

The average order value is an imperfect, yet important business metric that can tell you whether or not your marketing efforts are yielding proper results.

It’s a metric where you get the idea of whether or not your customer retention strategies are working and how well your marketing strategy is working. 

Today’s discussion will be about the ins and outs of AOV building (special emphasis on WooCommerce).

But first, let’s try and understand what exactly is the AOV.

What is the Average Order Value? 

In order to understand the concept of AOV take a look at the following example: 

Let’s say you own a clothing WooCommerce store with total revenue of $1500. The $1500 revenue comes from a total of 150 orders. So, your average order value will be: 

(1500 / 150)$ = $15 

It means each customer spent $15 on each purchase from your WooCommerce business.

Do take note that this is not the only metric to consider when you want to understand the full growth of your business. Still, it’s not something you should take lightly. 

From this metric, it is clear that if you manage to increase the value per order, then it will help increase the overall AOV. It’s simple math. 

How to Calculate the Average Order Value (AOV)? 

From the previous example, you should have a clear idea of calculating AOV. So, you can see what the formula is going to look like: 

AOV =  Total Revenue in Sales / Number of Orders (Sales) 

This simple math is very powerful, it can easily tell you how to segment your market efforts based on your customer behavior. 

You can get better insights if you use customer segmentation by various demographics – average age, product interaction, ordering styles, and more. This way you will better understand whether your marketing efforts are yielding better results. 

How to Find AOV of a WooCommerce Store? 

You can easily get this metric from your WooCommerce WordPress website by going to WooCommerce from your dashboard. Then go to Reports>Orders>Sales by Date>Year.  Once there, you’ll have to divide the “net sales in this period” by the “number of orders placed”. 

This is just one answer. We would urge you to check out the FAQ section where we answer some very important questions. 

Why AOV should not be Your Only Business Metric (for an Online Store)? 

According to experts, no single metric of central tendency can offer a complete picture of your WooCommerce business. Rather you need to look at all the relevant metrics to find out the correct information. 

For instance, if you only look at the AOV (which is the average of all the orders in a certain period or Mean), and avoid the metrics like the middle or median value of the orders and the orders that are happening frequently, you will not get the full picture of the customer interaction with your WooCommerce business. 

For example, if your AOV is $20 but your common amount of purchase is $12, you need to pay attention to both metrics to get the right idea of interactions from your customers.  

As a whole, using the relevant metrics, you can easily get a full view of how your users are interacting with your business and whether or not your marketing efforts are bringing you the right outcome. 

What are the Strategies to Increase Average Order Value for Online Store?

There are plenty of strategies that can positively impact WooCommerce AOV. But, some strategies work better.

Here are 11 “field-tested” strategies to increase AOV: 

1. Design the product page properly
2. Offer a tailored experience to the user
3. Use upselling and cross-selling effectively
4. Make product bundles that work
5. Highlight the trending products
6. Offer free shipping
7. Use Discounts wisely
8. Downsell product addons
9. Design a proper customer loyalty program
10. Offer decent customer support
11. Use social media

Now, let’s get into the details!

1. Work on the Product Page Design 

Your product page is one of the first things a customer sees when they find their desired item. According to Convertcart, 87% of the users believe a product page needs to have the right information. 

On top of that, 67% of customers think that product visuals work better than product descriptions. 

So, it is a good idea to design a product page properly. According to Jessica Bonacci, a proper product page should have: 

1. A proper product description 
2. Important details of the product 
3. High-quality images and/or videos 
4. E-commerce SEO for product rankings 
5. Good product navigation 

These are the things you need for your product page to succeed. And if your product page succeeds, it has a positive impact on your AOV. 

Question: 

“I am using WooCommerce. How do I design the perfect product page that has all the elements?” 

You will find the answer to this question in the bonus sections.

2. Offer a Personalized Experience 

A personalized experience can go a long way. 

It doesn’t just help to increase the average order value. It helps you establish yourself as a brand in the eyes of your customers. 

Because through something personal, you are offering a “solution” to the users’ problems. And 53% of them do not complete the purchase if they don’t find the correct solution through the experience. 

So, make sure to plan your WooCommerce store and all the pages to offer solutions to your customers. 

Speaking of “personalized experience” WPXPO has a new WooCommerce Revenue Booster called WowRevenue – one of the great things about it is – it’s designed to deliver personalized discounts to buyers. Sellers think about ideas, WowRevenue does the execution. See the bonus sections down below.

3. Use Upselling and Cross-selling Strategies 

Do you understand the concept of upselling and cross-selling? They are a great way to increase your AOV and Lifetime Value. 

Upselling and cross-selling to existing customers can yield 60-70% conversions according to a marketing study. And chances of retaining an existing customer is only 20%. 

The following sections will help you understand how upselling and cross-selling work: 

Upsell Products   

Upsell products are the ones that are higher in value than the ones that a user chooses to buy initially. It is to prompt the user to upgrade to a better product option that is high in price. For example: 

• A user may opt for a better watch with better build quality in contrast to the initial option. 
• Someone may want to go with a dress with a better design than their initial choice of dress. 
• A user may choose to opt for a tablet computer with better RAM and Storage. 

Upselling has a direct impact on the average of the order value, as the customer is choosing an item with a higher price than the initial option. 

There are instances where customers like the idea of a suggestion for a better product. This happens at times when the customer is looking for a proper upgrade.    

Cross-sell Products 

These are complementary items that a customer would like to buy with their regular purchase.

For instance, if you’re looking to buy an Apple Smartphone, you may need to buy a charging adapter and a lightning cable separately. The charging adapter and the lightning cable are cross-selling products in this scenario. 

There are other examples as well: 

• If someone wants to buy a laptop, he or she may need a travel case and a wireless mouse. 
• Small furniture accessories may be included with a large furniture item.
• Electronic accessory items are to be sold with large-investment items [As mentioned earlier]. 

Cross-selling also has a great impact on AOV. Customers appreciate this as they do not have to spend the time to look for smaller, yet essential items to complete their shopping experience.

This increases the customer lifetime value alongside the AOV, allowing you to enhance the overall experience.  

Some things to follow: 

• Don’t be pushy with the customer. Remember, they can easily move from your WooCommerce store. So, make sure to include items that will be useful to the buyer. 
• In general, if someone is out to buy a product that is worth $200, it will be hard to convince them to go beyond that budget. Suggesting important items that are useful, yet significantly low in cost can be beneficial. The chances of the customer being willing to spend an extra $20-$50 are logical. But the item you wish to suggest needs to be something the user will be interested in buying. 
• Tools like ReConvert, Zangerine, and, others offer a unique insight. They tell you which products customers buy together. This way, you don’t risk offering irrelevant items to the customer, which can play a role in increasing the average WooCommerce order values.  

4. Bundle Similar Products

According to Matty Meyerson @Dearselfskincare says:
“We have found the single best tool we have done to get people to buy more is to offer product “bundles.” We pair products that work well together in our skincare line and give a discount to buy the bundle.”

Offering product bundles can be a bit tricky. The following video may help you out:

Bundles can work wonders. If you can bundle the right products, the chances of getting conversions are very high. 

Effectiveness of Product Bundles

You can also prompt users with product bundles. Product bundles in WooCommerce are optional items. Customers can get these items in configurable quantities with the items they want to purchase. 

For instance, if a dress is available with multiple colors of caps and accessories, users can choose between these products by selecting the quantities. The items will be added to their carts. 

Like cross-sell and upsell products, product bundles can also play a role in increasing the overall AOV. 

An ideal example of product bundles can be shown below:

Imagine you are selling to someone about to start a rock band. They are looking to buy a top-notch drum set. The price for that is $600. Now if you bundle a good set of speakers, drum rug, drum bags, and stick holder all together as a bundle with a discounted price [say the total bundle costs $800 after a discount], it can work as a great Call-to-Action. 

Here’s another example:

Campers often like to grab all their gear together. If you go to the Wooded Nomad’s website, you’ll see that they have particular bundle options for various customers. This is a great example of product bundles that offer value to the customer while increasing the value. 

Here’s another important video you should watch:

BOGO discounts are also a great way to increase the average WooCommerce order value. According to Shopify, 60-66% of users favor BOGO discount offers. And around 90% of them admit to getting a product on BOGO discount at least once. 

BOGO discounts are highly suitable for B2B+B2C WooCommerce websites. To effectively add BOGO discounts, you can check out the following: 

How to Create BOGO Discounts for WooCommerce Store? 
Setting up Buy X Get Y Discounts?: Here’s how!

5. Highlight the Trending Products

Highlighting the trending products is a common practice among marketers. It means highlighting the product images and information better. 

This strategy can impact your overall sales as well as help increase the average value of orders in WooCommerce store.

So, it is crucial to design the product page and the shop page effectively. There are some great WooCommerce page designs you can take inspiration from. Make sure you highlight your brand properly in the process. 

6.  Set a Free Shipping Threshold

According to Shivbhadrasinh Gohil, CMO at Meetanshi, WooCommerce owners should offer free shipping as customers tend to buy more because of it.

So, free shipping, with a strategic twist, works! 

Experts predict that you should create a scheme with a minimum of 25-30% headroom. You can experiment with more and see if it works for you. 

Remember, you’re not trying to weed out weak customers. So, you’ll need to make sure to prepare a scheme that doesn’t hold the customer captive in any way. 

For example, if the AOV is $25, you can offer ‘Free Shipping’ at $40-$50. Customers would love to include the extra $15-$20. 

Neal Taparia, CEO of Solitaired, supports the price reframing idea. He claims that his business saw a 26% increase in conversion when he promoted his product pricing as “less than one coffee”. He says you create a different value perception when you anchor pricing to something else.

7. Use Product Discounts Wisely 

Product discounts are like a double-edged sword. 

They can either have a positive on the Average WooCommerce Order Value, or the opposite. Because sometimes, discounts can cause more confusion than offering a ‘solution’. 

Still, customer psychology indicates that – discount offers impact their purchase decisions. 

So, the chances of increasing AOV are good if you offer discounts correctly. But, you need to plan it the right way. 

For example, offers running for a limited time have way better conversions! Limited-time promotions are a great thing. 

If you offer a special deal for a very short window (24-48 hours or less), you create a possibility of increasing your average value of orders. So make sure: 

• Offer value-centric Calls to Action. 
• Keep the promotion copy small. 
• Be honest and specific. 
• Make it easy to understand

8. Down-selling Product Addons 

This is a sneaky little strategy you can use. 

Down-selling means offering a low-price product to a customer if he or she decides to buy a high-price item. The concept is similar to upselling and cross-selling. 

But it works! Here’s an example: 

If a customer looks to buy a $100 product, you can offer a $10 item that’s related to his/her purchase. 

9. Design a Customer Loyalty Program

Customer loyalty programs are there to increase customer retention. 

Make sure to have a proper customer loyalty program in place. Here are some tips you can follow: 

• Choose a proper name and prepare to create a deeper feel. 
• Develop a proper experience. Make sure it feels like a game. 
• Ensure customers have different avenues of enrollment. 
• Offer value-focused incentives to the users that are non-monetary. 

Research indicates that a focused loyalty program can increase the AOV by 12-15%. So, make sure to focus your efforts. 

10. Design a Good Customer Support System with Live Chat

You need a good customer support system to make your strategies work. And for that, a live chat system can work wonders. 

Live chat is a necessity nowadays. Especially when you’re dealing with sophisticated products. Customers, in general, like to understand how the product works firsthand. 

They want to get a feel for the product before they buy the product. 

Even buyers who are “About to” make a purchase may need a bit more push before they can hit the ‘Buy’ button. 

In short, Live chat is a promising weapon that is often underutilized by WooCommerce businesses. Experts predict that live chat can increase the overall AOV by 10-15% in general. So, setting up this ‘necessity’ should be imminent. 

11. Use Social Media Properly 

Readers are very active on social media. A huge portion of this traffic likes to buy products after seeing reviews in the social space and real-world use. 

As a matter of fact, the study suggests that 68-72% of customers will only buy a product from your WooCommerce business after reading an online review (social space on the web). 

A good strategy here is to share customer reviews on your company’s dedicated social channel. You can ask social influencers to review your products. These strategies can easily help increase the AOV. 

Bonus Sections

Remember we talked about a revenue booster? Here’s how it can help:

Designing Revenue Boosting Campaigns with WowRevenue

Before jumping in, taking a look at the video might be of help:

WowRevenue is designed to be the all-in-one solution for your WooCommerce store, offering powerful tools to:

Build Custom Sales Campaigns

With WowRevenue’s campaign builder, you can create personalized campaigns from the ground up. The idea behind it? Simple:

• Design unique offers tailored to your needs.
• Customize how campaigns look and behave.
• Automate the entire process for hassle-free delivery.

Boost Sales with FOMO Tactics

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a proven strategy to drive sales. WowRevenue equips you with tools like countdown timers and stock scarcity, motivating customers to make a purchase before it’s too late.

Increase Average Order Value

WowRevenue helps you:

• Build and launch custom sales campaigns effortlessly.
• Personalize campaign settings to match your brand.
• Use pre-built FOMO elements to drive urgency.
• Track campaign performance directly from your dashboard.

In the past, you might have needed several plugins to achieve these results. But with WowRevenue, everything is rolled into one plugin.

***New features are coming to the platform. You can learn more from this post.

On to the next bonus section:

Remember we talked about redesigning your product pages? Well, there’s a plugin called WowStore that can help you achieve that:

How to Design WooCommerce Pages with WowStore?

WowStore is a WooCommerce builder plugin that can help you build WooCommerce Pages just the way you want. You can use the highly customizable product blocks or the pre-made templates. On the topic of WowStore, it is worth mentioning that the built-in builder is a super powerful feature that can work wonders. There are 2 great resources we would like to point you to.

But before that, why not check out a quick video on how the WooCommerce builder works:

Now, let’s take a look at the resources on creating proper WooCommerce pages:

How to Build a Shop Page?

The shop page will show up as the shop page template you create. You can create it in 1 of 2-ways:

1. Use a pre-made template
2. Use the WowStore blocks

Here’s a home page we designed with some advanced features of WowStore:

The design shows the power of WowStore (why is it so powerful in contrast to other WooCommerce builders). Do check out the link mentioned above to check out how can you create a proper shop page.

How to Build a Single Product Page?

The single product page is a very important thing to get right. So, you may want to do some research before walking into the process. Remember, you are creating a single product page template to show on your single product page.

But, you can rely on WowStore to get the job done.

Here’s the back-end view of a single product page. You are at will to create the design you want. Again, do make sure to use your brand assets properly.

Here’s a single product design snapshot from the backend:

This is just one example.

FAQ

Make sure to go through this section carefully. You will find some useful information crucial to the topic. 

Final Thoughts 

If you’ve made it this far, then congratulations. You now have some important insights on how to increase your store’s average order value. Just make sure of one thing. 

Do your research thoroughly before jumping into anything. Once you do your research, you can easily use the above-mentioned strategies for your particular WooCommerce business. 

Good luck!

Written bySadik Ahmed

My casual writing career took its turn in the technical space 5 years back. Since then, I’ve been working in the WordPress industry (not limited to WordPress themes and plugins of course😉). My writing career spans 8 long years - mostly helping newcomers, professionals, and enthusiasts work on interesting WordPress themes, plugins, and other digital products.