What is AOV in eCommerce?
Let’s start with “What is AOV?”
That stands for Average Order Value. It’s calculated by taking your total revenue and dividing it by your total number of orders…
AOV = $1000 (revenue) ÷ 53 (orders) = $18.86 (your AOV)
Why is this so important? Because you’re probably leaving a lot of money on the table! This is where Shopify shipping software comes in.
By squeezing more value from your existing customers, it means much more money for you!
How much? On average, it costs FIVE times as much to acquire new customers vs. increasing the Average Order Value of your existing ones.
So, how do I go about increasing the Average Order Value?
Here are some options…
When evaluating Shopify shipping softwares, it’s important that the app you’re considering can easily integrate these offers.
Even better, Shopify apps that you can customize, so they’ll seamlessly reflect the look and feel of YOUR store.
No matter which offers you choose, the strength of those offers is vital!
The offer needs to be one (or more!) of the following…
- Valuable—The offer must be something the customer actually wants!
- Relevant—It makes sense to go with what they’re already planning to buy.
- With the sense of Urgency—There’s a motivation to act NOW rather than later… FOMO (fear of missing out)
- Timely—The offer appears at just the right moment to encourage someone to buy.
When looking for the best Shopify apps, make sure the software will let you design your own offers that blend seamlessly with your store’s “look”.
Let’s have a quick look at some of these options and how they increase Average Order Value…
Upselling
This is the most used strategy to increase the AOV for Shopify stores.Just like it sounds, it’s the art of convincing your customer into buying the more expensive version of your product.
Put the right product in front of the customer, when they’re already excited, you can increase your revenues by 10–30%.
Cross-selling
With the right Shopify app, you can show your customers other relevant products they can buy. Things that naturally “go together”.
Amazon has this down.
How many times have you seen “frequently bought together” at checkout? That’s cross-selling.
Product Bundles
Bundling products is an easy way to increase your AOV. You’re encouraging customers to spend more than they planned. Instead of offering discounts on individual products, bundling products and offering them at an overall discount. This means… they buy more!
Urgency
This is pretty self-explanatory… You encourage customers to act…Now!
It could be things like “only nine left”. Or, “order in the next ten minutes and get Free shipping”.
With the right Shopify app, your options are only limited by your creativity.
Timely
If you offer “camping gear” on your Shopify store, the odds are sales will drop during winter.
But, snow skiing equipment revenue may skyrocket.
With the right Shopify app, you’ll be able to modify or switch out offers almost instantly.
Maybe there’s some annual event coming up, you know your customers love. You’ll be able to “turn” your offers on and off as needed.
Shopify apps to help increase Average Order Value (AOV)
The important factors we considered for this list…
Ease of integration–The Shopify software app should seamlessly integrate with your Shopify store. (unless you enjoy writing code!)
Automation–The Shopify app should offer “systems”. Pre-set offers, emails, notifications, etc. So you can earn while you sleep!
Pricing–These Shopify apps should be affordable. Most offer free trial periods, so you can “feel them out” before committing.
You’re here to MAKE money right?
Professional templates–Your Shopify store has a “look”. Make sure the software app you’re considering has customizable templates that can match it.
E-commerce features–These should be embedded in the Shopify app.
The ability to segment your customers in relation to their buying habits.
Let’s go…
First up, Rush
If you’re running a Shopify eCommerce store, this app has just about everything you need. Rush provides totally customizable templates.
That means your store’s logo and “look” on all your customer messaging. Along with world-class tracking, and analytics.
It helps reduce the time-draining hassle from customers wondering “Where’s my order?” or “I can’t see my discount”.
So many Shopify apps seem to forget about their customers once a purchase has been made. Rush makes sure that won’t happen.
How much extra money are you missing out on?
Post-purchase communication not only builds trust with your customers but can also mean easy, extra profits for you.
Pricing–Free trial (30 Days)
Basic Plan ($9 per month)
Growth Plan ($29 per month)
Advanced Plan ($199 per month)
Privy
One of the cool features of Privy is the pop-up boxes that get people to shop more items at once. They also have pop-ups that offer free or next-day delivery. You can set “Free shipping” options on higher-value products and increase your AOV by 30% or more. Great email integration.
Pricing–Free (100 contacts)
Starter ($15 per month)
Growth ($45 per month)
Reconvert Upsell & Cross Sell
This Shopify app helps “guide” customers towards a higher-priced item based on the one they’re currently viewing.
For instance, if folks are looking at a recliner priced at $300, they will also see the “massager model” priced at $450.
They also include a Cross-sell feature that shows buyers add-on product recommendations.
You can also add customized Discount Coupons.
Pricing–Free trial (30 Days-up to 49 orders)
Up to 199 orders ($7.99 per month)
Up to 499 orders ($29.99 per month)
Up to 999 orders ($49.99 per month)
Up to 1999 orders ($89.99 per month)
ManyChat
This Shopify app lets you target people who’ve visited your Shopify store with a Facebook Messenger bot.
You can send personalized discount codes straight to their Facebook inbox. Add a coupon for any item they viewed in your store.
It also integrates with Instagram and others.
According to the latest research, 63% of people have purchased items they didn't really need, just because they had a coupon for them.
You’ll also be able to send SMS reminders, as well as “push” notifications. This is helpful to contact people who’ve added items to their online cart, but have not checked out.
Pricing–Free (up to 1000 contacts)
Pro Plan ($15 per month)
Also Bought
This Shopify app really helps with cross-selling.
The strength of Also Bought is that it automatically pulls product data, then shows which combinations people typically purchased.
Here’s an example, let’s say your customer is checking out a laptop in your store. The plugin recognizes that people viewing this item tend to buy laptop accessories as well. So, the Shopify app pulls product data for the most popular accessories and shows them right on your product page.
Pricing–Free trial (30 Days)
Basic plan ($9.99 per month)
Nudgify
This Shopify app capitalizes on FOMO (fear of missing out).
According to their research, it’s a psychological phenomenon that causes 60% of millennials to make “reactive purchases”.
Like… “If everyone else has one, I should get it too!”
Nudgify’s app uses social proof, appearing in pop-up boxes right in your Shopify store. It will show how many people have purchased the item they’re viewing. Even in “real-time”.
This kind of social proof helps build trust and instills the feeling that if other people are purchasing, you should too. More trust equals more sales AND a higher AOV.
Besides just Social Proof pop-ups, there are options for Urgency, Friction, and Custom templates.
Pricing–Free (up to 2000 visitors)
Up to 10,000 visitors ($9 per month)
Up to 100,000 visitors ($29 per month)
Agency ($89 per month)
Sales Countdown Timer Bar
This Shopify app is all about URGENCY! All by showing a countdown timer. The “countdown” can be for much more than a single order.
You can integrate the timer with a “One time discount”, or a free gift if they order in the next thirty minutes.
Some Shopify store owners use the timer to encourage checkout to receive free shipping. Or an estimated “sold out” time. High AOV “bumps” await.
Pricing–Free trial (7 Days)
Start up-up to 500 tickets ($29 per month)
Scale-up to 2,000 tickets ($99 per month)
Growth-up to 6,000 tickets ($249 per month)
Wishlist Plus
This Shopify app caters to customers that might be a little tight on money at the time. That doesn’t mean they don’t WANT expensive items!
Wishlist Plus allows customers to make “Wish Lists” for products they want to buy. Maybe for a special day. That could be the Holidays, their birthday, or graduation. Hey, even payday!
Customers can share their wishlist with friends, family, and even co-workers.
This means all those other folks will be viewing YOUR store too.
The idea is, that instead of making many small purchases, they head to your checkout page with a bundle.
Thus increasing your average order value tremendously.
With fully customizable templates, you can set up a Shopify Wish List with your logo and add all the info you’d like.
Pricing–Free (up to 2500 site sessions)
Starter-up to 10,000 site sessions ($14.99 per month)
Pro-up to 50,000 site sessions ($49.99 per month)
Premium-up to 100,000 site sessions ($99.99 per month)
Bundable
This Shopify app allows you to lump related products together and offer them at a discounted rate when purchased together.
Let’s say you have a laptop in your Shopify store selling for $500. But, for $600 you include not only the laptop, but a mouse, keyboard, and a spare charger. It would make sense to get the “bundle” rather than just the laptop.
Obviously, this will greatly increase your Average Order Value.
Pricing–Free trial (14 Days)
Standard Plan-($18.50 per month)
Smile: Rewards & Loyalty
This Shopify app helps you create your very own loyalty program.
The more a customer buys from you, the more “points” or “rewards” they can redeem on their next purchase from your Shopify store.
Smile allows you to create your own loyalty program using points, referrals, and even gift cards as rewards. You can even incorporate a Shopify affiliate program. This can provide a huge impact on your store's AOV.
They estimate a 39% increase in order value when a customer uses a loyalty reward.
Customers feel they’re actually saving money by building up “rewards” for a future purchase.
Pricing–Free (limited options)
Starter-($49 per month)
Growth-($199 per month)
Pro-(599 per month)
Feedback Forms
This Shopify app lets you go “straight to the horse’s mouth”!
Why not ASK your customers how to increase your Average Order Value?
With Feedback Forms, you can ask some important questions…
Of course, you can design your own questions related to your store’s needs. Gather your answers and look for common denominators.
You can’t fix what you don’t know. You’ll learn what’s working and boost it.
You may also find places of “friction”.
This allows you to pivot and correct the problem.
If you find that folks had a higher budget than the price of the item they ordered, you may consider raising your prices.
Which will mean a higher Average Order Value.
Pricing–Free (up to 250 page views) 2500 page views ($5.49 per month)
5000 page views ($18.99 per month)
10,000 page views ($35.99 per month)
25,000 page views ($84.99 per month)
50,00 page views ($159.99 per month)
Custom pricing available
Justuno
This Shopify app uses “Commerce AI” to create upsell and cross-sell product recommendations. It helps guide shoppers toward conversion and increases Average Order Values. It also offers lead capture and website messaging pop-ups. Justuno will allow you to do “A/B” split testing as well. They pride themselves on “hyper-personalized” upsells and cross-sells.
Pricing–Free trial (14 Days)
Up to 10,000 Visitors ($29 per month)
Justuno Pro-Unlimited Visitors ($399 per month)
Some final Thoughts…
I’m guessing you would like to make MORE money with your Shopify store.
Average Order Value (AOV) is vital. This is where you can look at overall performance and get a “bird’s eye view” of how you’re doing.
Important factors can be measured and corrected…
Calculating your AOV can really help you understand how well your Shopify store is performing.
Having a higher AOV means you can spend more money on marketing to acquire new customers.
This is NOT a one-time fix.
The Average Order Value is dynamic… always changing.
It changes when you add new products or remove them.
This is where “testing” comes in. A “split test” (also known as A/B test) is the marketing industry standard.
You could offer a $100 product to one segment of your customers, and price the same product at $150 to a different segment of customers.
Did sales drop at the higher price?
If not, then begin selling that item at $150 to everyone!
(you’ve just made an extra $50 on each sale)
If sales are slow on a particular item in your Shopify store, you might consider lowering the price. Be warned, however, some consumers see lower prices as “too cheap”.
You need to test, and find the “sweet spot”.
Having more customers means you can re-market to them!
Make sure when choosing a Shopify app that you have the ability to reach out to customers post-sale.
It’s FIVE times easier to sell to an existing customer than to find new prospects.
The “easy” money is in Upselling and Cross-selling. You know what they’ve purchased, and what they like. Your job is to show them MORE of that.
That’s called CLV (Customer Lifetime Value).
Bundling products at a discount is another excellent way to increase Average Order Value.
Customers also love Loyalty Programs. Where they earn credits towards their next purchase.
Marketing is both Science and Art!
Many times I was SURE I had a winner!
Then…crickets.
Even if you hate looking at them… Numbers don’t lie.
As a great Marketing Guru once said…
“Measurement removes all argument”