How to Increase Average Order Value on Shopify: 12 Proven Strategies That Work in 2025

Depending on your e-commerce niche, it could cost as much as $377 to acquire a new customer.

That’s a lot of money. So it’s in your best interests to persuade those customers to spend as much as possible every time they visit your store.

Learn how in our guide to increasing your Shopify average order value…

What Is Average Order Value and Why Does It Matter?

Average order value (AOV) is an e-commerce metric that measures the average amount your customers spend per transaction.

For example, if your store earned $5,000 in January across 200 transactions, you’d have an AOV of $25.

Increasing your average order value is important because it means you’re getting better value from your marketing budget. The more your customers spend every time they buy from you, the easier it becomes to hit your revenue and growth targets.

12 Strategies To Boost Your AOV (Plus One Bonus Tip)

So we’re agreed: growing your AOV is a good thing. Now, let’s explore how to do it…

1. Offer Volume Discounts

Volume discounts – also known as quantity discounts – involve offering customers a lower price per unit when they purchase more items in a single transaction.

This sort of offer can eat into your profit margins, so you don’t want to discount too aggressively. But, at the same time, an attractive volume discount tempts shoppers to buy in bulk – and the more they buy, the higher your average order value will be.

So it’s a trade-off.

Wedding stationery brand Artisaire clearly thinks the compromise is worthwhile. They offer big discounts for bulk orders on certain product lines, like these wax seals:

If we had one criticism, it’s that Artisaire could be doing more to promote this offer.

A product badge saying something like “bulk savings” or “buy 20, save 10% per unit” would have made this deal stand out on the store’s collection and product pages.

Pro tip: Learn more in The Ultimate Guide to Product Badges.

2. Add a Free Shipping Threshold

Consumers hate paying for shipping.

So much so that 81% are prepared to increase their spending to meet a store’s free shipping threshold.

As such, free shipping can be a powerful tool for increasing your average order value. Just calculate your existing AOV, then set your threshold 10% – 15% higher. Easy!

(Obviously, you’ll want to test this yourself – setting the threshold too high might lead to more cart abandonments, so it’s a careful balancing act.)

The most impactful way to showcase your free shipping threshold is to add a dynamic progress bar in your cart drawer, just like Adored Vintage does here:

Or, for a simpler approach, just add some copy close to your “add to cart” button (or in another prominent position on your product pages) that says something like: “Spend $100+ for free shipping.”

You can also use product badges in your free shipping promotion. For instance, you can:

Promote higher-ticket items that already qualify for free shipping, encouraging shoppers to “upgrade” their purchase
Remind customers buying lower-ticket products that they need to reach a certain level of spend to qualify for free shipping

Pro tip: Learn more in How to Offer Free Shipping on Shopify & Increase Sales.

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3. Add a Free Gift Threshold

Sure, free shipping is a super effective AOV-boosting tactic for a lot of Shopify merchants.

But it doesn’t work for everyone.

For instance, say you’re a fashion brand selling high-ticket apparel or footwear. Chances are, most of your customers will automatically qualify for free shipping, because they’re spending big money on your products.

In that case, try tempting shoppers with a free gift once they reach a certain threshold. Like how accessories brand Troubadour offered a free rain cover with purchases of backpacks over a set value:

Again, product badges can elevate this tactic.

For instance, you can add a “free gift with purchase” badge to any products that exceed your free gift threshold.

4. Provide Product Recommendations

Cross-selling increases your AOV by encouraging customers to buy more than they originally planned. To get it right, you have to present them with relevant product recommendations based on their browsing behavior.

For instance, sustainable fashion brand Tentree says this rain jacket “pairs with” the same leggings the model is wearing in the product image:

This cross-selling strategy is so effective because it makes customers feel like they’re missing out if they don’t buy the full outfit.

Tentree shows us a pretty simple way to cross-sell.

To take things up a level, you’ll want to personalize your product recommendations based on each individual customer’s browsing and buying history – giving you a greater chance of presenting products they’ll love.

Shopify’s default tools don’t offer this level of insight and automation, so you’ll need to install a dedicated app. We’ve rounded up the top options in our guide: 16 Best Shopify Apps to Increase Conversions.

Whereas cross-selling involves persuading your customers to buy additional products, upselling is about tempting them with more expensive versions of the items they were planning to purchase.

One of our favorite upselling strategies is to promote an “upgrade” offer.

They’re common in the world of tech – like how Apple might encourage you to buy an iPhone with more memory, or choose a Macbook Pro over the entry-level Macbook Air.

But it’s just as relevant in plenty of other e-commerce niches.

For example, golf brand Titleist uses product personalization in its upgrade offer, allowing customers to add custom elements – like text and graphics – to their golf balls:

Sure, it only earns Titleist an additional $5 – $10 per sale, which is small fry compared to the price of a new set of clubs.

But every customer who takes advantage of this upgrade will have a positive impact on the store’s average order value.

6. Run a "Buy X, Get Y" Promotion

“Buy X, get Y” promotions are another classic cross-selling technique.

The idea here is that when a customer performs “X” action, they’ll unlock “Y” reward.

For example, check out this buy two, get one free promotion from cellphone accessories brand Creamcy:

Sure, most people probably aren’t planning to buy two phone cases when they land on Creamcy’s site.

But if a customer ends up purchasing two cases rather than one to unlock the promotion, they’ve spent twice as much as they originally intended.

As the name suggests, there are various other types of “buy X, get Y” deals, such as:

Buy one, get 10% off a second one
Buy one, get $10 off a second one
Buy two, get free shipping (a variant on a free shipping threshold)
Buy a specific product, get a free gift (another way to run a free gift with purchase promo)

All of which can convince customers to add more items to their cart or choose a more expensive product, thereby boosting your AOV.

7. Leverage Post-Purchase Offers

Think your upselling and cross-selling opportunities have passed when the customer buys something?

Not necessarily, because you can still tempt them with a post-purchase offer. These show up immediately after the customer completes the checkout process and typically say something like: “Before you go, why not buy this additional product at a discounted rate?”

They work for two reasons:

The customer is clearly already in the buying mood, so you’re striking while the iron’s hot.
You’ve already captured their shipping and payment information, so they can buy an additional product with a single click.

Here’s an example of a basic post-purchase checkout extension:

Any store can install Shopify apps that use post-purchase checkout extensions – but only Shopify Plus merchants have the ability to install custom apps that use these extensions.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to use a post-purchase app, there’s a sort-of workaround – sharing post-purchase offers via email or SMS.

This approach won’t technically increase your average order value, because any future purchases would count as separate transactions. But it can still help you bring in more revenue, which is ultimately all that matters.

8. Start a Loyalty Program

Clearly, the main reason to start a loyalty program is to improve customer retention.

That’s why they’re called “loyalty” programs, right?

But they can also boost your AOV by encouraging customers to spend more per transaction.

Sephora shows us how it works. They run one of the most popular loyalty programs in the beauty industry, offering tiered rewards based on how much the customer spends in a year:

That way, shoppers who are close to reaching the next loyalty tier are encouraged to spend just a little more on their next purchase to unlock more attractive perks, like bigger discounts during seasonal savings events.

Bear in mind this strategy works best in e-commerce niches where customers are likely to make lots of repeat purchases, like beauty and health.

If you only sell mattresses or high-end electronics, starting a loyalty program (probably) won’t do much to improve your average order value, because a customer might only buy from you once every 5 – 10 years.

9. Promote Product Bundles

Product bundles are another way to boost your AOV through upselling.

It’s kinda like a volume discount. But whereas volume discounts apply to bulk orders of the same product, bundling is about selling multiple products as a single package – often at a discounted price.

Again, like with volume discounts, bundling might reduce your profit margin. But on the flip side, the extra value of a bundle encourages customers to spend more per transaction.

For example, Goodfair sells pre-loved clothing – including this monster bundle of 16 items, comprising flannel shirts, hoodies, tees, and more:

This deal represents a big saving for customers.

But it’s also comfortably the most expensive “product” on the Goodfair site, so anyone who buys it will bump up the store’s average order value.

10. Let Customers Buy Now, Pay Later

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is increasingly popular with both consumers and retailers.

It’s a form of payment plan that allows customers to break down the cost of a purchase into several smaller amounts. Paying in installments rather than upfront gives them the flexibility to:

Choose more expensive products than they initially planned
Purchase more items in a single transaction

Either way, the result is the same: you end up with a higher AOV. Indeed, customers who pay with BNPL spend an average of 6.42% more than those who use other payment methods.

This tactic is often used with higher-priced products, like this Bruvi coffee brewer:

As you can see, Bruvi combines a buy-now-pay-later deal with a product bundle offer, encouraging shoppers to spend more to unlock the extra value of a bundle deal. Clever stuff!

11. Answer Customer Queries Via Live Chat

Some customers will arrive on your site with a crystal-clear idea of what they want to buy.

Others are a little more flexible. They might be looking for a specific type of product, but they haven’t narrowed down their choice yet.

In a brick-and-mortar store, sales reps might encourage these undecided shoppers to consider premium products, or suggest add-ons that the customer might not have thought about.

You can do pretty much the same thing online via live chat.

Supplements brand Herbal Goodness clearly recognizes this. They use an automated chat bot to provide instant answers to basic questions (like information about shipping and returns), then pass more complex queries onto human agents.

As well as answering questions, those human agents have the opportunity to do some serious upselling and cross-selling.

12. Offer Hassle-Free Returns

We all know that a generous returns policy can boost e-commerce conversion rates.

But it can also improve your AOV by reducing purchase anxiety – in other words, making customers feel less stressed about placing larger orders.

For example, footwear brand Manitobah offers free returns and exchanges on all full-priced products within 30 days of purchase:

This simple, easy-to-understand policy encourages customers to buy more items at once – safe in the knowledge that if they don’t like any of their purchases, they can just send them back for a full refund.

BONUS TIP: Promote Thank You and Order Status Offers

Full disclosure – this tip won’t technically increase your AOV, since the “thank you” and “order status” pages both appear after the sale. Still, promoting these post-purchase offers can boost your store’s revenue, so it’s well worth considering.

One way to make this happen is through a third-party order-editing app. Just be aware that it’s a little clunky, because it involves updating an order that’s already been placed.

FAQs

What is a good average order value?

There’s no such thing as a universally “good” average order value – it all depends on your industry. For instance, e-commerce data reveals that the average order value in the food & beverage niche stood at $108 in January 2025, compared to $320 for luxury & jewelry brands.

What is the average order value on Shopify?

Shopify stores see an average order value of $85, according to figures from Littledata. If you had an AOV of $192+, you’d be in the top 20% of all Shopify stores – while a $311+ AOV would put you in the top 10%.

How do you calculate average order value?

To calculate average order value, divide the total revenue for a period by the number of orders placed during that period. For instance, if you brought in revenue of $10,000 in January across 250 orders, your AOV calculation would look like this: $10,000/250 = AOV of $40.