What is Average Order Value (AOV)?

AOV is one of the three fundamental levers of e-commerce revenue, alongside traffic volume and conversion rate. The formula is straightforward: AOV = Total Revenue / Number of Orders. If your store generated $50,000 from 1,000 orders last month, your AOV is $50.

Increasing AOV is often the fastest path to revenue growth because it does not require more traffic or a higher conversion rate. Common tactics include product bundling, volume discounts, free shipping thresholds (set just above your current AOV), cross-sells on the product or cart page, and upsells during checkout. Each tactic works by giving customers a reason to add more to their cart before completing their purchase.

AOV should be tracked alongside other metrics rather than in isolation. A promotion that increases AOV by 15% but reduces conversion rate by 20% is a net negative. Similarly, an AOV increase driven by a single high-ticket item sale does not represent a sustainable improvement. Segment AOV by traffic source, device, customer type (new vs returning), and product category for actionable insights.

Seasonal patterns also affect AOV significantly. Holiday periods typically show higher AOV due to gift-buying behavior, while post-holiday periods may see lower values as customers shop for themselves with more price sensitivity. Understanding your baseline AOV across seasons prevents you from misinterpreting normal fluctuations as the result of a recent change.