How to increase average order value in an online store: packages, quantity tiers, thresholds and cart suggestions

Most shops try to grow by bringing in more visitors. The cheaper route is often to sell a little more to the customers who already buy. That is what average order value measures, and this article covers five ways to increase it, how to measure it, and how to make sure a bigger cart is also a better one.

What average order value is

Average order value, or AOV, is the average amount spent per order:

AOV = sales in a period ÷ number of orders in that period

In PrestaShop, the Dashboard Trends block on the back office dashboard has a tab called Cart Value. According to PrestaShop’s functional documentation, its tooltip calls it Average Cart Value and it is “calculated by dividing Sales by Orders”. In Google Analytics 4, purchase revenue is in the Transactions report, under Reports in the Monetization topic, as the Analytics help describes.

Measure it over a few weeks at a time. One large order can move a daily average a lot.

1. Offer larger packages, with the saving in sight

If customers already buy several pieces of the same item, the simplest lever is to sell them a larger unit: a box instead of six loose pieces, a pallet instead of four boxes. What makes it work is the comparison at the moment of choice:

• the price per piece for each package;
• the saving compared with buying single pieces;
• the total for the number of packages chosen.

A package with a better price per piece gives the customer a reason to round up. We compare the ways to set this up in PrestaShop in PrestaShop wholesale pricing.

2. Quantity tiers

Quantity tiers, also called volume discounts, lower the price per piece from a certain number of units: for example −5% from 12 and −12% from 48. They work best when the steps match how the product is packed and when the customer sees the next step before adding to the cart. We show tier examples and the PrestaShop setup in PrestaShop quantity discounts step by step.

3. A free shipping threshold just above the average

A threshold slightly above your current AOV gives many customers a reason to add one more item. Two rules make it work: the threshold must be shown in the cart and the checkout, with the amount still missing, and the message must match the shipping rule that actually applies. We explain the three native ways to set it up in Free shipping over a set amount in PrestaShop.

4. Suggestions in the cart

The cart is where the customer reviews the order, so it is a good place for one relevant suggestion:

• Upsell: the same thing in a better or larger version, for example the same quantity as packages at a lower price.
• Cross-sell: a matching item, such as a refill, a case or an accessory.

Keep it to one useful suggestion, and make accepting it one click. PrestaShop’s own Cross-selling module adds a “Customers who bought this product also bought…” section to product pages. We cover suggestions that replace loose pieces with cheaper packages in Cart upsell.

5. Bundles of matching products

Selling items that go together as one product, such as a starter kit or a gift set, raises the order value and saves the customer from searching. In PrestaShop this is the pack of products product type, compared with the alternatives in PrestaShop packs compared.

Measure the right thing

A higher AOV is not automatically a better result. Change one lever at a time and compare a few weeks before and after:

1. Average order value, from the dashboard.
2. Conversion rate: if fewer visitors buy, the higher average may hide fewer orders.
3. Margin per order: a discount that is deeper than what you save on packing and shipping per order makes each order bigger and less profitable.

Where Pack Selector fits

Pack Selector covers levers 1, 2 and 4 for PrestaShop shops that sell the same item in different quantities. It shows the piece, the box and the pallet on the product page with the price per piece and the saving, applies tiers to a product, a category or the whole shop, and suggests in the cart when the same quantity costs less as packages.