What is Average Order Value (AOV)?
Average order value is net sales divided by the number of orders over a period. It moves with pricing, bundling, free-shipping thresholds and product mix, which makes it one of the most controllable levers a store has.
Key takeaways
- Formula: AOV = net sales ÷ number of orders.
- Use the same revenue definition every time - net of discounts and refunds, excluding shipping and tax.
- A few very large orders can distort the average; look at the median order too.
- Common mistake: celebrating a higher AOV while order count falls, so total sales go down.
- Formula
- AOV = Net sales ÷ Number of orders
- Benchmark
- Varies enormously by category and price point. Compare against your own history and by channel or segment rather than against other stores.
Average order value (AOV) is the average amount a customer spends each time they place an order. It's one of the most controllable levers an online store has: raise it, and revenue grows without needing a single extra visitor.
AOV moves with pricing, bundling, free-shipping thresholds and product mix - all things you decide. That makes it a metric you can actively manage, not just watch.
What Is Average Order Value?
Average order value is net sales divided by the number of orders over a period. It answers a simple question: when someone checks out, how much do they usually spend?
On its own, AOV is half the picture. Total sales is AOV multiplied by the number of orders, so a change in one only matters if the other holds up. That's why AOV is best read next to order count and conversion rate.
🧒 Explained simply On Saturday, five kids buy lemonade at your stand. Three buy one cup for $1, and two buy a cup and a cookie for $3. You made $9 from 5 orders, so the average order was $1.80. If you put the cookies right next to the jug, more kids might grab one - and your average goes up without any extra customers walking past.
How to Calculate Average Order Value
AOV = Net sales ÷ Number of orders
Say a store has $30,000 in net sales from 400 orders in a month:
$30,000 ÷ 400 = $75 AOV
The important part is using the same revenue definition every time. Use net sales - after discounts and refunds, excluding shipping and tax. If one month you use gross sales and the next net, AOV will appear to move when nothing changed.
Things to settle up front:
- Which orders count. Exclude test orders, cancelled orders and orders that were never paid.
- Fully refunded orders. If you subtract the refund from net sales, decide whether the order still counts in the denominator, and keep that choice consistent.
- Outliers. A few very large orders - a wholesale buyer, a one-off corporate gift - can pull the average up. Look at the median order value too; if the median and the average drift apart, a handful of big orders is doing the work.
Why Average Order Value Matters
It grows revenue from traffic you already have. Getting more visitors costs money. Getting each buyer to spend a little more usually costs much less.
It shapes what you can afford to spend on acquisition. A higher AOV means each order carries more margin, which leaves more room for ads, shipping offers and customer service.
It feeds lifetime value. Customer lifetime value is built from how much customers spend per order and how often they come back. Raising AOV lifts both the first order and every repeat order after it.
It can hide a problem. The common mistake is celebrating a higher AOV while order count falls, so total sales go down. A price rise or a high free-shipping threshold can push AOV up and quietly put off smaller buyers.
What Is a Good Average Order Value?
AOV varies enormously by category and price point - a store selling furniture and a store selling phone cases will never be comparable. There is no outside number worth aiming at.
Compare against your own history instead, and break it down by channel or customer segment. You may find that email customers spend more per order than paid social, or that returning customers spend more than first-timers. Those internal gaps are far more useful than any industry figure.
How to Improve Average Order Value
1. Set a free-shipping threshold just above your AOV
If your AOV is around $75, a free-shipping threshold a little above it gives many customers a reason to add one more item. Watch order count after you change it - set too high, it can cost you orders.
2. Bundle products that belong together
Bundles raise order value and make the decision easier for the customer. Pair a main product with its natural accessory or refill, priced slightly below buying the items separately.
3. Add relevant cross-sells
"Frequently bought together" suggestions on product pages and in the cart work when they're genuinely relevant. Keep it to a few well-chosen items rather than a long list.
4. Offer volume or multi-buy pricing
"Buy two, save 10%" style offers work well for consumables and gifts. Check that the discount doesn't cost more in margin than the extra units bring in.
5. Show the premium option first
Presenting the better-specified version of a product first, with the cheaper one alongside, nudges some customers up the range without pressure.
6. Use post-purchase offers carefully
A one-click add-on after checkout can lift AOV without risking the original sale. Make it relevant and simple.
How to Track Average Order Value
Chartsy for Ecommerce connects to your BigCommerce store with read-only access and syncs orders, products and customers every hour. It calculates AOV from your synced store orders automatically, using net sales, and you can break it down by month, product or category.
Because net sales and order count are both on the dashboard, you can see straight away whether a higher AOV came with fewer orders. With ChartsyAI you can also ask for a chart directly:
- "Show average order value by month for the last 12 months"
- "Compare AOV for Loyalists and Promising customers"
- "Which product categories appear in the highest-value orders?"
Try Chartsy for Ecommerce free for 14 days →
AOV in Chartsy
Chartsy calculates this from your synced store orders automatically, and you can break it down by month, product or category.
Frequently asked questions
Should AOV include shipping and tax?
It's cleaner without them. Use net sales - after discounts and refunds, excluding shipping and tax - so AOV reflects what customers spend on your products. Whatever you choose, use the same definition every month.
Why did my AOV go up while total sales went down?
Usually because order count fell. A price increase, a higher free-shipping threshold or losing smaller buyers can all lift the average while fewer people buy. Always read AOV alongside the number of orders.
Should I look at average or median order value?
Both. The average is what drives revenue, but a few very large orders can distort it. The median shows what a typical order looks like, and a growing gap between the two tells you outliers are moving the number.
How is AOV different from revenue per visitor?
AOV only looks at people who bought. Revenue per visitor spreads net sales across every session, so it combines conversion rate and AOV into one figure. A change that raises AOV but lowers conversion can leave revenue per visitor flat or worse.
How often should I review AOV?
Monthly is a good default for trends, with a closer look before and after any promotion, price change or shipping change. Daily AOV jumps around too much to be useful for most stores.
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About the author
Written by
Chartsy TeamAnalytics team at Chartsy
The Chartsy Team writes guides, product updates, and resources to help SaaS and eCommerce founders make sense of their metrics, without SQL or spreadsheets.
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