Average order value (AOV) is what a typical order in your store is worth. Raise it and you earn more from the customers you already have, which usually costs less than finding new ones: you have already paid to bring these shoppers in. This guide covers seven tactics to increase average order value in WooCommerce, what comes built in and what needs a plugin, and how to tell whether they are working.
WooCommerce shows the figure as “Average order value” under the Analytics menu. We start there, because without a baseline you will not know whether your changes are doing anything.
What average order value is and how WooCommerce calculates it
The average order value of an online store is total sales divided by the number of orders. If you sell €12,000 across 300 orders in a month, your AOV is €40. Retailers also call it average basket value or average ticket; WooCommerce uses average order value.
You will find it in Analytics → Orders, next to the order count and net sales. WooCommerce works it out like this:
- It adds up the “Net sales” of the orders in the period: excluding taxes and shipping, and after coupons have been deducted.
- It divides that by the number of orders.
That is why the average order value in WooCommerce tends to be lower than the figure you would get by dividing what you actually charged by your orders: tax and shipping are left out.
Here is the sum that matters: at 300 orders a month, lifting AOV by €5 means €1,500 more every month without a single new customer.
7 tactics to increase average order value
1. An order bump at checkout
An order bump is a small offer shown on the checkout page, right before the pay button, that the customer adds by ticking a checkbox: the case with the phone, the cleaning kit with the coffee machine. It appears at the one moment the customer has already decided to buy, and saying yes takes a single click.
It works best with products that are cheap relative to the order, that complement what is already in the cart, and that carry a price only available at that moment.
In WooCommerce: not built in, you need a plugin. We cover it in depth in what is an order bump and how to use one in WooCommerce, and if you are choosing a plugin, we compare six in WooCommerce order bump plugins.
2. Bundles and kits
Sell together what gets used together, at a bundle price slightly better than the sum of the parts: the starter kit, the complete look, the gift box. The customer buys more units in one go and you shift products that sell less on their own.
In WooCommerce: the “Grouped product” type shows several products on one page, but each one is bought separately at its own price, and there is no bundle price or bundle stock. A real bundle needs a plugin. The details are in how to sell product bundles in WooCommerce, and the comparison in grouped products vs bundles in WooCommerce. We make EHERO Woo Bundles, which turns several products from your catalog into a bundle with its own price and deducts stock from each component.
3. A free shipping threshold
“Free shipping on orders over €50” is the best-known tactic, and it works because paying for shipping hurts more than adding a product the customer was going to buy sooner or later anyway.
In WooCommerce: built in. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping, open the zone, add the “Free shipping” method and under “Free shipping requires…” choose “A minimum order amount”. If you use coupons, check the “Apply minimum order rule before coupon discount” box: it decides whether the minimum is counted before or after the discount.
Two tips:
- Set the threshold a little above your current average order value. Set it below and you give away shipping on orders that were already getting there. Set it too high and nobody bothers to reach it.
- Tell the customer how much is left. WooCommerce does not do this on its own. A cart notice along the lines of “You’re €8 away from free shipping” needs a code snippet or a plugin, and it is what turns the threshold into a nudge.
4. Cross-sells in the cart
Cross-sells suggest add-ons for what the customer has already put in the cart: the memory card with the camera, the filter with the jug.
In WooCommerce: built in. You set them on each product, in the “Linked Products” tab, “Cross-sells” field, and they only show on the cart page: two at random in the classic cart and up to three in the block cart. If yours are missing, run through the usual causes in WooCommerce cross-sells not showing.
5. Upsells on the product page
Upsells offer a better version of the product the customer is looking at: the model with more capacity, the larger size, the complete edition. They raise average order value because they swap the main product for a more expensive one.
In WooCommerce: built in. They live in the same “Linked Products” tab, “Upsells” field, and in classic themes they appear below the product under the heading “You may also like…”. Suggest an alternative that genuinely serves the customer better; if it is merely more expensive, they hesitate and sometimes buy neither. How this differs from the other techniques is explained in order bump vs upsell vs cross-sell.
6. Spend-based or quantity discounts
Reward people for buying more: “10% off orders over €80” or “second unit half price”. It gives a push to the customer who is close to the next tier.
In WooCommerce: a spend-based discount can be done out of the box with a coupon. Go to Marketing → Coupons and, in the “Usage restriction” tab, fill in “Minimum spend”. The customer has to type the code, so announce it where they will see it: in a top bar or in the cart. Quantity discounts or tiered pricing on a single product need a plugin.
This is the tactic that eats the most margin, because the discount applies to the whole order and not only to what the customer adds. Do the sums before you launch it.
7. Subscriptions for products people reorder
If you sell consumables (coffee, pet food, cosmetics, refills), a subscription with a small discount turns a one-off purchase into several. Let’s be honest here: a subscription does not raise each order, it raises what each customer is worth to you over time. If you also want a bigger order, offer the subscription in multi-unit packs or with a minimum amount per delivery.
In WooCommerce: not built in, you need a subscriptions plugin. If you are choosing one, we compare the options in WooCommerce Subscriptions alternative. A word of caution when measuring: renewal orders are often small and can pull average order value down even when the business is doing better. Look at them separately.
Raise average order value at checkout
EHERO Woo Checkout Offers (it’s ours) shows a selection of products from your catalog at a special price in the checkout, which the customer adds by ticking a checkbox with no page reload. You choose what to offer, to whom and how many units, and you see how much extra revenue each offer has brought in. It works in the classic and block checkout, in the cart and in the mini-cart. One license per domain, €79.99 a year.
Where to start
You do not need all seven at once. This table helps you put them in order:
| Tactic | Where it acts | Built into WooCommerce | What it costs in margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order bump | Checkout | ❌ plugin | Little: the discount only applies to what is added |
| Bundles | Catalog and product page | Partly: “Grouped product”, with no bundle price | The bundle discount |
| Free shipping over €X | Cart and checkout | ✅ “Free shipping” | The shipping you pay for |
| Cross-sells | Cart | ✅ “Cross-sells” | Nothing |
| Upsells | Product page | ✅ “Upsells” | Nothing |
| Spend-based discount | Cart | ✅ coupon with “Minimum spend”; by quantity, plugin | A lot: the whole order is discounted |
| Subscription | The whole customer relationship | ❌ plugin | A discount on every renewal |
A sensible order for a store that is just getting started:
- What is free and only needs setting up: cross-sells, upsells and the free shipping threshold.
- An order bump at checkout, with one or two cheap add-ons for your best sellers.
- Bundles, if your catalog has products that are bought together.
- Spend-based discounts and subscriptions, once you know how much margin you have left.
How to measure whether it works
- Write down your baseline. Before changing anything, note the average order value, net sales and number of orders for the last four weeks.
- Change one thing at a time. If you switch on the free shipping threshold and the order bump in the same week, you will not know which one worked.
- Compare like with like. Four weeks against the previous four, or against the same weeks last year if your store is seasonal. A sale or a Black Friday throws everything off.
- Watch orders too, not just AOV. If average order value goes up 10% but orders drop 15%, you are selling less. What matters is net sales and, better still, margin.
- Beware of outliers. One €3,000 business order moves the average for a month with few orders. If you do not have many, look at net sales and the trend over several months as well.
- Use each tool’s own stats. With an order bump, the acceptance rate and the extra revenue tell you which offer stays and which one to change.
Mistakes to avoid
- Discounts that stack without you deciding it. A 15% coupon on an already discounted bundle plus an order bump at a special price can leave the order with no margin. Check how they combine before launching anything.
- Offers that reload the checkout. If accepting an add-on reloads the page and wipes the address, you lose the whole sale trying to add a few euros.
- Too many offers at once. A notice on the product page, another in the cart, a pop-up and three offers at checkout wear people out. One clear offer per step performs better.
- A badly placed free shipping threshold. Below your average order value it gives shipping away; far above it, nobody chases it.
- Suggestions that do not fit. An offer unrelated to the cart, or for something already in it, gets ignored and costs you trust. And if you offer something out of stock, the customer hits an error when paying.
- Measuring AOV alone. The goal is to sell more, not to make each order bigger at the cost of having fewer.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good average order value for an online store?
It depends on your sector and your price points, so there is no figure that fits everyone. A store selling €8 spare parts and a furniture store cannot be compared. The useful benchmark is your own AOV: the aim is for it to rise month after month without orders falling.
Where do I see average order value in WooCommerce?
In Analytics → Orders, labelled “Average order value”. You can pick the period and compare it with the previous one or with the same period last year.
Does WooCommerce’s average order value include tax and shipping?
No. WooCommerce divides net sales by the number of orders, and net sales exclude taxes and shipping and already have coupons deducted.
Are AOV, average basket value and average ticket the same thing?
Yes. They are the same metric under different names: “average basket value” and “average ticket” are common in retail, and “Average order value” is the label WooCommerce uses in its reports.
Which tactic raises average order value the most?
It depends on your catalog. If you have cheap add-ons, the order bump and cross-sells. If you have products that are used together, bundles. The free shipping threshold is the quickest to try because it is built in. The best approach is to test them one at a time and measure.
Can raising average order value reduce sales?
Yes, if the offers get in the way: a checkout that reloads, too many notices or an unreachable free shipping threshold make some customers abandon the purchase. That is why you should always look at the number of orders alongside AOV.
Conclusion
To increase average order value in WooCommerce you do not need to invent anything. Start with what is already there (cross-sells, upsells and a well-placed free shipping threshold). Then add an order bump at checkout and, if your catalog allows it, bundles with their own price. Track average order value together with orders and net sales, change one thing at a time and keep what raises sales, not just AOV.
Related guides
- What is an order bump and how to use one in WooCommerce: examples, rules and what to measure.
- Order bump vs upsell vs cross-sell: what each technique is and when to use it.
- WooCommerce order bump plugins: six plugins compared and which one to choose.
- WooCommerce cross-sells not showing: causes and fixes.
- How to sell product bundles in WooCommerce.
- EHERO Woo Checkout Offers: the WooCommerce order bump with special prices, unit caps and stats.
- EHERO Woo Bundles: bundles, kits and boxes with their own price and stock.
