A Simple Way To Increase Your Small Business Average Order Value - A Guide For B2C Ecommerce Business Owners

Increasing your average order value (AOV) is one of the two main strategies for Ecommerce businesses looking to boost their sales revenue – the second being to increase the total number of sales. Ideally, a business growth strategy should encompass both AOV optimisation and new business sales, but if anything, AOV is the more important, due to it helping you hit your revenue targets with fewer customers, saving you time and money on marketing, and increasing your profitability by lengthening your margins. 

How Do You Optimise Your AOV?

There are several methods which can be employed to effectively increase your online business’s AOV – and the approach you choose largely depends on the type of product and market you work with. 

About Upselling And Cross-Selling 

Upselling and cross-selling techniques are a simple yet effective way of increasing your AOV, by pointing out related and value-added products and services either when the customer is browsing your category pages, or at the point of purchase before checkout.

Businesses can increase their upsells and cross-sells by giving detailed descriptions of product features and benefits on their website on both category and individual product pages, using your content to suggest personalised recommendations or highlighting add-ons like gift wrapping or expedited delivery fees. 

Upselling

Upsells give customers the opportunity to purchase a product or service of higher value at a discounted rate and can be used in combination with the customer’s initial order. For example, a kitchen appliance retailer could upsell the purchase of a dishwasher to include an extended warranty or engineer callouts at a reduced price than if the after-sales service package were purchased independently. The additional product is normally of lower value than the primary product, so as not to deter sales and risk an abandoned shopping cart.

Cross-Selling

Cross-selling encourages customers to make larger orders, thereby increasing the average order value of each shopping basket. By proactively suggesting products that complement the item chosen by the customer, your business can appeal to consumers’ desire to get the most value out of an order by giving them access to a fuller set of related items and services. Amazon are masters of this strategy with their ‘frequently bought together’ groups of three related products, which can be added to the shopping cart as a bundle. Other ways of doing this include offering free shipping with orders over a certain amount of money spent at checkout.

Bundling items together in a package deal can provide an incentive for customers to purchase more items from your shop at once, providing the offers are intelligently selected and personalised to each customer’s shopping preferences. Bundling can increase overall spending as well as average order value, and can often encourage repeat purchases from customers, too. You may also want to offer discounts for customers buying multiples of the same item – this encourages customers to buy more of your products and increases their spending per transaction on low-value products and consumables. 

Using AI Product Recommendations To Increase AOV

Artificial Intelligence (AI) product recommendations can be a powerful tool for Ecommerce businesses looking to increase average order value by boosting upsells and cross-sells. AI product recommendation algorithms curate customised product selections for each customer based on their individual buying patterns and preferences (both on your shop and, for customers with cookies enabled, based on their previous browsing history). 

AI-driven product recommendation gives you the ability to personalise your product listings and targeted discounts to appeal directly to your customer's sensibilities, making your marketing material more relevant to prospects and increasing the likelihood of a sale. With effective AI product recommendation technology embedded in your website, you can enhance the online shopping experience for both existing and new customers, driving sales and fostering long-term loyalty.

How Can Email Marketing Help Boost Average Order Value?

Email marketing plays an important role in ‘off page’ sales conversions and customer retention in Ecommerce but can also help increase long-term AOV. An email subscriber list allows you to personalise content and send bespoke offers or discounts directly to customers, encouraging them to make larger purchases in your shop. Emails also allow you to track customer buying habits by seeing which links and pages they click on in response to your messages, making it easier for you to tailor promotions specifically to each customer and optimise their spending. By this means, you can segment your subscribers in terms of their level of interest and engagement, creating bespoke drip feed campaigns for customers most likely to increase their spending, thus boosting your AOV over time, and targeting lower spending or less engaged customers with incentives and special offers. 

The Long-Term Benefits Of AOV Optimisation

More than just a way to bolster profitability, increasing AOV is also known to produce long-term benefits such as higher customer retention rates and improved brand reputation. As a small business owner, understanding the strategies that can help you boost your online AOV is key to success in today's digital Ecommerce marketplace. With the correct strategies and tools in place, you can ensure that your small business continues to be profitable and competitive for years to come.

Download Our Free Guide

To find out more about ecommerce business growth, please click here to claim a copy of our free guide – How To Increase Your Ecommerce Sales. You can also get in touch with our Ecommerce Marketing team to learn more about how JDR Group can help you with your lead generation and AOV optimisation.

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