How Can Retailers Boost Average Order Values?

In our latest SaleCycle Academy video, Freddie Wood looks at some tactics retailers can use to persuade customers to spend a little bit more… 

Video Transcription

Average order value is a measure of the average amount customers spend when they place an order on your site.
Average Order Values will of course vary between different retailers, but it’s a useful measure of how successful a site is in persuading customers to spend more, and to buy more than one item at a time.
Boosting average order values is a great way to increase profits, and there are a few tactics that ecommerce sites can use.
People like free shipping, and it can be used as a carrot to persuade people to spend a little bit more.
For example, Body Shop offers free shipping when customers spend more than £25. So, if a customers’ cart is near this amount, it’s worth them adding one more item to qualify.

Offering extras when customer make a purchase is another idea. For example, some sites offer services installation of new washing machines and removal of old ones during delivery.
These are helpful services for the customer, and help the retailer to make more from each order.
Another way to nudge customers into spending more is with some cross selling and upselling through relevant product recommendations.
Sites can upsell to customers by showing higher value versions of the products they’re considering, perhaps highlighting key features or customer reviews to show why it’s worth spending more.
Cross-selling is about showing products which complement the one they’re buying, like suggesting a memory card or case when buying a camera, or offering customers the chance to ‘complete the look’ on fashion sites.

The key to boosting order values is to provide recommendations and extras which provide value to customers and are relevant to the products they’re buying.