How to increase Average Order Value (AOV) in your online store?
Stefan Chorbanov
CEO@Stenik / Hyv? & Magento Expert / 20 years E-Commerce experience in UX, Development, Support and Project Management / Adobe Commerce Business Practitioner Expert / Still Human Being by soul
Once merchants have launched their online store and it is live, they embark on their journey to make it both profitable and successful. This is achieved through the development of various pillars and consideration of several factors.
As developers of e-commerce websites on the Magento platform, we help merchants tap into the full potential of their established store (using built-in features or extensions developed by Stenik or other developers) to set them on the path to success.
In this series of 3 articles, we will provide recommendations on functionalities and best practices in the following areas:
If you are a merchant or marketing specialist and are not entirely satisfied with the sales of the online store you are managing, or if you wish to improve its metrics, we recommend implementing these fundamental techniques. Only after that should you assess the store’s potential or resort to more complex strategies.
So, let’s get started!
In this first article, we’ll focus on techniques and features that can help you increase the average order value in your online store.
Promotional Banners Among Products
When a user is browsing through product listings in your store, scrolling through pages filled with items, you can effectively grab their attention by promoting a specific product you want to sell more. This approach goes beyond simple product labels like "new," "promo," "just now," or "bestseller." While these labels can be useful and should be employed by every merchant, they tend to be applied to many products, which can diminish their impact.
A more effective strategy is to replace a product spot in the listing with a promotional banner. You could even swap out two product positions for a single banner. This tactic will catch the user's eye and make the offer stand out. It’s also an excellent way to inform customers about special promotions or offers—whether it's for a product in the same category, a different category, or even a link to a promotions page.
Related Products on the Product Page (Related & Upsell Products)
Don’t just push sales; help customers find what they need! :)
On the product detail pages, displaying related products encourages customers to consider additional items they might not have initially planned to buy. Suggest items that complement or are relevant to the main product they’re viewing. For instance, if a customer is looking at a sink, suggest a matching faucet as a related product.
You can also implement up-selling by offering a more expensive or premium version of the product. For example, if they’re viewing one type of sink, show a higher-end model from the same or a different brand to increase the average order value. Remember to include less popular or newer products that may have gone unnoticed by customers.
Examples of different phrasings:
In Magento, there are two built-in functionalities—Related Products and Upsell Products—that can serve this purpose. As store administrators, you can manually select these products or automate the process by creating rules that display suitable items. To enhance visibility, related products can also appear in a pop-up on both the product listing and detail pages after a user adds an item to their cart.
Related products are especially crucial when customers land on a page for an out-of-stock item that won’t be restocked. Instead of displaying an error message—like a 404 page or a redirect—you can show the out-of-stock product along with related alternatives. This approach prevents you from losing potential customers, much like Amazon does.
Volume Discounts: Buy 2, Get 5% Off; Buy 3, Get 10% Off
One of the powerful yet often underutilized features in Magento is the tiered pricing or volume discount. This functionality allows you to offer discounts based on the quantity of items a customer purchases, encouraging them to buy more.
For instance, if a product is priced at 100 BGN, you can set the following pricing tiers:
Additionally, Magento enables you to set different pricing for various customer groups. This feature allows you to offer distinct discounts for new customers, loyal shoppers, or wholesalers, tailoring your pricing strategy to meet different needs and encourage more sales.
Promotional Packages and Bundles (Product Bundles)
A customer is viewing product A, but at the same time, if they buy A+B, they get a 5% discount, and if they buy A+B+C, they get a 10% discount. What better way to encourage your customers to buy more? Everyone would want to complement their pants with a complete outfit. Or to purchase a pencil case and a water bottle from the same series at a discount along with a school backpack.
Promotional packages and bundles are among the effective techniques for increasing the average order value. Through them, we can encourage customers to purchase additional items along with the main product to get a better package deal. These are known as bundle packs or promotional packages. When a customer selects a specific item, the system suggests several other products to purchase along with the main chosen item. Promotional packages can be presented both on the product detail page and on a separate promotional bundles page, which we can include in the e-store’s navigation. If a customer hasn’t noticed the promotional packages while shopping, we can show them the additional products before they complete their order in the cart. This way, the customer may spontaneously add additional items to their cart. For more information on Bundle products, visit this article on our blog.
Cross-Selling Products in the Cart
When a customer is at the checkout in a supermarket and places their products on the conveyor belt, they often pick up items near the checkout - gums, sweets, or other small goods that they didn't plan to buy. The cashier suggests other small or promotional products, and the customer often buys those as well. The same cross-selling strategy, which is an out-of-the-box solution, can be effectively applied in the online store. And even more targeted and precise. Example: if a customer adds a smartphone to their cart, you can suggest additional accessories like a protective case, screen protector, headphones, or a charger on the cart page. Or, if a customer adds pillows to their cart, you can suggest a duvet, pillowcase, sheet, etc. in the cart. Or simply place a few discounted products that you want to clear from your stock or want to sell more of. Offer additional products through a pop-up window that catches the customer's attention.
The option to automatically display related products on the product detail page, in the category, or in the cart can be added through an additional module. If complex conditions are required for displaying these products, a module for automation can be used to manage the blocks based on defined rules in the admin panel, similar to promotion rules.
Gifts in the Shopping Cart
Imagine the following scenario: the customer is back at the supermarket, and young promoters offer them to taste a new product. Additionally, they present a special offer—when buying 2 pieces of the new product, the customer will receive another product from the same brand for free at the checkout or an attractive brand merchandise item. Can you guess how this approach can be applied in an online store? On the cart page, you can offer a special promotion: when purchasing an additional quantity of the product, the customer receives a free gift. The option can vary, offering, for example, a gift with the purchase of an item from the same category, brand, or product group. Inform customers with a pop-up and in the cart.
Gifts can be provided under specific conditions, making the offer more attractive and motivating. Gift-giving options include:
alk to your suppliers to provide you with brand merchandise and run different campaigns. Consumers will always buy a product just to get a piece of merchandise, which they often won't even use. Communicate the opportunity to receive gifts on the product detail page to inform customers in advance and encourage them to complete their purchase. Use clear and attractive messages to emphasize the value of the offer and capture customers' attention. In Magento, you have a built-in feature that allows you to display banners on the detailed product pages directly from the admin panel, where you can even show a picture of the gift itself. Take advantage of it!
Product Packaging and Greeting Cards
Probably each of us has thought: "Wow, how much money I spent on gift wrapping at the mall stand!" Why not turn this opportunity into added value for your online store? Integrate the gift-wrapping option and add the money already prepared by consumers to your online store's cart. This way, you provide added value to consumers while also benefiting yourself.
Offer different wrapping options.
And more. You can also earn extra by offering cards. Add an option "add a card," which customers can add to the wrapped product.
You can also activate a pop-up window that appears when the user selects the gift-wrapping option on the cart page.
In this window, the user will see all the products in the cart and will be able to choose which of them to be wrapped. The advanced solution offers configuration options that allow controlling how many products can be wrapped for free, with the option to choose the type of wrapping and add a card for each one individually. Offer free wrapping or a card for a certain number of products or under certain conditions.
All these described functionalities come directly with a ready extension in Magento.
Pop-up windows with different messages
Pop-up windows should not only be associated with subscribing to a newsletter. Don't think that just because you close them, users ignore them too. On the contrary, these messages capture users' attention. In Magento, through an additional ready extension, you can create different Pop-up windows and set various rules on which pages to display them, after how much time of stay, and how often. You can highlight a promotion or promo code only in a specific category when you see that the user is interested.
You can offer something extra in the cart. The possibilities are many, and the result is likely an added product in the cart. Pop-up windows are an effective marketing tool that allows you to communicate important notifications about new products, promotions, or to collect user emails.
By integrating this functionality, you have the opportunity to create different pop-up messages that are displayed to the user in one or several windows. You have the opportunity to:
Free shipping threshold
An effective way to motivate users to increase their order value is through a message displayed in the cart during shopping in the online store, informing how much remains to reach the free shipping threshold. Example: "Add products for another X BGN to get free shipping," which would motivate customers to add additional items to their cart.
In Magento, we have developed functionality that automatically calculates the remaining amount to free shipping directly in the cart. This feature provides customers with accurate information about the amount they need to add to their order to avoid shipping costs. Merchants have the option to set a free shipping threshold tailored to their business needs and strategies. After reaching the set threshold, the free shipping rule is automatically activated, and the customer receives free shipping. For maximum efficiency, it is important to communicate the free shipping threshold on key pages in the online store, including the homepage, product page, and in the cart. This ensures constant visibility of the offer and increases the likelihood that customers will complete their purchases by adding additional products to avoid shipping costs.
Remaining Amount to Discount
Similar to the free shipping threshold functionality, a feature for the remaining amount to receive a discount can also be implemented. Example: "Add products for another 50 BGN and get a 7% discount."
Installment purchases
Adding installment payment options to an online store makes more expensive products more accessible to consumers. For example, if a customer wants to buy a new watch but the price exceeds their monthly budget, they can choose to spread the cost into smaller monthly payments instead of paying the full amount at once. On the product page, the customer sees a "Buy in Installments" or "Buy on Credit" button, accompanied by icons of the credit institutions with which the merchant works (e.g., BNP Paribas, TBI Bank, DSK Bank, Unicredit Bulbank, and others).
Clicking this button opens an informative table with separate tabs for each credit institution. In each tab, the customer can view the monthly installments and terms for installment payments, presented in a tabular format for each bank individually. This makes it easier to compare different offers and helps the customer make an informed choice.
At Stenik, we have developed a Magento module that allows integration with various credit institutions. By integrating your store with the relevant credit institution, a credit (leasing) calculator can also be added, enabling the customer to enter the initial down payment. The calculator automatically recalculates the loan amount based on the entered information and generates various installment plans. This functionality significantly simplifies the process for customers in choosing the most suitable financing option.
In Magento, you can set the position of the payment method - installment payment in the checkout, relative to the other payment methods offered by the merchant. The entire process is fully automated and intuitive, making it easier to apply for leasing and improving the customer experience. For more information about the integration, please refer to the article on our blog.
What’s the Next Step?
In Magento, you have a wide range of functionalities that can be integrated to increase average order value and enhance user experience. It is important to know and understand them well to apply them effectively—this way, you will leverage the full potential of your online store. Our project managers are ready to consult and assist you!