Maximizing Your E-commerce Revenue, Part 1: Strategies for Increasing Average Order Value

“Initially we had a customer acquisition cost that was approaching the thousands level and we’ve now brought that down you know 10x fold to a place that we feel we can sustain a business on.” -? A Co-founder in the Medical Space I did Google Ads and SEO for.

You know what?

It doesn’t really matter what your offer is.

It doesn't matter if you're a one-man pressure-washing team or an e-commerce conglomerate.

As long as you have a large volume of the right traffic coming in, things will be good for you. Seriously.

Okay, that’ll just go on another tangent. Anyway…

Welcome back.

Today, I’ve got part one of a two-series on squeezing the most out of your E-com business.

(Just a heads up that I’ll be doing more of these series from now on.

You should get some value, let it sink in, and then continue later on.

No point in writing so much that you get bored before you’ve finished reading it.

Cool? Awesome!)

So, straight to it? Let’s go.

"Hold on Drew. Why should I increase my AOV? It’s already good enough.”

Why not?

Why not try to drive that CAC as low as possible?

You don’t know if they’ll come back, so it won't hurt if you sell them something alongside what they came looking for, right?

The thing is, you’ve got all of these products. Why not try to pair things up? Why not suggest similar things?

Hey, if they're buying lug nuts, why not also offer them a high-quality hydraulic jack and a tire iron with a collapsible, lightweight, and strong handle?

It’s all on you to suggest the right things to the customer, make them feel like they belong (more on this in the second part), and ultimately, suggest things that you think will feel relevant to them.

Create a bundle and offer suggestions based on their add-to-cart items, potentially utilize their browsing history…

Sell them the most you possibly can without letting things seem out of place or them get the vibe they’re being sold on everything.

Instead, try to go about it from an 'I'm here to help them' mindset.

They’re ordering something from you, right?

That means you’re potentially helping them solve a problem. Maybe you have something that could help them in another aspect as well. Maybe you've got something else they could get that would overall increase their order value.

Something like "Since you're purchasing an expensive SSD, you might be more interested in our shockproof, water-resistant version with SmartSecure? tech."

They probably didn't even know you have a shockproof version. Sure, they'll end up paying more but...

You helped them. You gave them more value. Good on you.

That’s about it. Sell them on more that’s potentially relevant and valuable to them without coming off as salesy.

Okay. So, back to helping increase AOV. One thing you can do? Try Upselling or Cross-Selling.

Right. Let me explain.

Upselling is where you offer up a similar product to the one they chose (could be the same) but has more features, or has something better about it that justifies its higher price.

Cross-selling is when you add other products, keeping the originally chosen product the same.

So, suppose you’re selling a phone. If you sell them on a newer one, or the same one with a larger screen, that’s an upsell.

If you offer them other products that would increase the value of their order, such as a fast charger, a screen protector, or a durable phone case, that’s a cross-sell.

These both help in ways that go beyond just helping you increase your AOV and UPT (Units Per Transaction).

If you're recommending a value add-on or upsell to the customer, it can help increase engagement and brand loyalty. They could also potentially come back to buy again as well.

Showing that you care, want to give them the best, and offer up more value, potentially at a discount, will speak volumes.

Now, you could position that in various ways:

You could have a section for collections and bundles of recommended items.

You could give them options and show them the savings they’re getting as they change their selection (eg, if someone buys a bundle of three shirts instead of one, they'll save X$)

You could have a suggested or frequently bought section on the product page.

There are many ways you could do that.

However, there’s a catch… Well, two, actually.

Firstly, you don't want to make the customer journey more difficult than it needs to be.

If you’re trying to increase your AOV, try to keep distractions, pop-ups, extra notifications, flashing buttons, and all those other things to a minimum.

You don’t want someone to potentially abandon their cart in the process of being sold on more. That would be detrimental.

Attention is already in high demand and short supply at a time when nearly every ad, button, and flashing link is seeking it.

Instead, you want to keep things as simple and easy as possible.

Did they select a product?

Include the "Buy a Bundle" or other call-to-action (CTA) right below the buy now button so that, if they’re interested, they’ll click on it.

Otherwise, they’ll just go through with their usual, normal transaction and everyone’s happy.

The second thing is to keep the customer journey in mind when setting these things up.

If someone has just opened your site, it probably isn’t a good idea to start suggesting things to them.

Well, not immediately anyway.

However, if you have someone who

Abandoned their cart.

Is a returning customer.

Has been going around the site and adding various things to their cart

You can help them choose more or give them better suggestions.

For someone who abandoned their cart, a reminder email with a suggestion or two could be enough to convince them to come back AND buy something else, alongside their original purchase.

For someone who is a returning customer, you’ll have an idea of what they’ve generally bought, what they usually buy before, after, or alongside that.

Going off of that, as well as other general data, you’re in a better position to offer them more relevant suggestions.

For someone exploring the site, you’ll be getting relevant data from the things they’re adding to their cart as well as from what others have usually bought along with those things. So, again, you’re in a better position to offer them more relevant suggestions.

It’s all about making the process as smooth, easy, and frictionless as possible, without them feeling irritated, having to face any extra steps, or going through things they’d rather not buy.

Another good thing for your E-com Biz: Increasing your customer’s LTV using loyalty programs.

Client acquisition and retention are the game nowadays.

Finding the right traffic is already as hard as it is.

Getting the traffic to convert? Even harder.

Sure, you’ve got a good offer, targeted promos, an appealing customer journey, and highly relevant products, all in one place, on a well-designed website.

Still, there’s competition.

On pricing.

On quality.

On preferences.

And on various other nuances.

So, while that’s a constantly changing battlefield, why not make sure you make the most of those that have already bought from you or are about to do so?

Having something along the lines of a low-priced, high-value entry-level offer or product to get already existing customers or customers-to-be to become part of a loyalty program will have the potential to do wonders.

From there, you could present them with highly relevant offers and valuable products, which they’ll value more, simply because they’re part of an exclusive program.

That way, you get to increase the average lifetime value you get from your customers while giving value, potentially increasing your customer retention and return rate.

"Wait, how do I do it?”

Here you go.

Set up some basic guidelines to enter (a minimum order value to be eligible, for example.)

Once they’re in, promote offers to them that are highly relevant or valuable, based on their browsing history of your website or previous purchases.

That’s it. It’s literally that simple.

Find out an offer, put it together, and promote it on your website.

That way, you’ll incentivize people to join.

I mean, who wouldn’t spend a bit more right now to have lots of savings later on AS WELL AS become part of this 'exclusive' membership program??

However, make sure you do deliver on the value you promise.

Do offer up value.

Do offer up relevant discounts.

Do offer up hard-to-resist promos.

Do give your loyalty club members a priority.

Do offer them things like free or same-day shipping, if it’s something that can be done.

Going above and beyond here might mean that you’re slightly cutting back on your margins.

However, in the long run, it’s better than struggling constantly to get new customers, getting them to buy and running re-engagement sequences and campaigns, and trying different angles.

Or worse yet, having people straight-up add to their cart and disappear.

Instead, get them to come, buy and offer them value that they can’t refuse.

All in all, nothing is set in stone here.

There are so many different things you can try and still make every single person feel special.

At the end of the day, you want sales and more revenue but you also want to be able to make those buying from you feel good.?

Never hurts to go the extra step today to reap the rewards tomorrow.

Anyway, in the next edition, we’ll cover personalization, which is a big one as well.

Till then, if you have any questions or need help, feel free to reach out and we can go over things together.

Drew signing off.

P.S. I know what I’m talking about. That’s why I put out this content to help you make educated and informed decisions for your business. Thanks for reading. It takes quite some time to put everything together and just knowing that you’re reading this makes it worth it.