Are you searching for effective strategies to motivate your customers to spend more in your online store? Start by tracking your average order value (AOV) metric right away.
Prioritizing AOV is a powerful method to enhance your business, particularly if you operate an eCommerce store. Over the past decade, I have collaborated with various online retailers and tested numerous strategies to determine what effectively boosts AOV.
Based on this experience, I will share 14 proven strategies that can help you increase average order value using WordPress, ultimately enhancing your profitability.
Important Note:This article is a guest contribution by Chris Klosowski, the president of Easy Digital Downloads, the leading digital eCommerce plugin for WordPress. We publish this expert column every other Thursday, inviting a WordPress specialist to share their insights with our audience.
What Is Average Order Value (AOV)?
Operating an online store revolves around fulfilling your customers’ needs while managing your expenses and generating profit. Fortunately, there are several effective methods to enhance your bottom line.
For instance, you can work on driving more traffic to your website or encouraging a higher percentage of your visitors to complete a purchase. This approach will boost the number of conversions or transactions in your store, resulting in increased revenue.
One effective strategy is to enhance the revenue generated from each transaction, commonly referred to as ‘average order value’ or AOV, which is the focus of this article.
AOV reflects the amount your customers spend per transaction. You can determine it by dividing your total revenue by the number of orders received.
Here’s how to calculate AOV:
AOV = Total Revenue / Number of Orders
For instance, if your online store earned a total revenue of $10,000 from 200 orders in a month, your AOV would be:
AOV = $10,000 / 200 orders = $50 per order
By understanding and analyzing your AOV, you can gain essential insights into your eCommerce business, enabling you to make informed decisions that enhance your profitability and overall success.
If you offer multiple digital products, concentrating on increasing your average order value can be a straightforward method to expand your business.
To boost your store’s average order value, you need to provide your customers with compelling reasons to spend more.
Let’s explore 14 effective strategies to increase average order value using WordPress.
1. Monitor the Average Order Value (AOV) Metric for Your Online Store
Begin by monitoring the Average Order Value (AOV) on your WordPress site. This information will help you identify which strategies are effective and which need improvement.
My team simplifies this process in Easy Digital Downloads by providing built-in reporting, eliminating the need for separate tracking tools or analytics services. Just navigate to Downloads » Reports in your WordPress dashboard.
WooCommerce also allows you to easily access AOV data directly from their dashboard.
For effective eCommerce tracking, I strongly recommend implementing Google Analytics on your WordPress site.
2. Establish an Effective Pricing Structure
Determining the right pricing structure for your products is essential. It should cover your expenses and generate profit while remaining competitive enough to encourage customer purchases.
There are many factors to consider. Therefore, my team has put together a comprehensive guide on the Easy Digital Downloads blog to assist you in successfully structuring your digital product pricing.
Adjusting your pricing structure may require some trial and error. You might discover that lowering your prices can actually increase your AOV by making it easier for customers to buy more items.
To understand what strategies are effective, it’s essential to track your store’s Average Order Value (AOV). This metric will help you identify what works and what doesn’t.
3. Create Product Bundles
When setting your store’s pricing, think beyond individual items. Offering bundles of various products can provide customers with a sense of added value.
In my previous expert article, I highlighted how product bundling simplifies the purchasing process for customers. Additionally, it can motivate them to buy more, thereby boosting your average order value.
For instance, SmashBalloon, one of our clients, effectively utilizes product bundles to encourage customers to purchase multiple items at a significant discount.
Bundles provide customers with a bulk discount, typically costing 60-80% of the total value of the individual products. Selecting the right combinations will align with your customers’ preferences, needs, and budgets.
For example, you might create bundles of products that are frequently bought together. A gaming store could offer a bundle that includes a console, a game, and a controller, or you could combine an eBook with its audiobook counterpart.
Bundling products can entice customers to buy more than they initially intended. For example, a customer looking for a few stock photos of home offices might be drawn to an appealing ‘Home Office Bundle’.
4. Provide Flexible Payment Options
Sometimes, customers may only be able to make a small purchase due to budget constraints.
‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ options allow customers to make immediate purchases while spreading payments over time. This way, your store receives the full payment upfront.
Currently, 35% of shoppers utilize pay-later options for many of their purchases.
These payment plans simplify the buying process for customers, which can boost conversions and increase your store’s average order value.
If you’re selling digital products, you can implement payment solutions like Klarna and Afterpay to enable Buy Now, Pay Later with Easy Digital Downloads. Alternatively, consider using the WP Simple Pay plugin for pay-later options with various eCommerce platforms.
5. Simplify the Checkout Process
A complicated or lengthy checkout experience can frustrate customers, leading them to spend less time on their purchases or abandon their carts altogether. A streamlined checkout process encourages customers to spend more.
Streamlining the purchasing process lightens the mental burden on customers, allowing them to concentrate on completing their purchase without feeling overwhelmed. This can encourage them to add more items to their shopping cart.
You can minimize obstacles by providing various payment options in different currencies, allowing customers to check out as guests without creating an account, and offering clear, straightforward instructions.
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) features these options on its fast-loading checkout page. You can select an extension to incorporate your preferred payment methods, including Stripe, PayPal, and many others.
You can also tailor the checkout page in WooCommerce and other eCommerce plugins to enhance it for conversions and boost average order value.
6. Implement Upselling and Cross-Selling Techniques
In my experience, one of the most effective methods to encourage customers to spend more during their purchase is through order bumps. This involves presenting additional products or offers at the checkout stage.
Industry reports suggest that order bumps account for 35% of Amazon’s overall revenue. They execute this strategy effectively, and it yields significant results.
Here’s a screenshot demonstrating how a WordPress theme company can upsell a related product.
Order bumps primarily consist of upsells and cross-sells. Here are some examples to illustrate the differences between them:
- For instance, in a paint shop, an upsell would involve encouraging a customer to choose UV-resistant paint over standard paint. Although it has a higher upfront cost, it lasts significantly longer, providing better value and saving money in the long run.
- A cross-sell would involve suggesting additional items that the customer may need while painting their home. These could include paint brushes, rollers, drop cloths, paint trays, and other essential supplies.
This approach exemplifies excellent customer service. You ensure that the customer acquires the products they genuinely need, equipping them with everything necessary to complete the task. Customers appreciate this level of care.
Additionally, it enhances the visibility of products that are not frequently purchased. Since customers tend to spend more during their orders, this strategy effectively increases your average order value (AOV).
Integrating order bumps into your online store is straightforward with the Easy Digital Downloads cross-sell and upsell extension, which is accessible to paid members.
This extension allows you to incorporate other digital products into your product pages and checkout process, potentially leading to impulse purchases and ultimately raising your average order value.
Setting up order bumps in WooCommerce is straightforward with plugins like FunnelKit. For detailed instructions, check out the CanadaCreate guide on creating order bumps for WooCommerce.
7. Promote High-Margin Products
When recommending products to your customers, it’s beneficial to highlight items that offer higher profit margins.
High-margin products yield greater profits for each unit sold compared to your other offerings.
By strategically promoting these products, you can enhance your overall profits even if the total sales volume stays the same or decreases slightly. This strategy can lead to a higher average order value without needing to increase the number of orders.
If you operate a digital product store, consider using the EDD Recommended Products extension to feature your high-margin items prominently on your downloads and checkout pages.
Amazon utilizes a similar strategy on its product pages by showing recommendations like ‘Customers who viewed this also viewed’ and ‘Customers who bought this also bought.’ These suggestions can motivate customers to explore and purchase additional products.
Another effective strategy is to bundle high-margin products with related lower-margin items. This can encourage customers to buy the bundle, potentially boosting their overall spending.
8. Utilize Smart Coupons
Smart coupons are an effective tool for boosting sales, enhancing customer satisfaction, and fostering brand loyalty. They encourage customers to add more items to their cart to qualify for discounts.
For instance, you can motivate customers to increase their spending by offering a free gift or free shipping once their cart total hits a specific threshold.
You can also implement ‘buy one get one’ (BOGO) coupons to persuade shoppers to include additional items in their cart. Alternatively, when they purchase a particular item, offer them a second item at a reduced price instead of for free.
The EDD Discounts Pro extension allows you to set up advanced discounts that are automatically applied at checkout based on certain criteria.
If you run a WooCommerce store, you can create smart coupons using the Advanced Coupons plugin. This tool enables you to design various types of coupons, rewards, and discounts to drive more sales and expand your business.
9. Enhance the User Journey
While I’ve already discussed improving the checkout process in your online store, there are numerous other strategies to optimize the user journey and enhance the overall customer experience.
A seamless and enjoyable customer experience builds trust and satisfaction, encouraging customers to spend more and return for future purchases.
FunnelKit, previously known as WooFunnels, is a powerful WordPress sales funnel builder that helps you streamline the customer journey on your website. It allows you to set up one-click checkouts, offer one-click upsells, design attractive page layouts, and much more.
Customers enjoy a positive experience on websites that are easy to navigate, allowing them to find the products they need effortlessly. This boosts their confidence in making purchases and leads to larger order sizes.
10. Leverage the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) to Create Urgency
Instilling a sense of urgency and excitement can prompt customers to make immediate purchases to avoid missing out on a great opportunity. This tactic, known as FOMO (fear of missing out), is a widely recognized sales strategy.
When implementing FOMO tactics, it’s essential to be authentic and transparent. If customers feel manipulated by a false sense of urgency, it could damage their trust in your brand.
Urgency is often generated through limited-time holiday promotions, like those on Black Friday. Customers must act quickly to make a purchase before the sale ends to take advantage of the discount.
To encourage quick purchases during a limited-time discount, consider adding a countdown timer to motivate customers to buy before the offer ends.
Creating a sense of urgency through scarcity can be effective. You might notify customers when items are running low or feature exclusive, limited-edition products.
11. Leverage Social Proof to Build Trust
New customers may hesitate to spend a significant amount in your online store due to a lack of trust.
In fact, 92% of shoppers are cautious about making a purchase if there are no customer reviews available.
This highlights the importance of social proof, where potential buyers are greatly influenced by the positive experiences of previous customers who have purchased from your store.
You can build trust with new customers by showcasing authentic product reviews and testimonials on your website. Once you establish this trust, visitors will feel more confident in adding products to their shopping carts.
Users of Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) can utilize the Reviews extension to enable customer reviews with star ratings for selected products.
Alternatively, consider using popular WordPress social proof plugins such as Smash Balloon Reviews Feed Pro and TrustPulse.
12. Implement Customer Loyalty Programs
Many businesses effectively utilize loyalty programs to motivate customers to increase their spending. By offering additional points for purchases exceeding a specific amount, you can boost average order value just as efficiently as through cross-selling and upselling.
Consider the Starbucks Rewards card. Each time you purchase a drink, you move closer to earning a free coffee.
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) provides various extensions to help you set up a loyalty program, including the Purchase Rewards extension.
This feature allows you to reward customers with a discount code after their purchase. You can establish a minimum spending threshold to encourage them to add more items to their cart.
Similarly, WooCommerce users can effortlessly create a loyalty program using the Advanced Coupons Loyalty Program plugin. For additional recommendations, check out our expert selections for the top WooCommerce points and rewards plugins.
13. Recover Abandoned Shopping Carts
Many online retailers experience a significant number of users leaving their sites during the checkout process. On average, a staggering 69% of shoppers abandon their carts. Why not take steps to win some of them back and recover those lost sales?
Customers who show interest in your products are valuable leads. Remind them about their abandoned cart and provide incentives to encourage them to complete their purchase. This can help convert them into paying customers, boosting your average order value.
You can engage potential customers right before they leave your site. OptinMonster’s exit-intent technology tracks mouse movements to identify when a visitor is about to exit, allowing you to display a timely popup.
If a visitor has already left your site, you can re-engage them by sending a push notification through PushEngage. Alternatively, you can use EDD’s Recapture extension to send an automated email to draw their attention back.
Offer incentives to encourage customers to finalize their purchase, and present them with relevant upsell or cross-sell options, such as adding complementary products or offering bundle discounts. A personalized approach can enhance effectiveness.
These tailored suggestions can motivate customers to spend more, which can lead to an increase in your overall order value.
For further insights, check out these guides on reducing cart abandonment in WordPress and sending abandoned cart emails.
14. Experiment with Various Strategies
Now that you’ve reviewed my list of effective strategies to enhance your store’s average order value (AOV), it’s time to implement and experiment with various approaches.
However, avoid trying all strategies simultaneously.
It’s more effective to implement one change at a time and assess its impact on your order values. This method allows you to identify which strategies yield positive results and which do not, enabling you to make informed, data-driven decisions for your business.
Keep in mind that increasing AOV is a continuous journey. By combining these strategies and consistently tracking and analyzing the outcomes, you can successfully elevate your average order value and enhance the overall revenue of your online store.
I hope these insights assist you in expanding your online business by raising the average order value (AOV) in your store. You may also find value in our guides on creating a landing page with WordPress and discovering the best WordPress giveaway and contest plugins.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.
