Shopify AOV: How to Increase Your AOV (and the Mistake that Backfires)

Everyone wants to increase their AOV (Average Order Value), but it's not always clear how. Leighton and Patrick break down what actually moves AOV in the right direction: free shipping thresholds with dynamic progress bars, relevant cart cross-sells, frequently bought together widgets, build-your-own bundles, and post-purchase upsells, plus the two cross-sell mistakes that cost stores trust and revenue. Links Mentioned Rebuy (Smart Cart, cross-sells, and A/B testing): https://www.rebuyengine.com/ Baymard Institute (cart and checkout UX research): https://baymard.com/ Monster Cart Upsell (Shopify app): https://apps.shopify.com/monster-upsells Checkout Blocks (Shopify's checkout customization app): https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/checkout-blocks Watch This Episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/oJQgzmeDnSg Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:33 Is AOV Advice Overhyped? 1:44 What AOV Actually Means 2:14 How AOV Compounds With Conversion Rate 3:48 Margins and Knowing Your Numbers 4:39 Free Shipping Threshold Messaging 6:02 Static Message vs Dynamic Progress Bar 7:09 Cart Cross-Sells and Two Big Mistakes 10:30 Lessons From Retail Checkout Aisles 11:33 Limits of Shopify's Recommendations 12:17 Frequently Bought Together Widgets 13:43 Recommending Items to Hit Free Shipping 16:07 Testing With Rebuy's Smart Cart 19:46 Build-Your-Own Bundles 21:07 Tailoring Tactics to Your Industry 22:29 Checkout and Post-Purchase Upsells 26:13 How Much You Can Realistically Upsell 27:12 Recap: The Quickest AOV Wins 28:02 A/B Testing and Collection Design 30:15 Starter Kits and Gift Bundles 30:51 Gift Wrap and Personalization 32:16 Content That Drives Bundle Sales 33:01 Subscriptions as an AOV Play 34:01 AOV, LTV, and What's Next 35:04 Wrapping Up Book a Call Book a Call with Patrick: https://calendly.com/patrickriceco/strategy-call Book a Call with Leighton: https://cal.com/leightontaylor/discovery-call?utm_source=podcast Work with Us Work with Patrick (SEO and Google Ads): https://patrickriceco.com/ Work with Leighton (Shopify Store Builds, Migrations, & Ongoing Support): https://envision.io You may notice that our content sometimes includes affiliate links or sponsored content. We may receive compensation for this type of content, which supports the work we do at no cost to you.