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Not too long ago, I talked about free shipping thresholds and how they helped our brand increase our AOV by $30 almost overnight. 

So I figured we might as well talk about the other ways to increase your average cart these days.

Let's be real: getting a new customer costs somewhere between an arm, a leg, and your firstborn child these days.

So why not make each customer worth more?

That's what Average Order Value (AOV) is all about—squeezing more juice from the oranges you already have.

In this issue:

🧠 Tactics - 6 proven ways to boost your AOV (without raising your prices)

💡 Steal This - An email template designed to up AOV

New customers cost a lot less if you play the long game. 

👉️ Get started with our free Shopify SEO Checklist.

TACTICS

7 Ways to Make Your Customers (Happily) Spend More 

1. Bundle Up, Baby

I know, most of you are already doing this. Right? Right. This is for the stragglers – you can’t not be bundling. 

How to do it right:

• Pair frequently bought items together (it’s all in your data)

• Price bundles 10-15% below individual item cost

• Create themed bundles around occasions or use cases

• Test different bundle configurations to find winners

• Highlight the savings amount prominently ("Save $XX!")

Tool that makes this easy: Bundler app lets you create, test, and optimize bundles without coding headaches.

Example that's crushing it: Hexclad is a premium, high AOV brand and they’re masters at bundling their products to get you to spend more. 

They initially began with the standard “10 piece complete set” type bundles you usually see in cookware, but recently they have implemented dynamic bundling with price tiers. 

Meaning shoppers can put together their own Hexclad combos and they get rewarded with increasingly better discounts as they go. 

Pro tip: Don't hide individual products. Let customers choose between bundles and single items. According to Shopify's 2024 Commerce Trends report, stores that offer both options see 24% higher overall conversion rates than those pushing bundles exclusively.

💡 Find your real competitors with this, then study their bundle offers for inspiration.

2. Free Shipping Threshold Magic

We went over this before, but it bears repeating - customers HATE paying for shipping. The easy path is just to make everything “free shipping”, but that erases the opportunity to leverage a free shipping threshold to incentivize higher carts. 

Real numbers: Shopify data shows that 80% of shoppers are willing to meet minimum order thresholds to achieve free shipping. 

Pitfall to avoid: Setting your threshold too high. Data suggest the sweet spot is somewhere between 10 and 30%. 

This will be moderated by your product catalog as well. Do you have easy upsells or cross-sells customers can use to get to your FST?

👉️ Get the whole playbook here.

3. Post-purchase Cross-sells

The customer has already pulled out their credit card. They're in buying mode. Now's your chance to strike with a frictionless add-on.

Keys to success:

• Make it genuinely relevant to their purchase (e.g. camera → memory card)

• Use scarcity or urgency (5 minutes only!)

• Make it low friction (no new checkout)

• Keep it under 30% of the original order value

• Test different offers (discount vs. bundle vs. exclusive item)

Apps that nail this: AfterSell or CartHook post-purchase offers.

New stat: One-click upsells convert at an average rate of 4.6%. You can probably improve that by optimizing timing, messaging, and relevance of the offers.

Real example: Check out Timberlands Balm Proofer Water & Stain Repellent. Framed as an investment in maintaining and extending the life of the main product.

💡 Once again, check your top competitors. Go through the checkout process as far as you’re willing to uncover their secrets.

4. Volume Discounts Done Right

"Buy more, save more" can work wonders when structured properly. The key is making the math obvious and compelling.

Formula for success:

• Clear, simple tiers (Buy 1: $30, Buy 2: $50, Buy 3: $65)

• Highlight the increasing discount percentage (don’t forget, discounted price needs to be to the right)

• Show savings in REAL DOLLARS, not just percentages

• Use imagery showing multiple products together

• Consider category-based volume discounts ("Buy any 3 skincare items, save 15%")

Tools to try: Pareto Volume discounts. 

5. Upgrade Your Upsell Game

This one’s about suggesting bigger or better versions of what they're already buying. 

How the pros do it:

• Emphasize enhanced features

• Use specific language like "Premium" or "Pro"

• Show side-by-side comparisons of features

• Frame as an investment ("Lasts 3x longer")

• Test different positioning ("Upgrade" vs "Premium" vs "Luxury" vs “Limited Edition”)

Example win: At SnapPad, we made limited edition camouflage style SnapPads. Simple, yet effective. 

6. Subscriptions: The Ultimate AOV Play

Subscriptions aren't just for SaaS—they work for physical products too, and they're AOV magic. 

Winning approach:

• Start with consumables (things people need regularly, e.g. creams, drinks)

• Offer 10-15% discount for subscribers 

• Add subscriber-only perks (free shipping, exclusive products)

• Allow flexible delivery schedules (30/45/60 days)

• Implement skip-a-month options to reduce churn

Apps worth trying: ReCharge, StayAI or Shopify's native subscription options.

What to do if you don’t sell consumables: Obviously not everyone sells supplements or snacks. At SnapPad, our product's lifetime is measured in 5-year increments.  

But we still want to get into the subscription game. This year we are considering adding a new membership for dedicated SnapPadders. The program will offer them a free replacement pad for any reason (not just warranty issues), free shipping in any order, free package protection during shipment, and discounts with partner brands. 

STEAL THIS

A/B Test: The AOV Email That Converts

Want to boost AOV through email? Here's a template that's working right now:

Subject line: [First Name], complete your collection (save 20%)

Preview text: Your [product] is lonely! Here's what pairs perfectly with it...

Body:

Hey [First Name],

Thanks for purchasing [Product] from us! Great choice.

We noticed many customers like to pair this with our [Complementary Product] to get the full experience.

For the next 48 hours, you can add this to your collection and save 20% with code COMPLETE.

[Button: Complete My Collection]

Why these work great together:

• [Benefit 1]

• [Benefit 2] 

• [Benefit 3]

Cheers,

[Your Name]

Why it works: Focuses on enhancing their existing purchase rather than pushing a new sale. The time limit creates urgency without being pushy. 

My challenge to you this week

1. Select A Strategy: Whichever one fits your business best, or simply floats your boat.

2. Do your Due Diligence: Take a minute and research top competitors to get a feel for what’s working right now.

3. Implement and Monitor: Roll it out and test for about a month.

⚠️ Careful. Too many shop owners focus on AOV and end up making moneygrabs that customers hate (e.g. bundles that make no sense and where it’s hard to find the individual products).

Put customer happiness first - create deals that make sense for them.

Cheers, 

Kent

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