Simple Ways to Boost Your AOV & LTV 💰

We get it.

You're probably all giddy about your unique products or your fabulous store design or your epic social media posts.

But let's face it:

Unless your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and Average Order Value (AOV) are in stellar shape, you're basically running a charity.

And last time I checked, we got into this to make money….not to lose it or to work really hard just to “tread water” without making real progress.

LTV = Total amount a customer spends in your store during their lifetime
and
AOV = Average amount your precious customers spend per order

Get these two right and you'll quite literally laugh all the way to the bank…if not, then listen to your favorite comedian on your drive over and then you will.

But until your AOV and LTV are strong, then business is going to continue to be way harder than it needs to be for you.

In today’s Deep Dive, we’ll show you the 5 ways your store can start to get some immediate boosts to AOV and LTV….🚀

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Quick & Practical Ways to Boost Your Store’s Conversion Rate [45 Tips]
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We teased it enough earlier, let’s dive right in.

Here is how to boost your AOV and LTV numbers across the board:

1. Upselling and Cross-selling
(Not as sleazy as they sound)

Strategizing and testing ways to make your upsells and cross-sells (and any other sells you can think of) more compelling & attractive should be on your calendar at least 1x per month.

Why?

Because opportunities close to the point of sale are where the money is at.

If you’re not offering your buyers additional products or some kind of special offer each time they order something, you’re probably leaving something like 40-60% of your potential revenue on the table.

Ouch.

Some store owners and operators have a negative reaction to upsells or cross-sells. The reason why is that most stores do them badly. The recommendations are irrelevant and create friction for the buyer.

Do them right and even the customers who pass on the offer will feel tempted. And a lot of them come back to take you up on the offer after they’ve gotten their first purchase and are sure they love your product as much as they hoped they would.

Some ideas for what to offer:

• A discount on each item in exchange for subscription billing rather than a single purchase
  

• The premium model or add-ons to your main product
  

• “One Time Offers” of bundled products or additional units of a product

There are multiple quality apps on the Shopify App Store to help you better display & sell your products on product pages, send emails, or even at checkout.

Pro tip: 
ALWAYS be offering additional products and services at checkout. It’s free money.

2. Loyalty Programs
(More than just a fad)

If you're not already offering at least 1 level of a loyalty program to your customers, you're missing out.

And we’re not just talking about those measly 5% off your next purchase kind of rewards. Don’t be cheap.

Make your customers feel like they're actually appreciated and watch them become loyal for years.

Rewards programs, referral programs, VIP programs - they're your secret weapons for maximizing LTV.

Think points for purchases, discounts or free gifts for referrals, and exclusive perks for your best customers (as well as for your brand new customers to get ‘em hooked early!)

Make it so good they'd be insane to shop anywhere else.

Pro tip: 
Create an “Insider’s Club” where your best customers get steep discounts and early access to new products. Thank us later.

There's a slew of Shopify apps that can help you set up these programs without breaking a sweat.

3. Personalize Your Marketing
(Because one size doesn't fit all…..Or even most)

If your marketing strategy is about as personalized as a mass-produced T-shirt, you're doing it wrong.

Get personal with your customers.

Segment your email list, use dynamic content, and use retargeting ads.

Leverage platforms like Klaviyo, Segment, and Facebook Pixel can do the heavy lifting for you.

And while there is a lift involved, it is worth it because exactly zero of your customers likes to feel like they're just another nameless face in the crowd.

The more you personalize, the higher your AOV and LTV will be.

Go back and read that again. It’s THAT important.

4. Customer service
(It's not just for apologizing and sucking up)

Excellent customer service isn't about sucking up to your customers.

It's about making them feel valued.

Respond to inquiries fast, be friendly, and when things go wrong, fix them.

Use apps like LiveChat, HelpScout, or Zendesk to stay on top of your customer service game.

Remember, a happy customer is a repeat customer.

Advanced Level Ninja Pro Tip:
Hire a call center to call every customer and every refund request.

The right setup will immediately add more money to the business. Not only can they help educate customers and encourage their next purchase, but they’ll turn around a lot of refunds.

Imagine if you were able to spin refund requests into a profit center….

Plus the amount of insight your business can learn about customers from live conversations will help improve your marketing, messaging, and the full suite of products you offer to your customers.

It will take a bit time to set up and optimize, but it’s definitely worth it.

5. Free shipping
(Because who likes paying for shipping?)

Finally, let's talk about free shipping.

Even without any fancy apps or tools, you have some decent ability to customize shipping discounts for your customers in the native Shopify Dashboard.

And for your customers, free shipping is the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, the...well, you get the idea.

For whatever reason, getting $8 shipping for free makes people unreasonably happy….even more so than if they got $10 off the product but still had to pay the $8 for shipping.

As a species, we really are pretty “predictably irrational” and things like this help prove it.

But it makes customers feel like they're getting a deal and that helps us increase our AOV and LTV so don’t think too hard about human nature….

Obviously free shipping means it comes right out of your profit margins on the order so do the math to make sure your business can afford it…

…or maybe only offer it above a certain threshold for cart value or only during some special promotions.

If you only offer it around some special event, be sure to communicate that on your site and to your customers. The dopamine might hit so hard in their brains that they fall over in their frenzy to take advantage of the limited time discount.

Advanced Level Ninja Pro Tip:
Give a better deal on shipping as part of your loyalty program.

Normally require a $100 order to get free shipping? Give your “insiders” a way to get free shipping when they spend $50.

Or whenever someone makes a first purchase or first joins the loyalty program give them a single use code for free shipping on their next order.

Or tell your insiders the next 100 orders from insiders get free shipping regardless of the size of the order.

There are a ton of ways of creatively incentivize around shipping. Think through your pricing, your profit margins, and your goals to create ways that end up with every one walking away happy : )

Alright, I think you and I dove deep enough (for now…..)

Got your plan of action from here?
Good — now go get busy bumping those numbers.

Start with the lowest hanging fruit to get some low lift but immediate increases.

But be sure to take the first actions now; because your store has been leaking cash daily…and it will continue to until these are addressed.

The Early Checkout Team

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