What is AOV, and how does it help your store grow?

Average order value, or AOV, measures the average value of an order over a chosen period. It helps you understand spending patterns and assess changes to your product offers.

Shopify defines AOV as gross sales minus discounts, divided by the number of orders, excluding post-order adjustments. Gross sales exclude shipping and tax. You can find sales reports under Analytics > Reports.

In simplified form:

AOV = (gross sales minus discounts) / number of orders

Use the same definition and date range when making comparisons. Because Shopify's metric excludes later adjustments such as returns, it does not show the profit you ultimately keep.

How order value affects revenue

Imagine a store with 10,000 visits and a 2% conversion rate. That produces 200 orders. At an AOV of $60, the orders total $12,000 on the same measurement basis.

If AOV rises to $72 while order count stays at 200, the total becomes $14,400. That is 20% more revenue without additional visits. This is an illustration, and its assumptions matter: a change in pricing or offers may also change conversion.

If the larger baskets come with enough lost orders, total revenue can fall. Always check what happened to the number of people who bought.

Check what you keep

An extra $12 in order value is not an extra $12 in profit. The additional product has a cost, and the offer may involve a discount or subsidised delivery.

Work out the amount left after the costs associated with fulfilling the order. If live advice helped produce the sale, include the staff time and software cost when assessing the programme.

A higher AOV gives you more room to spend on acquisition only when it improves the economics of the order. A costly bundle can raise the headline number while leaving less money in the business. Practical ways to move the number are in 5 ways to raise your average order value.

Look beyond the average

Compare new and returning customers where your reporting allows it. Look at the distribution of order values too. A small group of large purchases can pull the average well above what most shoppers spend.

That distinction matters when setting a free-shipping threshold. A target based only on the average may be unrealistic for much of your audience.

Use AOV to assess a specific change

Test a relevant bundle or a better recommendation process. Keep the period long enough to observe normal variation, and review conversion alongside the costs.

If you are considering live advisors, BeamCart's pricing page helps you estimate the software portion of that trial. Use your own order data to judge whether the service creates enough value to justify the time it takes.