AOV (average order value) is the average amount a customer spends per order. Take all your revenue for a period, divide by the number of orders, done. If your shop made €12,000 from 200 orders last month, your AOV is €60. (It's a metric — a number — rather than a dimension, which is a category you slice numbers by.)
The everyday version: it's the average receipt at your till. Not your busiest day, not your biggest sale — the typical slip of paper a typical customer walks out with.
Strictly speaking, AOV is a commerce metric rather than an advertising one — no ad platform charges you by it. But it quietly sits inside every advertising judgment you make, which is why it has earned its place in this glossary.
The formula (with actual numbers)
AOV = Total Revenue ÷ Number of Orders
€18,500 in revenue from 250 orders → 18,500 ÷ 250 = €74 AOV.
Why should I care about AOV?
Because AOV decides how much you can afford to pay for a customer. A campaign is (first-order) viable when AOV × margin is bigger than your cost per sale. A €35 cost per acquisition is a disaster for a shop with a €40 AOV and a triumph for one with a €200 AOV — identical advertising, opposite outcomes, and the difference is the size of the receipt.
It also means AOV is a direct ROAS lever that has nothing to do with your ads. Same ad spend, same number of orders, bigger baskets → better ROAS, by pure arithmetic. Some of the best "advertising improvements" we've seen happened entirely on the website.
What's a good AOV?
This one is almost entirely category-dependent, so treat any cross-industry comparison with suspicion:
- Fashion, cosmetics, toys: typically lower — often €30–80
- Electronics, furniture, auto parts: typically higher — €100–500+
A €45 AOV is perfectly healthy for a cosmetics shop and worrying for a furniture store. The useful comparison is your own trend: is your average receipt growing, shrinking, or flat — and why?
The classic mistakes
Looking at one blended AOV. AOV differs by channel and campaign. Discount-driven channels (coupon traffic, flash-sale audiences) usually deliver smaller baskets, which means the same cost per sale can be profitable in one channel and a slow leak in another. Slice it before you trust it.
Missing the promotion squeeze. A pattern we see every sale season: heavy discounting lifts conversion rate (hurray), compresses AOV and margin (quietly), and ROAS looks roughly flat while actual profit sinks. Everything on the dashboard is green; the bank account disagrees. Watch AOV during promotions, not just after.
Confusing AOV with customer value. AOV is one receipt. A customer who places six €40 orders a year is worth far more than one €90 order — that's lifetime value's department. Optimizing AOV at the expense of repeat purchase (say, with pushy bundling that annoys people) is winning the receipt and losing the relationship.
How do I increase my AOV?
The classics work, which is why they're classics. Set a free-shipping threshold slightly above your current AOV — if the average basket is €58, "free shipping from €69" nudges a remarkable number of people to add one more item; humans will buy a €12 product to avoid a €5 shipping fee, and we should all make peace with that. Bundle complementary products and add cross-sells at cart and checkout ("goes well with…"). Give higher-priced variants better placement in feeds and ads. And prefer tiered discounts ("spend €100, get €15 off") over flat ones — they reward bigger baskets instead of just cheaper ones.
Related metrics worth knowing: ROAS (AOV is one of its main levers), CPA (AOV × margin sets the CPA you can afford), and LTV (lifetime value — what a customer is worth across all their receipts, not just today's).
Key Idea: AOV decides how much you can afford to pay for a customer. Grow the average receipt and every euro of advertising automatically works harder.
This week's homework: check your current AOV (revenue ÷ orders — thirty seconds in your shop admin) and look at where your free-shipping threshold sits relative to it. If the threshold is below your AOV, it's costing you money and motivating no one. Move it slightly above.
If you'd like AOV tracked by channel and campaign — so the promotion squeeze can't sneak past you — that's the kind of view we build at airdan.ai.
FAQ
What is a good average order value? It depends almost entirely on category: fashion and cosmetics often run €30–80, electronics and furniture €100–500+. Your own trend over time is the comparison that matters.
How do I calculate AOV? Divide total revenue by the number of orders for the same period. €12,000 from 200 orders = €60 AOV.
How can I increase my AOV quickly? The fastest lever is usually a free-shipping threshold set slightly above your current AOV; bundles, cross-sells, and tiered discounts ("spend €X, get €Y") follow close behind.
What's the difference between AOV and LTV? AOV is the value of one average order; LTV (lifetime value) is everything a customer spends with you across all their orders. AOV measures the receipt; LTV measures the relationship.