5 ways to increase your average order value

In the holiday rush, if you can get your customers to spend just a little bit more per order, it will make a big difference on your bottom line. Of course, they won’t just do it themselves, you’ve got to incentive them to spend a little more, without taking a loss yourself. Follow these tips and watch the holiday season be extra good to you this year.

Set a Free Shipping Threshold

“Free” is a word all shoppers love to see. For example, if you offer free shipping for orders $100 and up, most shoppers who are a few dollars short will buy an extra item to hit that threshold. This is one of the easiest and time-tested ways to increase your average order value.

Include Limited Time Offer

Shoppers will procrastinate. Without a rush, they’ll mill about your site, maybe click buy, maybe wait because they aren’t quite sure if they want that little something. On a 30% off sale—or whatever figure you come up with—always include that the discount is for a limited time. That will get the procrastinators to click “buy” while they’re on your site, instead of hoping they come back later.

Package deals

A combination deal—pairing related items together at a discount from buying them separately—is a great way to incentivize your customers to spend a little bit more. If we’re using clothing as an example, you can offer an entire outfit for $60 to go with a shirt that may cost $45. Many customers will see the value there and buy the whole set.

Upsell

When executed correctly, upselling is a great way to bump up the total order volume. If a customer is looking at a camera, and you sell a version that also includes a function to shoot video, display that higher-end model to the side. You never know, the customer might be willing to spend the extra hundred dollars to get the added function. Be careful with this advice though; don’t overdo it and just advertise more expensive goods willy nilly with every item a customer clicks on.

Offer Discounts on Minimum Purchases

If you’re running a sale, consider making your customers a certain dollar amount before getting the benefits of the discount. You can even tier the discounts to different amounts, say 20% off all orders $25 or more, and 35% for orders $50 or more. If a customer is close to hitting that target, he or she will likely spend a little more to get that discount.