Running an ecommerce store and on a constant chase for more sales? I hear ya, but attracting more sales can be expensive, time consuming and hit and miss.
What if chasing MORE sales isn’t the holy grail…
What if there was a faster, cheaper and more effective way to increase your online store’s revenue?!
There is! Well, actually, there are two super simple ways you can boost your ecommerce income (without spending a ton on ads). But let’s start with increasing your average order value shall we?!
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What is an average order value?
Your average order value is the average amount customer’s spend when they place an order in your store. To calculate your average order value, divide your store’s total income by the total number of customers.
If you’re using Shopify, then you’ll be able to find your ecommerce store’s average order value under the analytics tab.
What is a good average order value?
A good average order value depends on the price of your products, the number of products you stock, and the need for these products.
If you stock products that are fairly cheap, your average order value is likely to be lower than a business with a higher priced product range.
For example, if you sell dog treats, your average order value may be lower than a business selling high end dog beds or accessories such as harnesses and leads. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t improve your average order value, and increase your revenue.
I would recommend focusing on increasing YOUR average order value, rather than worrying about comparing your order values to other businesses.
4 easy ways to increase your average order value
1. Highlight free delivery over a minimum spend
Do you offer free delivery if people spend a certain amount in your store? Often ecommerce sites will have a banner on their website stating this, if you don’t – add one!
But you can do better than that! Highlight how far an order is away from scoring free delivery at checkout, and entice your customers to add another product to their basket to skip delivery fees.
Lower priced products are likely to work best – for example a bag of treats, or a cheaper, smaller product that will nudge them over your free delivery limit.
2. Cross-sell to items that compliment their purchase
Do you offer products that go well together? For example, if you sell dog harnesses, do you also sell matching dog leads? Or if you sell enrichment feeders, do you also sell treats?
When a customer adds a product to their basket, showcase complimentary items that might take their fancy. You can use a pop-up like Dorwest Herbs (shown below).
Or add a ‘you may also like’ section to your product and checkout pages to encourage further browsing, like Albie’s Boutique.
3. Upsell to other items
Do you offer both basic and premium versions of your products, or optional upgrades?
It’s important to remember that customers don’t always browse all of your products, or read all of your copy – so they may be unaware of the options available to them.
Add a benefits driven upsell to products, and help your customers to decide on whether they’d like to spend more money for a better product.
For example, if you sell both personalised and generic dog bowls – add a notification when a customer puts a generic dog bowl in their basket and ask if they’d like to upgrade.
Tug-E-Nuff offers a range of dog tug toys – some with a bungee handle, and some without. The bungee option is more expensive, but it reduces pressure on both the dog and owner when playing.
Through adding an upsell on the non-bungee products, we scored a 50% uptake in upgrading to the more expensive toy.
4. Create bundles
Paralysis of choice, plus short attention spans mean that the less thought your customers have to put into making their purchases, the more likely they are to take action.
Bundling products together (and making it simple for people to find them) is a great way to make shopping easy for your customers.
You can use these as upsells/cross-sells, as well as having them within your product collections for people to find.
Create a bundle/set of products that compliment each other, and make them a one click purchase.
If you’re happy to add a discount for this bulk buy, even better – but make sure it’s highlighted so your customer can see how much they’re saving by buying your bundle.
There are many more ways that you can grow your average order value, such as loyalty schemes, payment options and free gifts.
I’ve stuck with highlighting the ones I consider to be easiest to implement and fastest to get you an upswing in revenue.
Increase customer lifetime value
At the beginning of this blog, I alluded to the fact that there is another area to focus on if you’d like to increase your eccommerce business’s revenue.
One that doesn’t require finding new customers or chucking a ton of dosh at ads….
It’s increasing your existing customer’s lifetime value. Or in other words, retaining the customer’s you already have and encouraging repeat purchases.
Would you like tips on how to increase repeat orders from your customers? Let me know in the comments below! 👇
If there’s an interest, then I’ll get my tips down in a blog for you!
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