How to Increase Average Order Value in E-commerce

Average Order Value (AOV) is the metric that measures the average amount customers spend per transaction. Simply put, it’s your total revenue divided by the number of orders. Whilst many brands obsess over traffic and conversion rates, AOV represents one of the most underutilised levers for sustainable growth.

Why does AOV matter more than ever? Rising CAC means acquiring new customers costs more each year. Discount fatigue has customers expecting price cuts, eroding margins. Meanwhile, increasing AOV helps you extract more value from existing traffic, customers you’ve already paid to acquire.

This post examines evidence-based tactics that successful UK brands have used to increase their AOV, with real results and actionable insights you can apply to your own business. The best part? None of these strategies rely on discounting your own products.

Why AOV Is a Smart Metric to Optimise

Small increases in AOV create outsized impacts on profitability. Consider this: if you increase AOV by just 10% whilst keeping costs constant, you’ve essentially increased your profit margin by the same percentage. It’s mathematics working in your favour.

AOV improvement directly impacts three critical business metrics:

Profit Margin: When customers spend more per order, fixed costs like fulfilment and payment processing are spread across a larger basket. This improves per-order profitability.

CAC Efficiency: A higher AOV means each pound spent on acquisition brings in more revenue. That makes your marketing budget go further and unlocks room for faster growth.

Purchase Behaviour: Increasing AOV often encourages broader product exploration. This can lead to stronger retention and higher customer lifetime value over time.

The challenge? Most e-commerce teams focus heavily on driving traffic or improving conversion rates. These are important, but AOV optimisation often delivers faster results with less complexity. You’re working with customers who are already committed to purchasing, you’re simply maximising the value of each transaction.

Practical Ways to Increase AOV (Before You Touch Discounting)

Offer Bundles That Make Sense

Bundling complementary products into kits or sets encourages customers to spend more without feeling upsold. It’s especially effective when the bundle offers convenience or a logical solution, like a “starter pack” or “complete routine”.

Incentivise Higher Spend

Threshold-based perks such as free delivery or exclusive gifts can nudge customers to add a little extra to their basket. It works particularly well when the reward feels more valuable than a typical discount.

Add Smart Extras at Checkout

High-margin add-ons like gift wrap, samples, or extended guarantees offered during checkout can gently increase basket value. These should feel helpful, not like a pushy upsell.

Use Post-Purchase Upsells

Once a customer has converted, there’s a window to offer relevant upgrades or complementary items. Post-purchase emails or confirmation pages are low-pressure ways to drive additional value.

Partner with Relevant Brands

One of the most effective strategies is to offer third-party gifts that genuinely enhance the customer experience. When chosen carefully, these brand partnerships increase perceived value and encourage larger orders, all without cutting into your margin.

Using Brand Partnerships to Drive Higher Basket Value

Let’s examine three case studies that demonstrate how strategic partnerships and gifting can drive meaningful AOV improvements across different industries and customer contexts.

Parcel2Go – Strategic Offers in a Non-Retail Flow

Parcel2Go operates in the logistics space, where the customer journey differs significantly from traditional retail. How do you increase transaction value when customers have specific shipping needs?

The team implemented Tyviso’s Gift With Purchase product on key checkout pages. With support from Tyviso, they selected relevant brand partners from a curated library of high-quality offers, using a data-driven approach to maximise customer engagement and value.

The Results:

• +29.23% AOV increase
• +17.2% increase in revenue per user

Even in service-based customer journeys, the right partner incentives can boost value per transaction. The key insight was recognising that customers booking services are still receptive to added value, whether through lifestyle perks or complementary digital subscriptions.

The Nursery Store – Personalised Gifting in a Price-Sensitive Category

The nursery market is notoriously price-sensitive. Parents are budget-conscious, comparison-shop extensively, and often abandon baskets over small price differences. Traditional upselling tactics felt inappropriate for this audience.

The Nursery Store, UK’s biggest independent nursery retailer built a 3-brand checkout gift with purchase widget specifically designed for nursery customers. Rather than pushing higher-priced items, they offered thoughtful gifts that added genuine value to new parents.

The Results:

• +17.2% AOV uplift when a gift was selected
• +46% basket completion rate

Carefully chosen partner gifts can increase perceived value and order size without discounting. For budget-conscious customers, it’s about adding value rather than extracting more spend. The gifts felt like genuine additions rather than sales tactics.

Shark – Dynamic Matching at Checkout

Shark, a global cleaning brand wanted to increase basket sizes but recognised that generic upsells felt irrelevant. Customers purchasing specific cleaning products had particular needs that weren’t being addressed.

The brand implemented basket-based targeting, using dynamic gift matching. For example, customers purchasing pet-related cleaning products would see pet care gifts, whilst those buying kitchen cleaners might see cooking-related offers.

The Results:

• +4% overall basket uplift
• 50% conversion rate for customers who engaged with gift offers

Contextual gifting based on basket contents creates relevance that drives engagement. The relatively modest overall uplift masked the strong performance among engaged users, half of customers who selected relevant gifts claimed them, significantly boosting their order values.

What the Best AOV Campaigns Have in Common

Analysing these case studies reveals several strategic patterns that consistently drive AOV improvements:

Gift With Purchase (GWP) Increases Perceived Value

Rather than discounting products, GWP strategies add value without eroding margins. Customers feel they’re getting more for their money without the brand needing to reduce prices.

Audience-Aligned Partnerships Drive Relevance

The most successful campaigns featured offers that felt genuinely useful to the target customer. The Nursery Store, supported by Tyviso’s expert team, used customer behaviour data to select gifts that matched the mindset of new parents. The offers were  practical, high-value, and well-timed. This relevance drove higher AOV and conversions.

Strategic Timing Maximises Impact

Placement matters enormously. Basket and checkout stages proved most effective because customers had already committed to purchasing. 

Testing Validates Assumptions

A strong brand partnership provider uses a clear methodology rooted in testing. Hypotheses about what customers will value most are built from behavioural data, then validated through structured A/B testing. This ensures every offer is grounded in real insights, not assumptions.

Conclusion

Improving AOV doesn’t require complex bundling strategies or price increases that might alienate customers. The most effective approaches actually enhance customer experience whilst driving commercial results.

Strategic partnerships and gifting programmes offer a particularly compelling pathway. They add genuine value, improve customer satisfaction, and increase order values simultaneously. The key lies in execution, ensuring offers are relevant, well-timed, and genuinely valuable.

The brands profiled here succeeded because they approached AOV improvement strategically. They understood their customers, tested rigorously, and focused on adding value rather than extracting more money. Their results speak for themselves: consistent AOV improvements ranging from 4% to 29%, often accompanied by improved conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

When every percentage point of improvement matters, AOV optimisation represents one of the most accessible growth levers available to e-commerce brands. Start with data, focus on customer value, and test everything.

Curious how partnerships could improve your AOV? Speak to our team and see what’s possible.