How to Increase Average Order Value Using Built In Shopify Features

Same visitors, same conversion rate, but 20% more money. That's the power of focusing on average order value instead of just chasing more clicks.

Let me ask you something. How much time do you spend trying to get more traffic to your store? Probably a lot, right? Running ads, posting on social media, optimizing for SEO, maybe even paying influencers. But here's what most Shopify store owners miss completely.

You could double your revenue tomorrow without a single new visitor. You just need people to spend more per order. And the wild part? Shopify already gives you every tool you need to make that happen. No fancy apps, no expensive consultants, no complicated integrations. Just features sitting right there in your dashboard that most people never use properly.

The global average order value hit $144.57 in late 2024, up 8.7% from the year before. That number varies wildly by industry, but here's what matters for you. If you can increase your average order value by even 20%, that's a 20% revenue increase on the exact same traffic and ad spend you're already paying for.

Think about that for a second. Same visitors, same conversion rate, but 20% more money. That's the power of focusing on average order value instead of just chasing more clicks.

Understanding What Average Order Value Really Means

Average order value is simple math. You take your total revenue and divide it by the number of orders. If you made $10,000 from 200 orders, your AOV is $50. Easy enough.

But here's what that number actually tells you. It shows whether your store is designed to encourage people to buy more, or whether you're accidentally training them to buy the bare minimum. Most stores fall into the second category without even realizing it.

Your goal isn't just "get people to add more stuff." Your real goal is to design your store so that buying more becomes the default behavior. You want customers to naturally discover products that go together, see bundles that make sense, hit free shipping thresholds that feel achievable, and check out with bigger baskets without feeling pressured.

When you set things up right, customers actually thank you for helping them find what they need instead of feeling like you're upselling them aggressively.

The Four Ways to Increase Average Order Value

Every tactic for boosting AOV comes down to pulling one of these four levers. Understanding them helps you pick the right strategies for your specific store.

More items per order. This is about bundles, "frequently bought together" suggestions, add-ons, and volume discounts that encourage people to grab multiple things instead of just one.

Higher priced choices per order. This means upselling to larger sizes, premium variants, or multipacks. Getting someone to buy the deluxe version instead of the basic one, or the family size instead of the single.

Higher perceived value at the same margin. This includes free shipping thresholds, gifts with purchase, and stackable offers that make spending more feel like winning instead of just spending.

Less friction when spending more. Better search and filters so people can actually find what goes together. Payment options like Shop Pay installments that make bigger purchases feel manageable. Smoother cart experiences that don't punish people for having more items.

Now let's translate these levers into actual Shopify features you can implement today.

Use Search and Discovery for Smart Product Recommendations

Shopify's free Search and Discovery app is sitting in your app store right now, and most people completely ignore it. That's a mistake because this single app can significantly boost your AOV without costing you a penny.

What this app actually does is let you control search results, add filters to collection pages, and most importantly for AOV, show complementary and related products on your product pages. You're removing decision fatigue and surfacing the "next best choice" instead of making customers hunt for items that go together.

Go install Search and Discovery from the Shopify app store if you haven't already. Then head to your admin and find Apps, then Search and Discovery. Click into Product recommendations and start with your highest traffic product. Add up to 10 complementary products, which should be add-ons, accessories, or smaller items that pair naturally with what someone's already buying.

Then add up to 10 related products, which should be similar items or slightly more premium alternatives. Maybe upgraded versions or different styles at a higher price point.

In your theme customizer, make sure the "Recommended products" or "You may also like" section is actually enabled on product pages and in your cart drawer. I can't tell you how many stores have these features turned off completely.

Here's the pro move. Put cheaper add-ons in your complementary slots. If someone's buying a water bottle, show them a cleaning brush or carrying strap. Put premium alternatives in your related slots. Show them the insulated version or the larger capacity model. For bundles or kits, always recommend refills or consumables as complementary items because that's where the repeat purchase magic happens.

Track whether recommended products are actually being added to cart. Search and Discovery has analytics built in, and you can also see this data in your regular Shopify reports. If nobody's clicking your recommendations, you've picked the wrong products or positioned them poorly.

Create Bundles That Feel Like No-Brainer Purchases

Shopify now has a completely free, first-party Bundles app that works on all plans. This might be the single easiest AOV win available to you right now, and most stores still aren't using it.

Bundles work because people love curated decisions. A well-designed bundle feels like "the right way to buy this product" instead of feeling like a sales tactic. It removes the mental work of figuring out what goes together and positions the bundle as the smart, complete solution.

The Bundles app lets you create fixed bundles where all items are predefined, or multipacks where it's the same product in multiple units. It keeps your inventory synced automatically so you never oversell, which is huge if you're managing lots of SKUs.

Here are the bundle types that consistently drive higher AOV. Create a starter kit with your three or four most essential products at a small discount, maybe 5% to 10% off. Position it as "Best place to start" or "Everything you need to begin." A skincare brand might bundle cleanser, toner, and moisturizer. A coffee shop might bundle beans, filters, and a sampler of flavors.

Build routine or ritual bundles that tell a story. A "Sunday Reset Set" with candle, bath salt, and body oil. A "Morning Productivity Kit" with coffee, notebook, and focus supplement. These bundles work because they tap into aspirational routines customers want to create.

Offer refill or multipack bundles on consumables. A three-pack of your top seller with a modest discount makes sense for products people need to restock regularly. This is perfect for anything from protein powder to candles to notebooks.

Create occasion-based bundles like "Gift set for new moms" or "Back to school study essentials." These work exceptionally well during specific seasons and make gift-giving decisions easy for your customers.

Install Shopify Bundles from your app store, then go to Products and click Bundles. Create your first bundle, set a small discount if it makes sense for your margins, and feature it prominently. Put bundles in your collections as their own products. Showcase them in your hero section during launches. Include them in your product recommendations for related products.

Start with your current best seller and build one or two bundles around that. Don't try to bundle everything at once. Test what works, measure the results, then expand from there. The more people enter your store on a bundle product page through ads and social posts, the higher your natural AOV becomes.

Set Your Free Shipping Threshold Strategically

This is probably the most underrated AOV tactic available to Shopify stores. Research consistently shows that a free shipping threshold increases AOV when you set it slightly above your current average, typically 15% to 30% higher.

If your current AOV is $50, set your free shipping threshold around $60 to $65. The psychology here is pure loss aversion. People hate paying for shipping so much that they'd rather add another item to their cart to "win" free shipping than pay $6.95 for delivery.

You have two ways to implement this in Shopify. First, you can create a discount. Go to Discounts in your admin, click Create discount, and choose Free shipping. Set your minimum purchase amount to your target threshold. Use an automatic discount during promotions so it applies without customers needing a code.

The second method is setting it up directly in your shipping settings. Go to Settings, then Shipping and delivery. For your main shipping zone, add a rate with a price condition like "Free shipping over $60." This shows up directly in checkout and any shipping calculators on your site.

But here's the critical part most stores miss. You have to make the threshold visible. Add an announcement bar at the top of your site that says something like "Free shipping over $60 in Canada." In your cart drawer, show progress toward that threshold. "You're $12 away from free shipping" with a visual progress bar works incredibly well.

Don't guess your threshold based on what feels right. Pull your actual AOV from Shopify Analytics, look at the last 60 to 90 days, and set your threshold slightly above that number. Revisit this whenever your product mix or pricing changes significantly.

Use Volume Pricing and Smart Discount Structures

Shopify's built-in Discounts section gives you enough flexibility to create clever AOV plays without installing extra apps. You can do percentage or fixed amount discounts with minimum spend requirements, buy X get Y offers, and quantity-based volume pricing on specific products.

Here are the discount structures that consistently boost AOV without killing your margins. Try "spend and save" deals where customers get a reward for hitting a threshold. "Save $10 when you spend $80 or more" works beautifully because the math is simple and the benefit is clear. Set this up as an amount off discount with a minimum purchase amount.

Volume pricing works perfectly on consumables. "Buy 2 and save 5%, buy 3 and save 10%" makes total sense for skincare, food, supplements, candles, or any product people need to restock regularly. It shifts customers from single purchases to stocking up.

Buy X get Y structures can nudge people to grab extra units. "Buy any 2 candles, get the 3rd at 50% off" means customers leave with 3 items instead of the single candle they came for. They feel like they're getting a deal, and you've tripled your units per transaction.

Head to Discounts and click Create discount. Choose either Amount off order or Buy X get Y depending on which structure fits your strategy. Under Minimum requirements, pick either minimum purchase amount or minimum quantity of items. Time-bound these during launches or campaigns to create urgency.

Here's the crucial insight. Use these discounts to nudge customers from 1 to 2 to 3 units, not as permanent store-wide sales. They're AOV levers, not your brand identity. If you're always on sale, you train people to wait for discounts and you erode your perceived value.

Optimize Filters and Search to Support Basket Building

Better discovery is an AOV feature because people can actually find items that naturally go together. Using the Search and Discovery app, you can create filters for your collection and search pages that help customers assemble complete solutions instead of buying random single items.

For apparel stores, add filters for size, color, occasion, material, and price range. For beauty brands, filter by skin type, concern, routine step, and key ingredients. For home goods, organize by room, style, size, whether it's a set or single piece, and price.

The psychology here is powerful. Filters help people build full outfits, complete skincare routines, or coordinated room setups instead of buying one random item that "kind of works." They're visualizing complete solutions, which naturally increases cart size.

In Search and Discovery, click Filters and add filters based on your product attributes or metafields. Make sure your theme displays these filters on collection pages and search results pages. Most modern themes support this out of the box.

Take it one step further by creating a dedicated "Shop the set" or "Complete your routine" collection using your filters as inspiration. Connect this with your bundles strategy. The same products that appear together in filters should exist as pre-built bundle options.

Remove Friction at Checkout for Higher Value Orders

Some AOV growth comes from making bigger purchases feel safer and easier to commit to. You're reducing the psychological barrier that makes people cut items from their cart at the last second.

First, make sure Shop Pay is enabled wherever it's available. Shopify's own research shows that Buy Now Pay Later and installment options increase AOV because customers are more willing to commit to higher totals when they can split payments. For orders over $100, payment plans can be the difference between "this is too much right now" and completing the purchase.

Use checkout customizations to add reassurance elements. Trust badges, a clear shipping and returns summary, and security indicators all reduce anxiety around bigger purchases. On modern Shopify themes with checkout extensibility, you have lots of options here.

Encourage customers to create accounts or use the Shop app for faster checkout. Saved addresses and accelerated checkout options mean repeat buyers can complete larger orders without re-entering everything, which reduces abandonment on bigger baskets.

Anything that reduces cognitive load at checkout supports all your other AOV tactics. If checking out feels like a hassle, people will cut items just to simplify the process.

Let Data Tell You Where the Real Opportunity Is

Don't just throw tactics at the wall randomly. Your Shopify analytics can tell you exactly where your biggest AOV opportunities are hiding.

Look at your Average Order Value report and break it down by channel, device, and time period. If one channel consistently shows higher AOV, study what landing pages and offers it uses. That's your blueprint for other channels.

Check which products are frequently bought together. This is pure gold for creating bundles. If customers naturally buy Product A and Product B in the same order, bundle them together and watch your AOV climb.

Review your discount performance regularly. Which discounts actually increase average order size, and which ones just give away margin without changing behavior? Kill the ones that don't work and double down on winners.

Search and Discovery also gives you search term analytics. If customers keep searching for "set," "bundle," "kit," or "gift," that's your direct signal to create more bundled offerings.

Making This Work Long-Term

Increasing average order value isn't a one-time project you check off and forget about. It's an ongoing optimization process that compounds over time as you learn what your specific customers respond to.

The beautiful thing about focusing on AOV is that you're working with people who already want to buy from you. They've come to your site with intent. They might even have items in their cart already. Your job is just to help them discover relevant products that genuinely improve their purchase.

Start with the tactics that require the least effort and deliver the fastest results. Free shipping threshold and basic product recommendations take less than an hour to set up but can increase AOV by 10% to 20% almost immediately.

Then move to bundles, which take a bit more thought but create those "no-brainer" purchase moments that customers actually appreciate. Finally, layer in your discount structures and checkout optimizations.

The stores that consistently grow their AOV aren't doing anything magical. They're just making it easy and natural for customers to buy more, buy better, and feel great about both decisions. Do that well, and your revenue grows without your traffic needing to.

Remember that your goal isn't manipulation. It's genuine helpfulness packaged in a way that increases value for both you and your customer. When someone discovers the perfect bundle or hits your free shipping threshold and feels smart about it, everybody wins.

Start today. Pick one tactic from this guide. Implement it this week. Measure what happens to your average order value. Then move to the next one. Three months from now, you'll look back at your revenue numbers and wonder why you waited so long to focus on AOV instead of just chasing more traffic.

Your store has more potential revenue sitting inside it right now than you realize. You just need to design the experience that unlocks it.

Key Takeaway: Increasing average order value is about designing your store so customers naturally buy more without feeling pressured. Use Shopify's free built-in features like Search and Discovery, Bundles, smart shipping thresholds, and strategic discounts to create shopping experiences where bigger baskets become the default, not the exception.