What this calculator does
Average order value is the typical amount a customer spends in a single order, worked out by dividing total revenue by the number of orders that produced it. It is one of the three numbers, alongside traffic and conversion rate, that together determine how much revenue a store brings in.
AOV is a store-wide average, so it can rise or fall for reasons that have nothing to do with pricing: a promotion that sells a lot of low-price items pulls it down even while total revenue climbs, and a shift toward bundles or higher-ticket products pulls it up without any change in traffic. Reading AOV alongside order count and revenue avoids drawing the wrong conclusion from the average alone.
The formula
Divide total revenue over a period by the number of orders placed in that same period. The result is the average spend per order, not per customer, since a single customer placing several orders is counted each time.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AOV | Average order value: total revenue ÷ number of orders. |
| Revenue | The total sales value of all orders in the period being measured. |
| Orders | The count of individual completed orders in that same period. |
The inputs explained
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Total revenue ($) | Total revenue from all orders over the period you are measuring. |
| Number of orders | The number of separate orders that produced that revenue. |
When to use it
Setting a free-shipping threshold
A free-shipping cutoff set just above current AOV is a common way to nudge customers toward adding one more item, and tracking AOV before and after shows whether it actually worked.
Comparing marketing channels
Orders arriving from different channels, such as email versus paid search, often carry very different AOVs, which affects how much each channel is really worth once acquisition cost is factored in.
Judging a bundling or upsell change
Introducing a bundle, a minimum order size, or an upsell prompt at checkout is meant to lift AOV; measuring it before and after the change is the direct way to check.
Worked examples
Every figure in the tables below is produced by this page’s own calculator at build time, so the numbers and the tool always agree. Select any row to load that scenario.
How AOV changes as revenue increases at a fixed order count
A fixed 300 orders, across a range of revenue outcomes.
| Total revenue | Average order value |
|---|---|
| $9,000 | $30.00 |
| $15,000 | $50.00 |
| $18,000 | $60.00 |
| $24,000 | $80.00 |
| $30,000 | $100.00 |
| $45,000 | $150.00 |
How AOV changes as order count increases at a fixed revenue
A fixed $24,000 in revenue, spread across a range of order counts.
Questions
What is a good AOV?
It depends entirely on the product category and price point, so there is no figure worth quoting as a universal target. Track your own AOV over time and against specific changes, such as a new bundle or shipping threshold.
Does a rising AOV always mean the business is doing better?
Not on its own. AOV rising while order count falls can mean total revenue is flat or shrinking even though the average order looks healthier, so it is worth reading alongside order count and total revenue.
Should AOV be measured per order or per customer?
Per order is the standard definition and what this calculator computes. A separate per-customer figure, dividing revenue by unique customers rather than orders, answers a different question about how much a customer spends across all their visits.
How does AOV relate to customer lifetime value?
AOV is one of the inputs to lifetime value: multiplying it by how often a customer orders per year, and by how many years they keep ordering, builds up to an estimate of what that customer is worth over time.
To turn AOV into an estimate of what a customer is worth over their whole relationship with the store, see the e-commerce lifetime value calculator.