The average order value formula is simple: AOV = total revenue / number of orders. If your store took $12,000 from 200 orders last month, your AOV was $60.
The hard part is not the division. It’s deciding what counts as revenue, picking a fair comparison, and knowing what to do with the number. This guide covers all three. For tactics that raise AOV, see our playbook on how to increase average order value on Shopify.
What does AOV mean?
AOV stands for average order value. It is the average amount a customer spends each time they check out.
It answers one question: how big is a typical order? It does not tell you how many people buy, how often they come back, or how much profit each order leaves. That’s why AOV is most useful next to other metrics, not on its own.
Revenue breaks down into three parts:
Revenue = sessions × conversion rate × AOV
So you can grow revenue by getting more visitors, converting more of them, or selling more per order. AOV is the lever you control most directly from the product page and cart.
What is the average order value formula?
The basic formula is revenue divided by orders. Each tool defines “revenue” a little differently, so check which version you’re reading.
In Shopify’s analytics fields reference, the average order value metric is:
AOV = (gross sales - discounts) / orders
Shopify describes it as the average value of orders placed, “excluding any post-order adjustments.” Returns and later order edits don’t pull the figure down.
Other tools use other inputs. Google Analytics 4 setups often use purchase revenue divided by orders. The AOV metric on Shopify Home is also built differently from the analytics report, as our AOV playbook explains.
What should you include in revenue?
There is no single right answer, but there is a right habit: decide once and stay consistent.
| Item | Include in AOV? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Product sales | Yes | This is what customers chose to buy |
| Discounts | Subtract them | A $50 cart with a $10 code is a $40 order |
| Shipping charges | Usually no | Driven by rates and location, not product choice |
| Taxes | No | Money you collect for someone else |
| Gift card purchases | Usually no | Spending happens later, on another order |
| Returns and refunds | Track separately | Mixing them in hides when returns change |
| Wholesale or B2B orders | Report separately | A few large orders can skew the average |
If you sell to both retail and wholesale customers, calculate AOV for each group. One big wholesale order can make your retail AOV look higher than it really is.
What does a worked example look like?
Say last month your store had these numbers (for example):
- Gross product sales: $14,500
- Discounts: $1,300
- Orders: 220
AOV = ($14,500 - $1,300) / 220 = $60.00
If you had ignored discounts, you’d report $65.91. That gap matters when you compare a sale month with a normal one.
How do you calculate AOV for your own store?
You can read AOV straight from Shopify analytics, but an export shows you much more. Here is a quick routine:
- Pick a period. Use at least 30 days, or 90 days if you get fewer than a few hundred orders a month.
- Export orders. In your Shopify admin, export orders for that period to a spreadsheet.
- Filter out noise. Remove test orders, cancelled orders and, if you have them, wholesale orders.
- Sum and divide. Add up subtotals after discounts, then divide by the number of orders left.
- Find the median. Sort by order value and take the middle order. If the median sits well below the average, a few big orders are pulling the average up.
- Segment. Split AOV by new vs returning customers, by traffic source and by device.
The median is worth the extra minute. It tells you what a normal customer spends, which is the number to use when you set thresholds.
What is a good AOV benchmark?
A good AOV is one that beats your own last period on the same terms. External benchmarks help you see whether you’re in a normal range for your category.
The most current Shopify-specific data we found comes from Littledata. Its average order value benchmark covers 436 Shopify stores and 90 days of Google Analytics 4 data, Jul 27 to Oct 24, 2026. AOV there is purchase revenue divided by orders, in US dollars.
| Percentile | AOV (all 436 stores) |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $45 |
| Bottom 20% | $60 |
| Median | $110 |
| Top 20% | $298 |
| Top 10% | $590 |
How does AOV vary by industry?
The spread by category is wide. From the same Littledata dataset:
| Industry | Stores | Median AOV | Top 20% above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home & Furniture | 63 | $211 | $765 |
| Fashion & Apparel | 76 | $113 | $298 |
| Food & Beverage | 32 | $85 | $186 |
| Health & Supplements | 35 | $75 | $102 |
| Beauty & Skincare | 39 | $69 | $123 |
Littledata also reports a median of $104 on mobile and $113 on desktop.
How should you read these benchmarks?
Treat them as a rough range, not a target. A few points to keep in mind:
- The sample is narrow. These are stores that use Littledata with GA4, and each needed at least 1,000 sessions and 90 purchases in the period.
- Definitions differ. GA4 purchase revenue won’t match the Shopify analytics formula exactly.
- Price drives AOV. A candle shop and a sofa shop can both be healthy with very different AOVs.
Compare against your own category, and give more weight to your own trend line.
How do you use AOV to make decisions?
AOV earns its place when it feeds a decision. Here are four common ones.
Setting a free shipping threshold
Look at your median order, then set the threshold a little above it, so a typical shopper needs one more small item to qualify. Set it far above the median and most shoppers won’t try. Our guide to the free shipping bar threshold covers the math in detail.
Pricing bundles and quantity tiers
Your AOV tells you what a normal order looks like. A first bundle or quantity tier priced a step above it feels reachable. One priced at double your AOV is a big jump for most shoppers. See bundle pricing strategy and how many quantity break tiers for how to set those steps.
Capping what you pay for an order
AOV × gross margin = gross profit per order. For example, at a $60 AOV and a 40% gross margin, each order leaves $24 before marketing. If an ad campaign costs more than $24 to win a first order, you lose money on that order unless the customer comes back. This simple check keeps ad spend tied to real order size.
Spotting a problem early
Watch AOV weekly next to order count. If AOV drops while orders hold steady, shoppers are buying fewer items or using bigger discounts. If AOV jumps while orders fall, you may have lost your smaller orders, which is not good news.
Which metrics should you track next to AOV?
AOV on its own can mislead. These related metrics tell you why it moved:
| Metric | Formula | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Units per order | Units sold / orders | Shows whether shoppers buy more items or pricier ones |
| Average selling price | Revenue / units sold | Separates price changes from basket size |
| Conversion rate | Orders / sessions | Catches offers that raise AOV but lose buyers |
| Revenue per session | Revenue / sessions | Combines conversion and AOV in one number |
| Profit per order | (Revenue - costs) / orders | Shows whether a bigger order is a better one |
If AOV rises and units per order rise with it, an add-more offer is working. If AOV rises only because average selling price went up, a price change or product mix shift is doing the work.
What mistakes make AOV misleading?
A few common slips can make the number look better or worse than it is:
- Mixing reports. Comparing Shopify Home with Shopify analytics, or Shopify with GA4, compares two formulas.
- Comparing unlike periods. A Black Friday week against a quiet week tells you nothing about your offers.
- Ignoring discounts. A deep discount can lift AOV and cut profit at the same time. Run the bulk discount margin math before you launch.
- Letting outliers decide. One large order in a small month can move the average a lot. Check the median too.
- Changing several things at once. Launch one offer at a time, so you know what moved the number.
How can you see what bundle offers do to AOV?
If you run bundle or quantity offers, compare orders that used an offer with orders that didn’t. That shows the offer’s effect more clearly than a store-wide average does.
Sam Bundles does this comparison for you. Its analytics dashboard shows additional revenue, orders and AOV increase, plus visitors, add-to-cart rate and conversion rate. Each offer gets its own results row with an on/off switch, so you can turn off offers that don’t pay their way.
To build offers, you can choose quantity breaks, fixed bundles, mix and match, a bundle builder or buy X get Y. Discounts apply automatically in the cart and at checkout. The Sam Bundles user guide walks through each offer type. For the bigger picture, read our product bundles guide.
Start by writing down your current AOV and median order using one formula. That baseline is what makes every later change measurable.
Frequently asked questions
What is the formula for average order value?
Average order value = revenue / number of orders. Shopify analytics uses (gross sales - discounts) / orders and leaves out post-order adjustments such as returns. Whatever version you pick, use the same one every time you compare periods.
What does AOV mean?
AOV stands for average order value: the average amount a customer spends each time they place an order. It tells you how big a typical order is, not how many orders you get or how often customers come back.
What is a good average order value for a Shopify store?
It depends on what you sell. Littledata's October 2026 benchmark of 436 Shopify stores put the median at $110 and the top 20% above $298. Industry medians ranged from $69 in beauty and skincare to $211 in home and furniture.
Should AOV include shipping and tax?
For product decisions, leave them out, since they don't reflect what customers chose to buy. Shopify's analytics formula is based on gross sales minus discounts. If a report includes shipping and tax, note it and don't compare it with one that doesn't.
Is a higher AOV always better?
No. AOV can rise because of deep discounts, a few large orders or fewer small orders, and none of those mean more profit. Track AOV next to conversion rate, order count and profit per order.
Sources
Part of our guide: Product bundles →