Should AOV include shipping and tax?
Either, consistently. Most stores use revenue net of tax and including shipping because that is what the platform reports. The only real error is changing basis between two periods you then compare.
AOV Calculator
Average order value from revenue and orders, and what a target is worth against the same order count. Fill in two of the three.
Fill in any two of revenue, orders and average order value. Add the items sold and the tool splits a rising figure into its two possible causes.
Everything here is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and there is no account to make.
Leave this blank to work it out from the other two.
Optional. Splits a rising order value into more items or dearer ones.
Optional. Shows what the target is worth at the same order count.
Result
The numbers below are an example so the tool opens working. Replace them with yours.
How the number is worked out
- Average order value is a mean, so a small number of large orders pulls it above what most customers spend. If you are setting a free shipping threshold against it, look at the distribution rather than the average.
- The target comparison holds the order count still. In practice a higher order value often costs you orders, so treat the difference as a ceiling rather than a forecast.
What comes out
You will see
- Average order value
- Whichever of the three you left blank, worked out from the other two
- Items per order, when you enter the items sold
- Revenue per item, which separates more items from dearer ones
- Revenue at a target order value, on the same order count
- A warning when all three values are entered and they do not agree
How to use it
Three steps, and the third one is the point
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Enter revenue and orders
From the same window, and decide up front whether your revenue includes shipping and tax. Both answers are fine; changing between periods is not.
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Leave the order value blank
Or enter a target order value and an order count, and leave revenue blank, to see what that target produces.
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Add the items sold
This is what makes the number diagnostic. An order value can rise because people bought more things or dearer ones, and those need different work.
Average order value is a mean, and that matters
Average order value is revenue divided by orders. It is the simplest figure on this site and the one most often used for a decision it cannot support.
It is a mean, so a small number of large orders pulls it above what most customers spend. A store with an 80 average can easily have a median of 55, and a free shipping threshold set at the average will then miss most of the basket.
For anything involving a threshold, look at the distribution. For tracking a direction over time, the average is fine and this page will give it to you.
Two ways up, and they need different work
An order value can rise because a customer bought more things, or because the things they bought cost more. The average alone cannot tell you which, and the two call for opposite work: bundling and cross sell against merchandising and pricing.
Enter the items sold and both appear. If items per order held steady while revenue per item rose, the mix moved. If revenue per item held and items rose, the basket did.
The target line holds the order count still, which is a deliberate simplification. In practice a higher order value often costs you orders, so treat the difference as a ceiling rather than a forecast.
The tool
What this one does
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Solves in three directions
Leave revenue, orders or the order value blank and the tool works out that one.
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Splits the two causes
Items per order and revenue per item, so a rising average points at the work that moved it.
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Prices a target
What the same order count would be worth at the order value you are aiming for.
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Names the assumption
The target line says out loud that it holds the order count still, because in practice raising prices costs orders.
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Says it is a mean
The result carries the caveat rather than leaving a threshold decision to be made on an average.
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Checks three entered values
Disagreement of more than one percent is named rather than resolved for you.
Reading the result
What each line is telling you
- Average order value
- Revenue over orders. A direction to track, and a poor basis for a threshold.
- Items per order
- Whether people are buying more things. Moves with bundling, cross sell and quantity breaks.
- Revenue per item
- Whether the things are dearer. Moves with pricing, mix and discounting.
- Difference at the target
- A ceiling on the same order count. Subtract whatever orders the price rise costs you.
A free tool answers one question.
A search audit answers the rest.
We look at your search visibility across Google and the answer engines, and tell you what is costing you orders. No charge for the first look.
In practice
What you can do with it
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Decide a free shipping threshold
Start here, then look at the distribution. A threshold at the average sits above most baskets.
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Work out what a bundle is worth
Enter your current numbers, then the order value the bundle would produce. The difference is the case for building it.
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Diagnose a rise you did not plan
Items per order and revenue per item say which half moved, which usually says why.
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Check a discount after the fact
A discount that raised orders and lowered the average may still have raised revenue. The revenue line answers it.
Questions
AOV Calculator questions
What is a good average order value?
There is no useful benchmark, because it is set by what you sell. The comparison worth making is against your own last quarter and against your cost per acquisition.
Should I use the average or the median?
The average for tracking a direction, the median for setting a threshold. A handful of large orders pulls the average above most baskets, and a shipping threshold set there will miss the majority of them.
Do refunds come out of it?
They should, if you want the figure to match what you banked. Most platform reports count revenue at the point of sale, so a high return rate makes the reported average optimistic.
How does AOV relate to break-even ROAS?
Directly. Break-even ROAS uses your margin, and the order value turns that ROAS into a cost per order you can bid against. The break-even calculator takes an order value for exactly that reason.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Everything is worked out in your browser, with no account and nothing uploaded.
The rest of the set
Fifteen more, all free, all in the browser
- CPM Calculator Work out what a thousand impressions costs, or what a budget buys at a given CPM.
- CTR Calculator Clickthrough rate from clicks and impressions, or the impressions a target needs.
- Conversion Rate Calculator Conversion rate from visitors and conversions, with revenue per visitor beside it.
- ROAS Calculator Return on ad spend, the ACoS behind it, and whether your margin leaves any profit.
- CPC Calculator What one click costs, and what it costs by the time it becomes an order.
- CPA Calculator Cost per acquisition from media spend, and the ceiling your margin allows.
- CAC Calculator What winning a customer really costs, including the parts a platform cannot see.
- ARR Calculator Annual recurring revenue, with the net new figure that shows the direction.
- Cost Per Lead Calculator What an enquiry costs, and what it costs once the unqualified half is priced in.
- llms.txt Generator Build an llms.txt file that tells AI crawlers which pages on your store matter.
- LTV Calculator Work out what a customer is worth over time, so you know what you can pay to win one.
- Schema Markup Generator Generate the JSON-LD a product, article or FAQ page needs, ready to paste.
- Break-even ROAS Find the return on ad spend where a campaign stops costing you money.
- CRO ROI Calculator See what a conversion rate change is worth against the traffic you already have.
- Hreflang Generator Produce the hreflang tags a multi-country store needs, without the usual mistakes.
Average order value moves the same arithmetic as conversion rate and is usually cheaper to move. Bundles, thresholds and a second item in the cart change it without touching traffic at all.
Where this comes up