Definition
What is Average Order Value (AOV)?
Average revenue per order — total revenue divided by number of orders.
AOV is the simplest lever in e-commerce unit economics: raising it improves break-even ROAS, CAC tolerance, and shipping economics simultaneously without acquiring a single new customer. Bundles, thresholds for free shipping, and post-purchase upsells are the standard AOV levers. AOV should be tracked alongside margin — a discount-driven AOV increase can still lose money.
Formula
AOV = Total Revenue ÷ Number of OrdersExample
$84,000 in monthly revenue across 1,200 orders = $70 AOV. Raising it to $78 cuts the required break-even ROAS proportionally.