Whether you have ten orders per month or ten thousand, generating more profit off each order is always achievable and worthwhile. A common ecommerce term is Average Order Value (AOV). A brand’s AOV represents how much value it draws from each order. The more revenue per order, the better the AOV.
So, what can you do to get more out of each order?
Raising prices may seem a simple solution. This doesn’t guarantee better AOV however. Inflating prices in a competitive market has its own downsides to consider—such as discouraging new customers, disappointing loyal customers, and receiving fewer products per order. Increasing prices should be a last resort rather than the first step in pursuit of a better AOV.
A great place to start is taking a fresh look at how you merchandise your products along your merchant’s journey across your website.
Merchandising for better order value
Merchandising is how products are positioned, framed, and promoted in your store. Shopify storefronts merchandise through their theme features, such as sections and templates.
Customers find value in buying everything they need in one place. Brands often position themselves as a one-stop shop, providing options and incentives for customers to buy more from their expanding suite of products. This approach isn’t always achievable (especially in specialized markets), so merchandising your current catalog in new ways is much more achievable than expanding it.
Let’s look at two strategies to use merchandising and increase order value for your current catalog: up-selling and cross-selling.
Up-selling
What’s better than selling a product? Selling a more premium and profitable version of that product! Up-selling is a strategy to suggest more premium options for a customer’s desired purchase. If a customer is willing to pay more for a different material, a longer battery life, etc. it is essential that these options are front-and-center for their consideration.
You can encourage customers to upgrade their selection by using theme sections. All Shopify themes include a Recommended Products section to enhance the product page. This section displays similar products based on Shopify’s sophisticated algorithm.
Out of the Sandbox themes go beyond this automated feature by adding Featured Collection or Featured Product section to the cart page. When customers go to check out, they can browse, consider, and select the premium options—all without leaving the cart page.
Cross-selling
Like up-selling, cross-selling is when you position additional products that complete, enhance, or complement the customer’s desired product. The result of a successful upsell is more products per order. This isn’t limited to online stores, either. Physical storefronts also position products together to boost sales. Think of the AA batteries displayed with the flashlights. Or ketchup bottles merchandised with hotdog buns. That’s cross-selling.
Cross-selling also helps to highlight products that don’t shine on their own. For example, a modest leather belt may not sell much if we only see it floating in the air with a white background. And this makes sense: we don’t see much use for a floating belt. When we see it as part of an outfit and combined with other products,
Merchandising with the shoppable image
Turbo’s latest release includes an all-new Shoppable Image section to enhance your home page, product page, and more. Like an enhanced slideshow, use this section to showcase images with connected product hotspots.
Shoppable image for up-selling
Take a high-quality image that includes several variations of a product for a visual comparison. For example, take some products that come in different containers. Snap a photo of these together, then upload it and connect hotspots to each product it includes.
You can also use this to show more premium materials, sizes, etc.—the key here is positioning these high-revenue items alongside lower revenue options.
With this section enhancing a cart page, product page, or any other compatible template, you encourage customers to upgrade their selection.
Shoppable image for cross-selling
You may be familiar with lookbooks—pages with image galleries to connect customers with products in the store. A lookbook is often a key feature for apparel brands. If you sell clothing, lookbooks can showcase full outfits assembled using products in your store. This strategy isn’t unique to apparel stores: you can combine products from any catalog together and offer curated visuals for cross-selling products.
Turbo’s Shoppable Image section is perfect for lookbooks. Create a dedicated lookbook page using the section and a static page template. You can even go one step further and enhance a product page template with Shoppable Images to connect your customers with more products in your catalog.
Harness the power of up-selling and cross-selling with Turbo v8's Shoppable Image section!
Upgrade to Turbo
