# What is a good average order value for a new Shopify store?

Source: https://storefrontanswers.com/2026-10-16-good-average-order-value-new-shopify-store/

There is no universal good AOV, but there is a useful way to judge yours: against your costs, your category, and your free shipping threshold. How to read the number.

## Why the universal benchmark does not exist

Average order value means little across categories. A jewelry store and a snack store live in different price universes, and a good number for one is a failing number for the other. What makes an AOV good is its relationship to your economics: whether the average order, after product costs, shipping, fees, and acquisition cost, leaves money behind.

So the honest answer to the title question is a method, not a figure. Compute what an order must be worth for your store to work, then compare your actual AOV to that line. The gap between them, not a blog benchmark, is your real target.

## Work out your break even order value

Start with contribution per order: order value minus product cost, packaging, shipping you absorb, payment fees, and a realistic cost of acquiring that order if you run ads. Many new stores discover their break even order value is higher than their current AOV, which reframes AOV work as survival work rather than growth polish.

Free shipping thresholds should sit a sensible step above your current AOV, often ten to twenty percent, close enough that adding one more item feels easy. A threshold far above the typical basket does not lift AOV. It just teaches shoppers that free shipping is for other people.

## Reading AOV alongside its partner metrics

AOV rising because discounts disappeared is different from AOV rising because baskets grew. Watch conversion rate beside it: aggressive bundles and thresholds can lift order value while quietly cutting the number of orders, and total contribution is the scoreboard that settles which change actually helped.

Segment the number too. First order versus repeat, mobile versus desktop, and traffic source averages hide inside the single figure. Repeat buyers often carry a much higher AOV, which argues for retention work as an AOV strategy, not only bundles and upsells aimed at strangers.

## Levers that lift AOV without tricks

The reliable levers are boring: sensible bundles of things bought together anyway, a reachable free shipping threshold, quantity friendly pricing on consumables, and product pages that surface the complementary item at the moment of decision. Each works by helping a shopper complete a job, not by cornering them.

Avoid fake strikethrough pricing, forced add ons, and pre ticked extras. They can lift a week’s AOV and cost you the trust and repeat orders that make AOV compound. A store’s order value should grow the way its reputation does, or it will not grow for long.

## Related reading

If this topic is useful, these earlier guides go deeper on connected questions: [How to price products on a new Shopify store so the profit survives](https://storefrontanswers.com/2026-10-15-how-to-price-products-profit-shopify/), [What is a good conversion rate for a new Shopify store?](https://storefrontanswers.com/2026-10-15-good-conversion-rate-new-shopify-store/), and [How long does it take a new Shopify store to get its first sale?](https://storefrontanswers.com/2026-10-14-how-long-first-sale-new-shopify-store/).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the average AOV for Shopify stores overall?

Published figures vary widely by source and category, often landing somewhere between fifty and one hundred fifty dollars, which is precisely why they are weak guides. Your category, price points, and cost structure matter more. Use outside benchmarks as a sanity check, and your break even order value as the target.

### How do I calculate my store’s average order value?

Divide total revenue by the number of orders for the same period, which Shopify reports directly in its analytics. Then go one step further and calculate contribution per order after costs. The first number tells you basket size. The second tells you whether that basket size is actually working.

### Will raising my free shipping threshold increase AOV?

Usually, if the new threshold sits modestly above the current average basket, close enough that one extra item reaches it. Set it far above the typical order and shoppers ignore it. Test one threshold change at a time and judge it on total contribution and conversion, not on AOV alone.

### Is a higher AOV always better?

No. AOV bought with heavy discounting, forced bundles, or a flood of low quality ad traffic can rise while profit falls. It also says nothing about how many orders you lost along the way. Judge AOV together with conversion rate and contribution per order, and prefer the combination that leaves the store healthier.