How to Track Shopify AOV (Average Order Value)

Your Average Order Value (AOV) is critical for growing revenue without necessarily increasing traffic or sales.

If you're running a Shopify store, AOV tells you how much customers spend per transaction on average—and tracking it properly can reveal opportunities to increase profits through smarter pricing, bundling, and upsells.

This guide walks you through exactly where to find AOV in Shopify, how it's calculated, what the numbers mean, and how to track it over time for actionable insights.

What is AOV and Why Does It Matter?

Average Order Value (AOV) is the average dollar amount a customer spends per order in your store. It's one of the most important ecommerce metrics because it directly impacts your profitability and helps you make smarter decisions about marketing spend, pricing strategy, and promotions.

Here's why AOV matters:

• Grow revenue without increasing traffic — If you can get existing customers to spend 10% more per order, you boost revenue by 10% without paying for more ads or SEO.
• Improve ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) — A higher AOV means each customer you acquire is worth more, making your ad campaigns more profitable.
• Optimize customer acquisition costs — Understanding AOV helps you determine how much you can afford to spend acquiring a new customer while staying profitable.

The global average AOV across all industries is approximately $145, though this varies wildly depending on what you sell. Beauty and personal care brands average $15–$90 per order, while luxury and jewelry stores often exceed $300.

How Shopify Calculates AOV

Shopify's AOV calculation is straightforward:

AOV = (Gross Sales – Discounts) ÷ Number of Orders

Here's what's included and excluded:

Included:

• Product revenue
• Shipping charges (depending on your analytics settings)
• Taxes (depending on your analytics settings)

Excluded:

• Discounts and coupon codes (subtracted out)
• Refunds and order adjustments made after the initial purchase
• Abandoned carts and canceled orders
• Test orders

If you want AOV that reflects only product revenue (excluding shipping and taxes), you'll need to manually subtract those amounts or adjust your analytics configuration.

Where to Find AOV in Shopify: 3 Methods

There are, in theory, three methods where you can check your Shopify AOV.

Obviously, the first method will be more than enough, but if you need to fetch the data using other means, we'll show you two more.

Method 1: Analytics Dashboard (Quickest)

This is the fastest way to check your current AOV.

1. Log in to your Shopify admin
2. Click Analytics in the left sidebar
3. Scroll down on the Overview Dashboard

You'll see an "Average Order Value" card that displays:

• Your current AOV for the selected time period
• A percentage change compared to the previous period
• A graph showing how AOV has trended over time

By default, the dashboard shows the last 90 days, but you can adjust the date range using the calendar menu at the top. The card refreshes automatically every 60 seconds when you're viewing current or rolling date ranges.

Pro tip: Click directly on the "Average Order Value" card title to open a full detailed report.

Method 2: Analytics Reports (Most Detailed)

For deeper analysis and historical trends:

1. Go to Analytics → Reports in your Shopify admin
2. Look for the "Sales over time" report (under Sales Reports)
3. Select your desired date range
4. The report displays AOV alongside total sales and order count

This view is ideal when you want to:

• Compare AOV across different time periods (e.g., this month vs. last month)
• Analyze AOV by day, week, month, or year using the "Group by" dropdown
• Export the data for external analysis or presentation
• See AOV in the context of other sales metrics

Method 3: Manual Calculation (For Custom Time Frames)

If you want to calculate AOV for a specific segment or custom date range not easily accessible in reports:

1. Go to Analytics → Reports → Sales over time
2. Set your custom date range
3. Note two figures:
   • Net Sales (or Gross Sales, depending on what you're measuring)
   • Total Orders
4. Divide: Net Sales ÷ Total Orders = AOV

For example:

• Net Sales: $10,000
• Total Orders: 250
• AOV = $10,000 ÷ 250 = $40

Understanding Your AOV Data

Once you've located your AOV, here's how to interpret it:

Is Your AOV Good?

There's no universal "good" AOV—it depends entirely on:

• Product type — Selling $10 accessories vs. $500 furniture pieces
• Target market — Luxury shoppers vs. budget-conscious buyers
• Industry benchmarks — Beauty, fashion, electronics, etc. all have different norms

According to data from Littledata's survey of 2,794 Shopify stores, the average AOV is around $101. But this is just a reference point.

What matters more is:

1. Whether your AOV is trending upward over time
2. Whether AOV increases also improve your profit margins (not just revenue).

Watching for Trends

Track AOV over consistent time periods—month over month or quarter over quarter—to identify patterns:

• Rising AOV → Your upselling, bundling, or pricing strategies are working
• Declining AOV → Customers may be buying lower-priced items, or discounts are too aggressive
• Sudden spike → Could indicate a large one-time order (check if it's an outlier)
• Seasonal fluctuations → Normal for most stores (e.g., higher AOV during holidays)

Advanced AOV Tracking: Beyond the Basics

1. Track AOV by Customer Segment

Instead of looking at overall AOV, segment it by:

• New vs. returning customers — Do repeat buyers spend more?
• Traffic source — Is AOV higher from email than from paid ads?
• Geographic location — Do certain countries have higher order values?

To access this in Shopify:

• Go to Analytics → Reports → Customer cohort analysis
• Shopify groups customers by first purchase date and shows retention and spending patterns

2. Compare AOV to Related Metrics

AOV shouldn't be tracked in isolation. Monitor it alongside:

3. Use Shopify Apps for Deeper Insights

While Shopify's built-in analytics are solid, third-party tools can provide more granular AOV tracking:

• Lifetimely — Tracks AOV alongside CLV and profit margins
• Triple Whale — Advanced AOV optimization and attribution
• Northbeam — Cross-channel AOV analysis for paid ads
• Google Analytics 4 — Break down AOV by campaign, device, and behavior

To connect GA4:

1. Go to Online Store → Preferences in Shopify
2. Add your GA4 Measurement ID in the Google Analytics section

Common AOV Tracking Mistakes to Avoid

1. Ignoring the Impact on Conversion Rate

Aggressively pushing for higher AOV through high minimum order thresholds or pushy upsells can actually reduce conversions. Always monitor both metrics together—overall revenue is what matters, not AOV in isolation.

Example: If you increase AOV from $50 to $60 (+20%) but conversions drop from 3% to 2% (-33%), you've actually lost revenue.

2. Not Accounting for Shipping and Taxes

Depending on your Shopify settings, AOV may include shipping and taxes. If you're comparing AOV to industry benchmarks or calculating profit margins, make sure you're using the same definition.

To see pure product AOV, manually subtract shipping and tax amounts from your net sales figure before dividing by orders.

3. Focusing Only on AOV, Not Profit

A higher AOV is meaningless if margins shrink. For example:

• Offering deep discounts to hit a $100 AOV threshold
• Bundling low-margin products together
• Free shipping on orders that don't justify the cost

Always track profit per order alongside AOV. Shopify's profit reports (available on Shopify plan and above, starting at $105/month) can help, though they still require manual input for COGS and ad spend.

How Often Should You Check AOV?

• Weekly — For trend identification and quick reactions to campaigns
• Monthly — For strategic analysis and setting quarterly goals
• During promotions — To see immediate impact of sales, bundles, or free shipping offers

Set realistic goals—most stores should aim to increase AOV by 5–10% per quarter through optimization tactics like product bundling, upsells, and free shipping thresholds.

Wrapping Up

Tracking AOV in Shopify is straightforward once you know where to look. Start with the Analytics Dashboard for quick daily checks, dive into the Sales Reports for detailed historical analysis, and consider integrating Google Analytics 4 or a dedicated analytics app for cross-channel insights.

Remember: AOV is a means to an end, not the goal itself. The real objective is sustainable revenue growth with healthy margins—and AOV is one of the most powerful levers you can pull to get there.