When it comes to the e-Commerce space, there are plenty of tricks of the trade that can be applied to attract more business and generate more sales.
It’s an ever-changing landscape though, with new technology being introduced all the time. So, if you are a business owner you must be up to date on the latest products out there that can help your business grow and increase its revenue generation.
One way to increase the sales of your e-commerce business is by including a ‘frequently bought together’ feature in the sales funnel.
In this article, we discuss how including such a feature on your website will increase your AOV and generate more revenue for your online business.
First up, let’s look at exactly what AOV is.
What is AOV?
AOV stands for average order value. It’s a metric that is used to measure the average amount spent per order on your website.
To calculate your AOV, you simply take the total revenue generated from all online purchases over a set period of time and divide it by the number of orders placed during that same period.
For example, if your e-commerce business generates $100,000 in sales over one month and you had 1,000 orders placed during that month, your AOV would be $100..
Why is AOV important?

AOV is an important metric for e-commerce businesses because it can give you insights into how much each customer spends on average when they make a purchase on your website.
If your AOV is low, it could be an indication that you need to work on increasing the average amount each customer spends per order. What strategies are you applying during the sales funnel that will entice the customer to order other products?
There are several ways to do this, one of which is including the frequently bought together feature on your website as we mentioned earlier.
How can a frequently bought together feature help to increase my AOV?
This feature is where you suggest other products that customers might be interested in purchasing based on the items that are already in their shopping cart.
For example, if a customer has added a dress to their shopping cart, you might suggest that they buy a pair of shoes to go with it. Or, if someone has added a cooking pot to their order, you could suggest a pan or cooking accessories that would complement that pot.
This is an effective way to increase your AOV because it encourages customers to add more items to their orders, which in turn increases the total value of the order.
A frequently bought together feature is a great way to cross-sell, upsell and bundle products together.
Here’s what we mean:
- Cross-selling: This is where you present the customer with items that complement the one they are interested in. The dress and shoe example above applies.
- Upselling: When you upsell a product, you showcase a more premium or expensive version of what the customer has shown interest in. For example, if someone was shopping for an iPhone 13, the feature would suggest the iPhone 13 Pro which has more features and costs more. It’s a simple way to increase your AOV.
- Product bundling: With product bundling, you are combining a number of items and offering the customer a discount. There is value for the customer as they are getting a reduction in cost, and it’s great for the business and they are increasing their AOV.
This tactic has been popular for Shopify stores to leverage because you don’t have to spend more on advertising but instead can optimize for greater sales when people are already making purchases. Amazon has been doing this successfully for years and it only makes sense.
Why Frequently Purchased Together Offer Works
There are a couple of reasons why this method is effective in increasing AOV.
The first reason is that it removes any barriers that may be stopping the customer from adding more items to their order. For example, if a customer is unsure whether they need a particular item, seeing it suggested as part of a frequently bought together offer can help to sway them into purchasing it.
The second reason why this method works so well is that it helps to save the customer time. If a customer is trying to put together an outfit for an upcoming event, for instance, bundling up which items go well together and are frequently bought together can save the shopper tons of time from having to search for different items separately.
This is an important consideration because time-saving is one of the main reasons why people shop online – it’s convenient and saves them from having to go out to different stores to find what they want.
It also provides the customer with relevant products, which is important. In fact, studies that were conducted show that over 91% of shoppers will shop with brands that present them with recommendations and offers that are relevant to them.
Creating a Frequently Bought Together Offer
Now that we’ve gone over how effective a frequently bought together offer can be, let’s take a look at how you can create one for your business.
The good news is that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. This work has been done, with a number of Shopify apps available for you to plug into your eCommerce store. Let’s take a look at one of the more popular ones on Shopify – Upselly.
What is Upselly?
Upselly is an app that allows you to increase the AOV of your online business and improve the customer experience.
It’s simple to use – you can create an offer in minutes without the need for any coding knowledge.
How does it work?
Once you’ve installed Upselly on your shop, it will start tracking the products that your customers add to their cart. It will then use this data to suggest other products that might be of interest, based on what has been added to the cart.
You can also customize the offers that are presented to the customer, which is great if you want to upsell a more premium product or bundle items together.
In conclusion
If you are looking to grow your business and increase your revenue, you need to make sure that you are placing enough importance on driving up your AOV. Give Upselly a try – it’ll certainly be worth it in the long run.
What frequently bought together apps have you tried for your business?