Ad glossary · Store economics · Checked 2026-10-23
What is average order value: how to work it out and how it sets your ad budget
Average order value is the average amount of one order: revenue divided by the number of orders.
- English
- AOV (average order value)
- Also called
- AOV, average purchase revenue
- Area
- Store economics
How it is used
Order value sets how much ad cost each order can carry: at the same margin, double the order value and the CPA ceiling doubles. Raising order value with bundles or add-ons is often easier than pushing CPA down, but it can lower conversion rate, so watch both.
Order value sets the CPA ceiling
Maximum CPA = order value × contribution margin rate. At the same margin, double the order value and each order can carry twice the ad cost. Order value is one of the few numbers that directly widens your room to advertise.
Raising order value has a price
Bundles, free-shipping thresholds and add-ons all lift order value, and can also put some people off buying. Judge it on contribution per visitor (conversion rate × order value × contribution margin rate), not on order value alone.
Formula: plug in your numbers
AOV = revenue ÷ orders
Example
NT$48,000 of revenue from 40 orders in a week: AOV = 48,000 ÷ 40 = NT$1,200. At about 33% contribution margin, the CPA ceiling is about NT$400.
A bundle lifts AOV to NT$1,500 while conversion per landing page view drops from 4.2% to 3.6%: contribution per visitor goes from 4.2% × 1,200 × 33% ≈ NT$16.6 to 3.6% × 1,500 × 33% ≈ NT$17.8, still an improvement.
Work out the CPA ceiling from your order value
Not to be confused with
GA4’s average purchase revenue per active user divides by active users, including people who bought nothing, so it is not order value. GA4’s “average purchase revenue” is the per-purchase figure.
FAQ
Is average order value the same as 客單價?
Yes, both are revenue divided by orders. Note that GA4’s average purchase revenue per active user divides by users, so it is not order value.
How do I raise average order value?
Bundles, free-shipping thresholds, add-ons and upgrades are the usual levers. Each can put some buyers off, so judge on contribution per visitor, not order value alone.
Where the course puts it to work
- Advanced, chapter 8: E-commerce economics: order value, bundles and repeat purchase
- Intermediate, chapter 5: Unit economics: every number you can afford, worked back from margin
Official sources
We read each page below on 2026-10-23 and built the definition from it.
- Analytics dimensions and metrics · Checked 2026-10-23
- Specifications for Meta Pixel Standard Events · Checked 2026-10-23
- Measure ecommerce · Checked 2026-10-23
- Margin and unit economics (general accounting; no ad platform defines it) · our definition, not a platform metric