Of all the levers you can pull to grow revenue, increasing cart size is one of the fastest ways to see a return.
Same customer and products, but more revenue from an order that’s already happening. No new ad spend required.
Discounting is the path of least resistance.
Sure, it makes sales… but it’s a band-aid that erodes margins and
But many businesses reach for a discount to boost Average Order Value (AOV).
And it works — in the short term.
The problem is it trains customers to expect deals, and it eats into the margin you were trying to grow in the first place. It’s worse than a “band-aid” solution because it leads to larger carts with smaller profits.
The better approach is to create reasons throughout the buying experience that make a larger cart feel like the logical next step.
Today, you’ll learn seven ways to do just that…
1. Implement On-Page Recommendations
On-page recommendations are sections on store pages (especially product pages) that suggest other products to customers.
Amazon offers an excellent example of the “People Also Buy,” a popular version:
Buying hand soap? Good chance you need more wipes and a toilet cleaner refill.
Other examples of this include:
- Bump offers: A low-priced offer on the checkout page a customer can add by checking a box. Common in info/digital products.
- “Complete the set”: Recommending products that complement each other directly, such as selling shaving cream to someone buying a razor.
Widgets like Aftersell make it easy to add these across your site and funnel to boost cart size.
2. Use Pricing and Threshold Incentives
Pricing and threshold incentives is an offer structure that gives customers perks or goodies when their cart value reaches a particular amount.
Such a structure encourages larger orders, yet doesn’t purely “discount” your products.
Some brands save these only for promos, but others run them evergreen.
For instance, Carnivore Snax gives you free shipping on all orders over $60:
Notice pricing, too.
Adding two of their beef products (beef is the more popular type of meat) puts them several dollars above the $60 threshold.
The customer gets free shipping, but the brand gets extra revenue that covers the cost of said free shipping.
Both sides win.
Beyond that, thresholds often cause customers to spend more than the threshold regardless.
Once they’ve added a few items to their cart, there’s a higher chance they decide to “stock up”… giving you healthier cash flows.
3. Mid-Order Upsells
Upsells during the order present the customer with relevant products to add to their order before reaching checkout.
Those products can be more of the same or a cross-sell, as long as the copy justifies why the purchase makes sense.
Airlines do this often.
You’re ordering your ticket, and then they encourage you to upgrade to first class.
In fact, American Airlines tried to upsell me when I was checking in online the day before my flight!
Either way, the right offer at this stage can quickly boost cart size while being helpful.
4. Add “Before-It-Ships” Funnel Steps
“Before-it-ships” funnel elements encourage customers to add more to their order before the company loads it onto the truck/plane/train.
By acting in that gap between order and shipping, you can add more urgency (“get more without paying more in shipping,” for example) and secure quick additional sales.
There are two spots to do this:
- Post-Purchase Upsell Page: Redirect them to an upsell page after purchase. Give them a limited time to add more with a simple click.
- Post-Purchase Flow: One of the early emails should be a “want anything else” email encouraging additional purchases before the order hits the road. You could do an SMS, too.
5. Build Outcome-Focused Bundles
Outcome-focused bundles assemble products to serve a particular customer goal or persona.
Men’s grooming brands don’t sell “shaving bundles.” They sell a “Clean Shave Starter Kit” that includes everything you need for a close, irritation-free shave from day one.
For a real-world example…
Here are some of Heart & Soil’s outcome-focused bundles, what they call “Stacks”:
Customers looking to lose fat know which one to grab.
Men and women looking to improve hormonal and sexual health know which bundle to grab, respectively.
So on and so forth.
The “Warrior Stack” is more persona-focused given the naming, but still puts an image in the customer’s mind of what purpose it serves.
No matter the goal, each bundle is larger in price than individual items…
While eliminating the customer’s need to analyze each supplement and build their own stack.
A customer can snag their bundle and check out without thinking too hard, boosting Heart & Soil’s AOV.
Pro tip:
Use product quizzes on the front-end. Ask customers about their goals, preferences, or situation, and recommend the bundle that fits.
This tells them “this bundle is for you” making that first-time buying decision even easier.
It feels personalized, which makes the higher price point easier to justify and makes that first-time “what do I buy?” even easier to answer.
Leverage a personalized Welcome Sequence to catch anyone who doesn’t buy right away (AI personalization tools make this easier) and you’ll button up your front-end conversions at higher AOVs.
6. Use “Value” Badging On Larger Sizes
Ever notice how larger sizes or multi-packs have “most popular” or “best value” labels on them?
That’s a form of social proof. It reduces analysis paralysis and decision fatigue for customers while driving them toward those cart-boosting sizes.
See this example from animal-based food/skincare brand Grazly:
The 3-pack is more popular because it means less ordering, yet it’s less costly overall than the 5-pack. Hence the “Most Popular.”
However, the 5-pack offers the most savings (since the company saves on certain costs this way)… hence the “Best Value.”
Both draw customers’ eyes, increasing the number of multi-pack purchases.
And notice how Grazly includes an upsell to subscriptions right on the page.
An overall clever design meant to drive not just one-off… but large subscription orders.
With all this in mind…
Don’t lie for a sales boost.
Make sure “Best Value” is mathematically correct, and that “Most Popular” isn’t deceptive.
7. Reward Loyalty
A well-designed loyalty program makes spending feel like earning.
Adding more to their cart feels more like progress toward future free products or other goodies rather than merely spending more…
Improving AOV now and solidifying customer retention.
“But don’t I lose money later?”
The point of boosting AOV is improving cash flows.
Better cash flows = more funds to reinvest in other projects or initiatives (such as acquisition).
It’s almost like a delayed discount because customers must spend first to get it.
So it allows you to leverage discount psychology without devaluing your products. You train customers to spend more rather than wait.
Also, customers rarely spend their exact number of loyalty points when they redeem. Many spend beyond their balance, thinking, “I’m saving money, so I may as well grab even more.”
So the points become de facto store credit, encouraging them to load up even more (especially when combined with other tactics on this list).
Thus, you’ll still get some revenue out of those future orders.
BONUS: Subscription Enhancements
Subscription-only and subscription-heavy brands can boost subscription AOV in a few ways:
- Renewals: Add a one-off to their next order, boosting AOV one time.
- Upsells: Add more of the same product (larger size, multi-pack) to boost monthly AOV permanently.
- Expansions: Add a different subscription product to boost monthly AOV permanently.
Good Ranchers gives us a solid Subscription Renewal example (this is a block at the bottom of their renewal email):
Notice how Good Ranchers doesn’t throw random products at me.
Instead, it frames these as “Winter Favorites” perfect for the cold season.
One click and I add to my next order.
Boost Cart Size, Boost Your Cash Flows
Improving AOV means you get more money sooner… allowing you to cover your expenses and reinvest faster.
Oh, and it boosts ROAS on the front end by securing a larger return per new customer.
The 7 tactics laid out here each accomplish that from a different angle without cutting directly into your margins, but rather, by improving the structure of the buying experience.
A larger cart is the natural, logical outcome, rather than something forced.
Pick one or two that fit where your business is right now.
Implement them properly. Then add the next one. Soon enough, you’ll notice your AOV number rising in your analytics dashboard.
And if you want expert help to put some of these to work in your business…
I’m just an email reply or DM away.
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