What is the average shopping cart value?
Let us start with the beginning: what is the average shopping cart value? It is simply the average amount a customer will spend on your store, whether a physical or online store. To calculate it, you only need to divide your business sales revenues by the number of customers. If your business revenue is $20 000 and you have 500 customers, it means that the average shopping cart value is $40.
Now, if the average shopping cart value is insufficient, you may ask yourself: how can I increase the average shopping cart value? Of course, you can raise your fees, but other solutions exist.
5 Techniques to increase the average shopping cart value
Technique #1: Offer free shipping
It is a technique that may seem simple, but it is efficient. It is also more used for online stores, even if physical stores offer free delivery for important orders (for example, furniture). A store that does not have a website can also take orders by phone and send the items for free. In both cases, offering free delivery can encourage your clients to add items to their shopping carts. Were you ever surprised by shipping fees and had to remove some items from your cart to respect your budget? It is why offering free shipping under certain conditions and for a limited time can benefit you and your clients. The shipping could be free if the client spends more than $100 or during special occasions. Do not always offer free shipping; it can become expensive very quickly.
Technique #2: Offer a loyalty card
Let us now pass on the famous technique of the loyalty card. We all know what a loyalty card is; it often makes us spend more or come back earlier than planned! Therefore, why not offer a loyalty card to your clients? It will allow you to offer various promotions after a few uses, whether it is free shipping, a discount, or a freebie. We often accept free loyalty cards, especially for products or services we like. You can ask a printer to create your loyalty cards, or if you are looking for a more eco-friendly option, you can always make an online or dematerialized one.
Technique #3: Offer cross-selling suggestions
Another technique to increase the average shopping cart value is to offer cross-selling suggestions. But what does it mean? It simply means that you suggest relevant products that are similar or complementary to the ones in the shopping cart. If you own a physical store, the most common example is to offer polish or a waterproofing product for shoes. If someone orders a product of a specific value, do not try to sell them something that costs more or that is not relevant. The main goal here should be to offer an item that will not increase the final amount of their order too much.
Technique #4: Try up-selling the shopping cart items
Another marketing strategy! The main goal of up-selling is to offer a product with better features, therefore more costly, to ensure that the client prefers the best quality product instead of the least expensive option. This technique can sometimes work. Indeed, the client may think they do not need a more complex or sophisticated product than the one they already found. However, if the product improvements do not impact the final price too much, the client might be tempted to purchase the better item. It can be more challenging to convince the client to buy a product of better quality from an online store rather than from a physical store.
Technique #5: Offer promotions
The last technique is basic but, once again, practical. Offer your clients rebates, discounts, and special offers to encourage them to add more items to their shopping carts. For example, if someone is looking for a moisturizing cream, you could offer a package that includes various moisturizing and exfoliating creams. You take the amount of the products together and offer a discount. Of course, you need to choose products that will not double or triple the basis price; otherwise, it reduces your chances of making a sale. You can also offer a buy 2 get one free type of promotion. These special offers are like the free shipping promotion; you must not provide them anytime.
You now know some selling techniques that will help you increase the average shopping cart value without great difficulty. If you have just started your e-commerce business and want to organize a special event, read our best tips regarding preparing a successful online store launch. Good luck!