What is average order value (AOV)?

Average order value (AOV) is the amount a typical order brings in, worked out as your sales for a period divided by the number of orders in it.

How WooCommerce calculates it

WooCommerce Analytics shows average order value on the Analytics › Orders report and on the Overview page. It uses net sales, so the formula is:

AOV = net sales ÷ orders

Net sales already has refunds and coupon discounts taken out, and it leaves out taxes and shipping. That means WooCommerce's AOV is usually lower than a figure you'd get by averaging order totals from the Orders list, which include tax and shipping. Orders with an excluded status aren't counted at all.

A worked example

Say that in October your store took 80 orders with $6,400 in gross sales. Customers used $300 of coupons and you refunded $100.

• Net sales: $6,400 − $300 − $100 = $6,000
• AOV: $6,000 ÷ 80 = $75

If you divided total sales (with $500 of shipping and $480 of tax added) by 80 instead, you'd get about $87, a different number for the same month.

Why it matters

Revenue is orders times AOV, so it's one of the two levers you can pull. Free-shipping thresholds, bundles and add-ons all aim to raise it. Watch it next to order count: a higher AOV with far fewer orders isn't growth. The guide on WooCommerce average order value covers ways to raise it, and WooCommerce sales reports shows where it sits among the other numbers.