It’s usually the case that service-based businesses have a suite of core KPIs (key performance indicators) that drive forward targets and crucial deliverables throughout each month.
Keeping a close eye on these important metrics makes smart business sense and helps to maintain a clear, informed perspective around the achievement of targets in the short and long term.
Increasing your AOV (Average Order Value) is an essential measure that feeds into any business’s understanding of how healthy its finances are and helps plan for ongoing profit management.
What is AOV?
AOV (Average Order Value) tracks the average amount each customer spends when they place an order online or buy a service from you.
If you’re looking to calculate your business’s average order value, use this simple formula:
Average Order Value (AOV) = Revenue
Number of orders
An example of this in practice: if your sales are £10,000 per month and you had 500 orders in June, you divide £10,000 by 500. This equals 20. So, your AOV would be £20 for June.
Why is AOV important?
AOV is a valuable quality to monitor as you grow your business and create more profit opportunities. For the most part, it’s one of the key numbers that businesses like to see rising as it shows revenue growth and can justify marketing or ad spend.
In essence, it makes sense. If you can get a greater amount of customers spending more on each order, then your business should technically flourish. That’s the thinking behind AOV, helping focus minds on profit margins and how to maximise these over time.
For those businesses that have their AOV front and centre, their interest will lie in moving the dial and increasing that number each month. This may involve offering relevant elements, such as free shipping for orders over a certain amount, so customers commit to a higher payment which becomes the norm over time.
Statista.com recently published statistics that show UK online shopping order values by device from 2021 to 2022. In Q2 of 2022, the AOV of online purchases made on UK desktops was approximately 126.5 U.S. dollars.
However, online mobile phone orders placed had an average value of only 86.3 dollars during the same time. Although desktop looks more dominant here, mobile usage is increasing all the time in retail terms, so it’s likely by Q4 of 2023 mobile will probably be more significant in securing retail revenue.
Source: Statista.com
How do service-based businesses use AOV?
Some companies channel their energies into constantly finding new customers to secure for present and, hopefully, future loyalty. This can be a bit of a merry-go-round, with an exhausting non-stop search for fresh clients.
But there’s another way. Make more out of the customers you have. Enabling them to spend more with you while supporting them to feel they receive value for money can reap real benefits, in profit terms and company security.
You’ve probably already found that customer. They’re ordering with you and now you can increase spend. It’s true to say that this can have a positive impact on your profit and reduce the amount of time you’re spending locating more customers
As a service business, you want to retain and improve the quality of revenue you’re garnering each month. Here are 10 tactics you can take away today to establish growth in your AOV right now to optimise target setting and marketing campaigns.
10 ways you can increase your AOV
Upsell
Upsell by offering customers an upgrade to their original choice or an additional service that improves or enhances their first selection.
It may be that you display online services next to each other as a comparison (like the product image example below) so that customers can view for themselves what they would gain with a more up-to-date or expensive model.
Source: Amazon.co.uk
You can also promote attractive services, such as extra product protection or extended warranties, to help your customers buy into your upsell and enjoy a better service overall.
Cross-sell
If your customers are looking for a particular service, they likely want other complementary elements to help the service run smoothly.
This is where cross-selling can optimise the whole process. You can recommend additional and extra services that suit or amplify the customer’s original choice.
For example, if they want to buy a marketing package, promoting campaign strategy services or social media management can work in tandem with their primary focus.
Here’s how cross-selling looks on the Market Jar Home page:
Free handling
Customers are attracted to free deals. This can be a little more tricky with service-based businesses, particularly if there’s no physical product being delivered.
However, you can promote a free handling deal over a certain basket amount, so that clients are encouraged to add in that extra service, perhaps a 24-month service package, rather than 12.
Service bundles
Get your services to do a collaboration and bundle them so that customers can easily pinpoint exactly what they need for now and for the next quarter or so.
Showing customers what services work well together and align for an enhanced workflow can help them trust your expertise and may develop stronger loyalties with your brand over time.
Google promotes its services in bundle terms so that customers can see what they’re getting and what would also work well alongside their original purchase.
Source: Google
Offer on the clock
Time-sensitive offers do focus customers’ minds. They know they need a particular service but want to mull it over for a little while, perhaps talk to other colleagues about the pros and cons.
This is all a normal part of everyday business, but when it comes to getting your order over the line, you need to help your client sharpen their decision-making.
Time-sensitive offers can help with this process, by delivering an attractive offer with a time limit attached so they know they need to buy in now and not lose the service they need.
There’s also an opportunity here to combine features to gain greater traction with your clients, such as adding in a free service or a discounted service bundle to secure clients’ business.
Loyalty programmes
Show your clients how much you value their continued and return business. Loyalty programmes for service businesses work effectively, as they encourage customers to continue to buy services while enjoying some perks.
Advertising loyalty programmes can be a great way to maximise marketing and promotion around your services, too. Social media channels are the obvious choice for this kind of promotion so that the news is seen and heard by as many potential customers as possible.
Discounts
Discounted packages and service combinations are strong tactics when it comes to retaining long-term clients. Even in more restricted financial climates, incentivising with discounted service bundles can help confirm more concrete client-company relationships to secure business over time.
Payment plans & subscription-based services
Particularly important when customers may be feeling the financial pinch, payment plans not only affirm more business regularly but also help support your financial forecasting for the foreseeable.
The flexibility of payment planning can help clients feel you’re adapting services to their individual needs and that you’re listening to them, reinforcing their loyalty to your brand.
Subscription-based packages can also help accentuate the positive in client relationships. Monthly subscription plans or retainer models enable service providers to map out a bespoke roadmap for the client so that each aspect is agreed upon for the month ahead.
The great thing about subscription-based services is that customer strategy can be specifically constructed around the client’s resources, goals and budget for a completely flexible service agreement.
A real advantage of the retainer model is the ability to pivot to suit changing circumstances and fulfil new goal setting.
Personalised services
Customers like to feel that services are specifically tailored to their needs and the distinctive requirements of their business. They don’t want to think that you’re simply serving them with the same kind of product every other client receives.
This is where bespoke personalisation can come into its own. Having your services clearly outlined on your site and in all of your marketing is essential to good business. Taking action to tweak and individualise aspects of attractive services really can make all the difference to your clients.
Take a look at how we personalise services for our clients below:
Social proof
Word of mouth is key to business success, even in today’s digital age. What your customers say about you not only affects how you’re perceived now but also how future customers will regard your services.
That’s why providing social proof from your customers at every appropriate opportunity matters. Display customer feedback next to your services on your website and in emails you send to your segment list. Highlight a killer customer quote in your social media ads to demonstrate how reliable and worthwhile your services are.
If your customers feel they can trust you and your services, then they are more likely to pay a little more and boost your AOV overall.
Example here, taken from our website;
Does AOV analysis guarantee business success?
Just solely focusing on measuring AOV can’t by itself ensure your profits will soar. It’s sensible to have a wider lens of perspective by assessing other metrics, such as revenue per service and conversion rates.
Monitoring all aspects of your business and how each service you offer is working for your clients is vital in delivering a panoramic view of financial health today and what strategies you need to implement next.
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