Ecommerce Average Order Value: Benchmarks by Industry

It's easy to find your store's average order value. Deciding whether it's good is harder. A small refill order, a clothing purchase and a new piece of furniture can all be perfectly healthy sales, despite their very different totals.

Benchmarks help when they give you a relevant point of comparison. They can show the typical basket sizes in your category and prompt useful questions about your product mix, pricing and offers.

Below, we'll look at recent ecommerce AOV figures, break them down by industry and explain how to turn those numbers into a practical target for your own store.

What is the average order value for ecommerce?

There's no single ecommerce AOV, because each benchmark measures a different set of stores. Four current reference points show the range:

IRP Commerce reports £129.23 for August 2026, up 6.28% from £121.59 a year earlier. Littledata puts the median Shopify store at $107, with the top 20% of stores above $283. Dynamic Yield's global average is higher at $182, while Triple Whale's median across paid-ad orders is $61.22.

The gaps come from who is measured and how. Littledata and Triple Whale report medians, which a handful of very large orders can't pull upward. IRP and Dynamic Yield report averages, and Dynamic Yield's sample leans toward large retailers. Use the benchmark closest to your own store, rather than the highest or lowest number.

AOV itself is calculated by dividing order revenue by the number of orders in the same period. A store with $90,000 in product revenue after discounts and 1,000 orders has an AOV of $90. Our guide to calculating average order value covers the formula and reporting details.

Average order value by industry

The category breakdown makes the differences much clearer. In Triple Whale's paid-ad data, the median order ranges from $42.79 for online courses to $130.91 for travel accessories and luggage:

Median average order value by industry, August 2025 to July 2026

Orders from paid advertising across Triple Whale brands

1. Travel accessories and luggage$130.91
2. Automotive$116.34
3. Home and garden$114.43
4. Sports and outdoors$113.93
5. Electronics$113.41
6. Apparel and accessories$89.17
7. Baby$75.33
8. Toys, art and collectibles$71.68
9. Lifestyle and boutique$67.05
10. Food and beverage$63.32
11. Health and wellness$62.99
12. Beauty$61.18
13. Pets and animals$60.12
14. Books and music$52.56
15. Online courses$42.79

IRP's UK and Irish data shows a wider spread, from £48.78 in Health and Wellbeing to £855.57 in Baby and Child, a category that includes high-priced nursery equipment. It also shows how much a category's average can move in a year:

Source: IRP Commerce's ecommerce market data.

Even a category name can cover very different businesses. A store selling high-priced nursery equipment serves different purchase needs from one selling baby clothing. A specialist pet food subscription has a different order pattern from a retailer selling beds, crates and accessories.

The closest comparison is a business with similar products, pricing and buying occasions. The table is a starting point for finding that context.

Average order value by device

Orders placed on desktop tend to be larger. Dynamic Yield's desktop average over the past 12 months is well above mobile and tablet:

Average order value by device, past 12 months

1. Desktop$241
2. Mobile$168
3. Tablet$167

Smaller stores show the same pattern on a smaller scale. Littledata's median Shopify store records $116 on desktop and $101 on mobile. Some of the gap is the kind of purchase people save for a larger screen, so compare devices within similar products and customers before treating it as a mobile problem.

Why average order value varies so much

The amount in a customer's basket reflects several decisions made before checkout. Understanding those influences helps you work out whether a difference in AOV is an opportunity to improve or a normal feature of your business.

Product prices and assortment

Selling more expensive products naturally supports larger orders, but assortment matters within a price range too. A specialist selling one core item may see different baskets from a store offering everything needed for a project.

A new product line can change the average without any improvement in how the existing range sells. Looking at AOV by product group helps you see where that change comes from.

The reason for the purchase

A gift, a routine refill and a first-time trial are different buying occasions. Gift shoppers may add wrapping or several items, while someone trying a brand for the first time may choose the smallest available option.

Those smaller trial orders can be valuable if customers enjoy the product and return. It's worth examining their later purchases before deciding that the initial basket needs to be larger.

Promotions and shipping offers

Bundles, multipacks and shipping thresholds can encourage a customer to buy more at once. Discounts also reduce the revenue you receive for those products, so the final effect depends on the offer.

A campaign might increase units per order while leaving AOV unchanged. Another might lift AOV but reduce contribution because the discount or delivery subsidy is too generous. The basket total is one part of the result.

New and returning customers

Returning customers know more about your products and may be comfortable buying several items or choosing a larger format. New customers may want to try one product first.

Compare these groups separately in your own data. A campaign that brings in more first-time buyers can lower overall AOV even if neither group's usual behavior has changed.

Seasonality and sales channels

Holiday gifts, back-to-school purchases and seasonal projects can change what customers buy together. Your mix of mobile, desktop, marketplace and direct-store orders can also shift the average.

Compare equivalent periods and separate materially different channels. Otherwise, you may end up changing your offer to solve a decline caused mainly by a different mix of orders.

How to set a useful AOV target

A practical target begins with the orders your store already receives. The average is useful, but it helps to see the common basket values underneath it.

Suppose your AOV is $70, while many customers spend $50 to $60 and a few large orders pull the average upward. Setting free shipping at $95 because it's above AOV may leave most shoppers with a large gap to fill.

If you have relevant $10 to $15 additions, an offer closer to the most common baskets could be a more realistic test. The right choice depends on what those items contribute and what delivery costs your business.

Useful questions to ask include:

• How many orders contain only one item?
• Which products do customers already buy together?
• How much do shoppers typically spend before discounts?
• Are higher-value orders more profitable after fulfillment and returns?
• How do first-time orders compare with repeat purchases?

From there, choose a specific opportunity, such as helping more customers buy a complete kit or making a compatible accessory easier to find. That gives the target a reason beyond simply beating the industry average.

How to improve AOV without making shopping harder

The easiest opportunities to explain are those that help the customer complete their purchase. A product page can show which items work together, while a cart can make it convenient to add the missing accessory.

Clear product information also helps people understand why a higher-priced option might suit them. A comparison of capacity, material or included features is more useful than a generic “premium” label.

Keep the choice manageable, especially on mobile. An upsell that interrupts checkout or obscures the original purchase can cost you orders. Our guide to product-page improvements covers ways to present those choices more clearly.

You can test bundles, quantity options and shipping thresholds in the same way: make the benefit understandable, preserve an easy route to the original purchase and review the overall result.

Which metrics should you track alongside AOV?

Order value becomes more useful when you can see its effect on sales and contribution. For a simple example, imagine two versions of an offer receiving 10,000 sessions each:

The larger-basket offer has a higher AOV, but fewer orders leave it with less revenue from the same traffic. Comparing conversion rate and revenue per session makes that visible.

Contribution adds the next layer by accounting for product and other variable costs. Repeat purchase behavior matters as well, particularly when a multipack brings several months of demand into one order. Our customer lifetime value guide explains how to look beyond the individual transaction.

Final thoughts

AOV benchmarks are most useful when they help you understand the business you're running. The right comparison can reveal an opportunity, while your own order data shows what customers are likely to find appealing.

Aim for purchases that make sense for both sides: a useful combination of products for the customer and a healthy return for your store. That gives a higher average order value a clear commercial purpose.