How to Find Average Order Value in Google Analytics

Knowing your Average Order Value (AOV) is the first step toward understanding your store's profitability and customer behavior. This guide will walk you through exactly where to find your AOV in Google Analytics 4 and how to use that data to make smarter decisions for your e-commerce business.

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What Exactly Is Average Order Value (AOV)?

Average Order Value is a straightforward e-commerce metric that tells you the average amount of money a customer spends each time they place an order on your site. The formula is as simple as it sounds:

Total Revenue / Number of Orders = Average Order Value

For example, if you generated $10,000 in revenue from 200 separate orders last month, your AOV would be $50 ($10,000 / 200).

But AOV is more than just a number, it's a vital health indicator for your online store. It directly impacts your high-level strategy and day-to-day tactics. Monitoring AOV helps you:

• Understand Customer Buying Habits: Are customers typically buying one low-cost item or multiple items at once? A rising AOV suggests customers are finding more value in your store during a single visit.
• Optimize Your Pricing and Marketing: If your AOV is lower than your average product price, it might indicate that discounts are cutting too deep or customers are only buying sale items. If it's high, it shows your marketing for higher-ticket items or product bundles is effective.
• Make Your Ad Spend More Efficient: If you know the average customer spends $50, you can better calculate how much you can afford to spend on ads to acquire a new customer and remain profitable. Increasing your AOV is one of the quickest ways to improve your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

A Quick Prerequisite: Setting Up Ecommerce Tracking

Before you can find AOV in Google Analytics 4, you need to be sending e-commerce data to it. GA4 can’t report on sales if it doesn't know they happened.

This is usually handled by an e-commerce integration or Google Tag Manager. Platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce have native integrations that, once connected, automatically send purchase event data to GA4. If you have a custom setup, your developer will need to implement GA4's e-commerce data layer.

The key event you need is the purchase event. When a customer completes a purchase, your website should send this event to GA4 along with details like the order total (value) and the unique order ID (transaction_id). As long as this event is firing correctly, Google Analytics will automatically handle the AOV calculation for you.

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How to Find AOV in Google Analytics 4 (Step-by-Step)

Google has moved things around quite a bit in GA4 compared to the old Universal Analytics. What was once called 'Average Order Value' is now named 'Average purchase revenue' in GA4's standard reports. It means the exact same thing.

Here are two ways to find it.

Method 1: Checking the Standard Monetization Reports

This is the quickest way to get a general overview. The built-in reports offer a fast, at-a-glance look at your AOV.

1. Navigate to the left-hand menu in Google Analytics and click on Reports.
2. Under the 'Monetization' section, click on Ecommerce purchases.
3. Here, you'll see a scatter plot and a data table. Look at the key metric cards at the top of the default report. You may not see 'Average purchase revenue' displayed by default.
4. If you don't see it: Click the pencil icon in the top right corner to 'Customize report.' Select 'Report Data,' then 'Metrics.' You can add 'Average purchase revenue' from here, and it will be visible in your report going forward.

The table below the charts will show you purchase data broken down by Item ID. This particular report is more focused on what people are buying, not who bought it or how they found your site. To get that level of detail, we need to build a custom exploration.

Method 2: Building a Custom Report in 'Explore'

The 'Explore' section is where you get the most power and flexibility in GA4. Here, you can build custom reports from scratch to analyze AOV by traffic source, device, country, and much more. This is where you uncover actionable business insights.

Let's build a report to see AOV broken down by marketing channel.

Step 1: Create a New Exploration

• In the left-hand menu, click on Explore.
• Click on the 'Blank +' card to create a brand new, empty report.

Step 2: Import Your Dimensions and Metrics An 'Explore' report starts as a blank canvas. You have to first tell it what data points you want to work with.

• In the 'Variables' column on the far left, click the '+' icon next to Dimensions.
• Search for and select:
• Click the blue 'Import' button.
• Now, back in the 'Variables' column, click the '+' icon next to Metrics.
• Search for and select:
• Click the blue 'Import' button.

Step 3: Build Your Report Now that your data points are imported, you can drag and drop them into the 'Tab Settings' column to build the report.

• From the 'Dimensions' list, drag 'Session default channel group' over to the 'Rows' box in the 'Tab Settings' column.
• From the 'Metrics' list, drag 'Average purchase revenue' and 'Total revenue' over to the 'Values' box.

Instantly, you'll see a table on the right-hand side showing your total revenue and average order value, neatly broken down by each marketing channel (Organic Search, Paid Search, Direct, Email, etc.).

Now you can immediately answer questions like, "Which marketing channel brings in the most valuable customers?"

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Using AOV Segments to Make Better Decisions

Finding your overall AOV is helpful, but the real magic happens when you segment it. Using the custom Exploration report you just built, you can easily swap out dimensions to learn more about your customers.

Simply drag and drop a different dimension into the 'Rows' box to get new insights:

• Device category: Drag this dimension in to see if your customers on Desktop, Mobile, or Tablet platforms have different purchasing habits. If your mobile AOV is significantly lower than desktop, it could point to a clunky mobile checkout experience.
• Country: Use this to discover which geographic regions host your best customers. This can help you focus your ad spend on specific countries or tailor promotions to high-value areas.

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Practical Ways to Increase Your Average Order Value

Simply tracking AOV isn't enough, the goal is to improve it. Once you know your baseline, you can start testing different strategies to encourage customers to spend more per order.

1. Set Free Shipping Thresholds

If your AOV is $42, consider offering free shipping on orders over $50. This creates a compelling psychological incentive for customers to add one more small item to their cart to avoid the shipping fee. It's one of the most effective and widely-used AOV boosters.

2. Create Product Bundles

Group related products together and sell them for a slightly lower price than they would cost individually. For example, 'shampoo + conditioner' or 'camera + lens + memory card.' This increases the perceived value for the customer and boosts the total cart value for you.

3. Offer Cross-Sells and Upsells

Show relevant products during the shopping process. A cross-sell suggests complementary items ("Customers who bought this also bought..."), while an upsell suggests a more premium or upgraded version of the product the customer is currently viewing.

4. Implement Volume Discounts

Encourage larger purchases by offering discounts for buying in bulk. "Buy 2, save 10%," or "Save 20% on orders over $100" are good examples. This works especially well for products that need frequent re-stocking, like consumables or beauty products.

5. Start a Loyalty Program

Reward your best customers for their repeat business. Offering points for every dollar spent, which can be redeemed for future discounts, not only encourages brand loyalty but also gives customers a reason to consolidate their purchases with you to earn rewards faster.

Final Thoughts

Monitoring your Average Order Value in Google Analytics provides essential insight into your store's health and customer behavior. By using the standard reports for a quick check or building a custom Exploration for a deeper dive, you get the feedback you need to drive your strategy forward.

Reports in GA4 are powerful but often feel like a maze of clicking, configuring, and dragging-and-dropping. Instead of building these exploration reports a dozen times, we built Graphed to do the heavy lifting for you. You can simply ask, "show me my average order value by traffic source" or "create a dashboard comparing AOV for mobile vs desktop traffic this quarter," and get a live, interactive visualization in seconds, automatically updated with real-time data.