Selling online is more popular now than ever before, with experts projecting ecommerce sales to top $6.3 trillion in 2024. One reason behind this rise is that businesses are starting to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to generate more revenue.
AI doesn’t just help increase your total number of orders — it’s also a vital tool for raising the average order value (AOV).
Read on to learn the 5 most effective ways you can leverage AI to boost your AOV.
How to use AI-powered chat to boost your AOV
What is AOV?
AOV is short for average order value and shows the average dollar amount each customer pays when they place an order in an ecommerce store. To calculate AOV, divide your revenue by the total number of orders.
Why is knowing the average value of each order so crucial? AOV is one of the most important metrics because it highlights how successful you are at driving sales with your existing customer base. A higher AOV is also linked to greater ROI since it usually means customers are purchasing more expensive products with larger profit margins.
In other words, AOV indicates how much you’re getting from each customer. A higher one isn’t just about improving overall sales — it means you’re able to leverage loyal customers who are already shopping with you.
And if you’re looking to increase AOV, AI solutions can do much of the heavy lifting.
5 ways to increase your AOV with AI
1. Supercharge your agents
When customers shop online, they’re not able to see or touch any products they’re interested in. Understandably, they could be quite hesitant to go through with a purchase.
To give them a confidence boost, it’s essential to have customer support agents available over live chat to deliver instant assistance. Your agents need to know your products inside and out, serving as product experts who guide customers to the right items.
AI speeds up the training process, turning agents into specialists overnight. Rather than having to memorize product prices and specifications, agents have access to your entire catalog. Furthermore, this can be coupled with a host of customer data, allowing reps to immediately see a shopper’s past purchases, mood, and even intent.
With the right tools, agents are equipped to grow conversion rates as well as increase your AOV since customers are more likely to seek out help for higher-end products that may require some added reassurance.
2. Reach out proactively
Another advantage AI platforms provide is the ability to automatically launch chats based on predefined criteria.
Many ecommerce businesses only offer reactive customer service, meaning customers have to be the ones to reach out for assistance. On the other hand, AI can detect when a customer appears stuck and step in at just the right moment to help advance their journey and turn a potentially lost opportunity into a successful conversion.
For instance, picture a customer who’s going back and forth between two of your products. They’re clearly interested, yet aren’t sure which item is best for them. If you don’t act first, there’s a good chance the customer will leave your site without a purchase.
An AI chatbot, however, spots opportunities like this and proactively reaches out with assistance, salvaging a potentially frustrating experience. It lets customers know it’s available to answer any questions concerning sizing, materials, and so on, or to route them to the proper agent.
Learn all the ways proactive customer service can benefit your brand in our Proactive vs Reactive Customer Service blog post.
With a simple popup chat message, AI can take on more specific proactive messages too, notifying customers about special offers or promotions. This includes sharing information about:
- Free shipping: Shipping costs scare off a huge chunk of digital shoppers. Why not let customers know when they’re just shy of your free shipping threshold by highlighting how close they are to hitting the necessary minimum purchase value?
- Loyalty programs: Let customers know about the benefits of joining your loyalty program. Once they’ve signed up, inform them of any discounts or free gifts available after completing a higher-value purchase. Turn new customers into engaged contacts, who can then be nurtured into brand advocates.
- Exclusive promotions: Greet visitors to your website by telling them about any ongoing promotions, enticing them to purchase products that might not have been on their radar. Showcase marketing campaigns that are available for a limited time to add an extra sense of urgency.
3. Prevent cart abandonment
Not every visitor to a website winds up making a purchase — ecommerce conversion rates generally fall between 2% and 4%. AI is incredibly powerful for re-engaging with shoppers and attracting them back to your online store.
Let’s say a customer adds something to their cart but never finalizes the purchase. Perhaps they got distracted, began browsing the competition, or got caught up reading reviews. AI is able to automatically restart this conversation by launching a proactive chat.
A ping and a flash via the tab bring their focus back to your checkout page. But it doesn’t stop there. AI can answer any lingering questions, provide consumer reviews, and even offer items that could complement their shopping cart (more on that in a moment).
And with advanced AI, you have full control over this process with the ability to decide how long to wait before launching a chat, what this message should say, and the next action the AI-powered chatbot should take.
If customers have interacted with you before, take this one step further by sending an email or text message welcoming the shopper back to your homepage, giving them a hassle-free option to continue checkout.
This is particularly effective at increasing AOV since higher-end products are the ones most likely to be abandoned. Customers may need more time to think over major purchases. Give them time to sleep on it, but make it as easy as possible for them to return.
How AI prevents cart abandonment
4. Upsell related products
Just because a customer is interested in buying one item from your website doesn’t mean they have to walk away with that item alone. Cross-selling, upselling, and offering product bundles are all low-lift techniques for growing AOV by getting shoppers to buy complementary products or add-ons to purchases they’re already set on making.
Not only can these methods boost revenue by up to 30%, but upselling and cross-selling existing customers are 4x more affordable than acquiring new ones due to the reduced ad spend. And ecommerce giants already know how valuable this is. Amazon, for one, revealed that up to 35% of its revenue comes from product recommendations.
AI solutions are critical here, as they provide relevant product recommendations by viewing a shopper’s personal data, order history, and customer behavior. For example, if a customer asks for product advice over chat, an AI chatbot knows whether men’s summer shoes or women’s winter coats are more suitable suggestions depending on a user’s gender, location, and past purchases.
For customers who prefer interacting with a human agent, AI gives your reps the same insights they can then use as a cheat sheet to bring more sales home.
These tools are capable of more advanced measures like announcing new arrivals, reminding users when subscriptions are ending, and proposing volume discounts to persuade customers to tack additional products onto their purchases.
Upselling and cross-selling are must-have strategies that brands should employ at checkout to boost AOV — and AI can get them across the finish line.
5. Enhance the customer experience
Customers remember positive experiences and want to relive them again and again. That’s why stellar CX can lead to a sizable jump in total revenue and AOV.
AI brings customers unforgettable experiences by making websites easier to navigate. Intuitive platforms let customers find, compare, and get critical information on products as seamlessly and quickly as possible.
If shoppers have questions, automated help is never more than a click away with an AI chatbot. This is particularly helpful regarding questions about sizing, return policies, and shipping information. For more complex cases, like specialty orders or detailed comparisons, AI knows to route customers to a qualified product expert to make identifying the right product a cinch.
By removing the guesswork, AI gives customers the confidence and willingness to make larger purchases, increasing AOV. An augmented CX also leads to greater customer retention, meaning you’ll be able to encourage an even wider customer base to commit to more expensive orders.
Sell more with AI
In today’s ecommerce, increasing your online sales and AOV takes more than excellent products — you’ve got to have exceptional customer service every step of the way.
AI arms companies with a wide range of tactics specifically aimed at growing their AOV. If you’re an ecommerce brand looking to drive higher order values with AI, Zowie can help.
To see how you can make automated customer support your next revenue source:
Book a demo today.
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