AOVIstheLeverNobodyPulls

Ask your agency what they're doing to improve average order value and you'll get a blank stare. Or a vague reference to "upselling" that lives nowhere in your account structure.

AOV is the most under-optimised metric in paid media. And it's the one that fixes everything else.

Here's why. If your CPC is £1.50 and your conversion rate is 2%, every order costs you £75 in ad spend. At a £100 AOV, that's a 75% cost-of-sale. At a £150 AOV, it's 50%. Same clicks. Same conversion rate. Completely different economics.

The levers that move AOV inside Google Ads are surprisingly accessible:

• Bundle visibility - promoting multi-packs or kits that have higher basket value
• Product-level bid adjustments that favour higher-AOV SKUs
• Feed optimisation that surfaces premium variants over entry-level options
• Campaign segmentation by price band to control which products get budget
• Audience layering that targets repeat buyers (who typically spend more)

None of these are exotic. They're just not what most agencies focus on, because CPC reduction is easier to report and conversion rate is easier to claim credit for.

A 15% increase in AOV has the same profit impact as a 15% reduction in CPC - but it compounds through every channel, not just paid.

If your agency isn't actively working on AOV, they're ignoring the highest-leverage variable in your account.