Creative & Offers
Should your free shipping threshold be above your current AOV?
Usually, a threshold needs to sit above a meaningful portion of current orders if its purpose is to increase basket size. But simply adding 20% to AOV is not a formula.
Look at order distribution
An AOV of $70 might hide two groups: many $40 orders and a smaller number of $140 orders. Setting the threshold at $85 may change very different customers than the average suggests.
Give customers an achievable next item
If your cheapest add-on costs $35, telling a $72 customer they are "$13 away" from free shipping is frustrating if no $13 product exists.
Include margin and shipping
The additional basket contribution needs to cover the shipping subsidy for both newly upsold orders and customers already above the threshold. The calculation is covered step by step in how to calculate a profitable free shipping threshold.
Don't make conversion worse
A high threshold can communicate that normal shipping is expensive. Test product-page/cart messaging carefully.
Use AOV as a starting reference, then use basket distribution and product prices to choose a threshold customers can realistically reach.
Stop copying a competitor's shipping minimum
If your current free-shipping minimum was copied from a competitor, send us an inquiry. We can calculate a threshold from your actual order economics.