You paid for the click. Now make every visit worth more. Raising average order value is the fastest way to grow revenue without chasing more traffic, which is why Shopify’s own guidance notes that personalized recommendations and bundles can significantly increase AOV. In fact, the latest overview of AOV strategies explains how bundling, free shipping thresholds, and recommendation blocks work together to grow order size while protecting margins, and even cites a global AOV benchmark near 145 dollars that many stores can beat with structured tests. You will find the full context in Shopify’s reference on AOV and tactics to improve it.

For AliExpress dropshippers who want a low cost and low technical path, WooDropship provides two quick starts. Launch a conversion ready Shopify storefront in 7 days with prebuilt dropshipping stores or run a WooCommerce workflow with the WooDropship dropshipping plugin that imports products in one click, optimizes titles and descriptions with AI, bulk edits bundle pricing, and fulfills via a Chrome extension. Pair those foundations with this playbook and a 25 percent AOV lift over the next 30 days becomes a realistic target to test.

Why these three levers work together

Amazon’s seminal work on item to item recommendations shows why Bought Together blocks perform. The Amazon Science retrospective explains that item based collaborative filtering powers relevant suggestions at scale and reports that recommendations drive a large share of engagement across commerce and media. When shoppers see complementary products that fit the item they are viewing, attach rates rise and so does cart value.

Relevance matters. The Baymard Institute’s research on cart cross sells found that displaying highly relevant recommendations in the cart increases order totals, while irrelevant suggestions are quickly ignored and can erode trust across the site. Baymard recommends limiting blocks, prioritizing compatibility accessories, and labeling the context clearly, for example Frequently Bought Together or Complete the look.

On the pricing side, Shopify’s shipping guide details how a free shipping threshold can boost AOV by nudging shoppers to add one more item rather than paying for shipping. Combine that with bundles that simplify decisions and quantity discounts that reward stocking up, and you get three compounding nudges that raise units per transaction without heavy discounting. Shopify’s AOV resource reiterates that bundling and smart incentives are among the top ways to lift average order value.

The Shopify playbook in 5 steps

If you are starting from zero and want the fastest path, consider WooDropship’s prebuilt Shopify dropshipping stores. They arrive in 7 days with 30 vetted products, premium theme, legal pages, PayPal and Stripe setup, and conversion features like bundles, Bought Together, countdowns, and quick view built in. Prefer to open a new store yourself first? You can start a trial with Shopify.

1. Set a smart free shipping threshold

   According to Shopify’s free shipping guide, a threshold placed modestly above your current AOV can increase order size by encouraging add ons. Use your modal order value if you can, not just the mean, and set a threshold that feels attainable to the majority of shoppers. The Shopify guide on free shipping thresholds provides examples and setup steps. Show a cart drawer meter that says Only 12 dollars to free shipping to make the incentive visible.

2. Create fixed and multipack bundles with Shopify Bundles

   Shopify offers a free first party app for bundles. The Shopify Bundles Help Center confirms you can create and edit fixed product bundles and multipacks from the admin, with discounts supported and allocated by weighted price across components. Follow the official flow to build your first bundles, then publish them to your storefront. Prioritize starter kits, premium kits that anchor value, and multi packs for consumables.

   Quick setup recap drawn from Shopify’s steps. From your admin, go to Apps then Bundles, click Create bundle, select products, adjust quantities or variants, save and continue, then set the product to Active and publish. Title your bundles by outcome, for example Home Gym Starter Kit, and list what is inside plus the combined value to make savings obvious.

3. Add Bought Together and complementary add ons on product pages

   Use the Shopify Search and Discovery app to configure product recommendations and complementary products at the top of the product page. The developer guidance explains that complementary products are best placed near the primary product information so they are noticed. Label the block Frequently Bought Together with and preselect quantities where it makes sense. Baymard’s advice on relevance applies here too, so choose compatibility dependent items first.

4. Offer quantity breaks with automatic discounts that stack logically

   Shopify supports automatic discounts with minimum quantities and combinations. The automatic discounts documentation shows how to create buy X get Y, amount off, and free shipping rules that apply automatically at checkout. The discount combinations reference explains stacking rules and limits so you can run a Buy 2 save 10 percent, Buy 3 save 15 percent tier while still allowing a sitewide code when appropriate. Start with category level multi buy breaks on your top 20 percent SKUs and test percentage tiers until you find the sweet spot between unit lift and margin.

5. Measure, iterate, and protect margin

   Track AOV, conversion rate, and revenue per session together so you do not trade conversion for cart size. Our glossary on conversion rate and sales analytics can help you define the basics. Use simple A B testing to trial bundle compositions, price framing, and block placement. Aim to raise attach rate on the products that get the most paid traffic first. If you want a deep dive on formats and UX, see our guide on 25 bundle types and on site patterns.

The WooCommerce playbook in 5 steps

For WordPress stores, WooCommerce’s official extensions cover everything you need and they integrate nicely with WooDropship’s import and fulfillment workflow.

1. Build kits with WooCommerce Product Bundles

   The official extension lets you group simple, variable, and subscription products, set min and max quantities, and offer bulk discounts inside a bundle. The Product Bundles documentation confirms support for pick and mix bundles, assembled products, and bulk packages, plus analytics to track performance. Start with a small set of kits that solve a complete use case and present them as their own products with clear contents and savings.

2. Deploy intelligent Frequently Bought Together recommendations

   WooCommerce’s Product Recommendations extension includes an out of the box strategy for Bought Together suggestions. The setup guide shows how to create a Frequently Bought Together engine with a Bought Together amplifier, deploy it in a product page location, and tune thresholds so recommendations are meaningful. This implementation mirrors the item to item approach popularized by Amazon and aligns with Baymard’s relevance guidance.

3. Add quantity breaks with Volume Discount Coupons

   The Volume Discount Coupons extension enables automatic discounts based on quantities, including cross product and category promotions. Use it to create simple breaks like Buy 2 save 10 percent, Buy 3 save 15 percent across a collection, or to reward larger baskets that contain any mix of products from a category. Keep your tiers simple to avoid decision fatigue and show the discount table on the product page.

4. Follow Baymard’s UX fundamentals on relevance and placement

   The Baymard Institute found that cart cross sells work when they are clearly related to what is in the cart. Limit the number of recommendation blocks per location, label them clearly, and prioritize compatibility accessories over alternatives. Keep your Add to cart call to action prominent and reduce clutter around the primary action, especially on mobile where space is tight.

5. Automate AliExpress imports, AI edits, and fulfillment with WooDropship

   The WooDropship plugin connects your WooCommerce store to AliExpress so you can import products in one click, optimize titles and descriptions with AI, set bundle pricing rules in bulk, and fulfill with a Chrome extension. It is sold as a one time 89 dollar lifetime membership with a free trial, no recurring fees. That lets you invest more of your budget in product testing and A B experiments rather than monthly app stacks.

Bundle and pricing patterns that convert for dropshipping

The patterns below draw from our in depth guide and align with Shopify and Baymard’s recommendations. Use them as a quick checklist while you build.

• Lead with 3 bundle tiers. Good, better, best gives an anchor and a target. Show the combined if bought separately price so the savings are concrete.
• Use outcome names. Home Gym Starter Kit beats Bundle A every time. Outcome naming reduces cognitive load and fits how shoppers describe needs.
• Prefer value add to steep discounts. Free accessories, digital guides, and modest percentage savings preserve willingness to pay while increasing perceived value. Shopify’s bundling resources note that over discounting inside bundles can reduce item level willingness to pay over time.
• Place Bought Together near the product info. The Shopify developer guidance recommends above the fold placement for complementary items, which aligns with how users scan pages.
• Pair bundles with shipping thresholds. Shopify’s shipping resource explains how thresholds lift AOV. Design a small bundle that reliably nudges carts over the threshold and show a dynamic meter in cart.

A realistic measurement plan and a 25 percent target

Set a baseline week for AOV, conversion rate, revenue per session, and margin per order. Then layer changes in this order over two weeks so you can attribute impact.

Week 1

• Turn on a free shipping threshold about 20 to 30 percent above modal order value. The Shopify guide shows why this nudge works.
• Add one Bought Together block on your top 10 product pages and keep it to two or three highly relevant items. Baymard cautions that too many blocks or irrelevant items reduce impact.

Week 2

• Launch two or three fixed bundles and one multipack in your highest traffic category using Shopify Bundles or Product Bundles.
• Create a simple quantity break on the same category. The Shopify automatic discounts guide and WooCommerce Volume Discount Coupons cover both platforms.

Measure attach rate on Bought Together, bundle take rate, and changes in units per order. If you see neutral conversion, stable margin per order, and AOV up 15 to 30 percent on the affected SKUs, roll the pattern across more products. If you see AOV up but margin per order down too far, switch to value add gifts, reduce the top discount tier, or tighten which lines are eligible. Keep tests simple and use our glossary on cross selling, upselling, and A B testing to structure experiments.

Fast track with WooDropship if you want it done for you

If you prefer the turnkey route, our prebuilt Shopify stores are delivered in 7 days for a one time 49 dollar fee and include 30 vetted products, premium theme, essential legal pages, PayPal and Stripe setup, SEO, and conversion features like bundles, popups, countdowns, Bought Together, and quick view. For WooCommerce users, the WooDropship plugin gives you one click AliExpress imports, AI copy optimization, bulk pricing, and automated fulfillment under a one time lifetime membership. We are transparent on pricing and you can contact us anytime at Contact us if you need guidance on which path fits your goals.

The bottom line is simple. Recommendations increase discoverability when they are relevant, bundles package value in one decision, and quantity breaks reward larger purchases. Shopify confirms that these tactics increase AOV, Amazon’s research explains why Bought Together works, and Baymard shows how to execute without hurting conversion. Put them together, measure carefully, and a 25 percent AOV lift becomes a practical experiment rather than a hope.

Happy WooDropshipping!