Average Basket Size (ABS)

Average Basket Size is an excellent support metric for Average Order Value (AOV), also known as Average Basket Value, as it can provide context behind why AOV is either increasing or decreasing.

For example, Corey’s Cyclery has historically held a relatively steady AOV of $250 and an ABS of 2.5 week over week, but as winter arrives and the clearance sales begin, AOV increases to $375. Corey and his team are thrilled with the uptick and begin to review what is driving this increase in AOV. However, in their review they discover that Transactions have remained fixed while Revenue has increased 50%. What is driving this revenue increase?

Reviewing the Average Basket Size, the team is able to see that the 50% increase in AOV was driven entirely by the number of units in customer’s baskets (i.e., +150% increase in ABS from 2.5 to 6.25 units per basket). In other words, the summer clearance encouraged customers to increase the quantity of items purchased in their baskets, but not the number of transactions made.

Continuing to track ABS and using it as a supportive metric will enable Corey’s Cyclery to quickly and easily understand these changes to AOV. Moreover, utilizing ABS in tandem with Average Selling Price (ASP) provides an even greater context to changes in AOV.