Everyone wants to increase their AOV (Average Order Value), but it's not always clear how. Leighton and Patrick break down what actually moves AOV in the right direction: free shipping thresholds with dynamic progress bars, relevant cart cross-sells, frequently bought together widgets, build-your-own bundles, and post-purchase upsells, plus the two cross-sell mistakes that cost stores trust and revenue.

Links Mentioned

• Rebuy (Smart Cart, cross-sells, and A/B testing): https://www.rebuyengine.com/
• Baymard Institute (cart and checkout UX research): https://baymard.com/
• Monster Cart Upsell (Shopify app): https://apps.shopify.com/monster-upsells
• Checkout Blocks (Shopify's checkout customization app): https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/checkout-blocks

Watch This Episode on YouTube

• https://youtu.be/oJQgzmeDnSg

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:33 Is AOV Advice Overhyped?
• 1:44 What AOV Actually Means
• 2:14 How AOV Compounds With Conversion Rate
• 3:48 Margins and Knowing Your Numbers
• 4:39 Free Shipping Threshold Messaging
• 6:02 Static Message vs Dynamic Progress Bar
• 7:09 Cart Cross-Sells and Two Big Mistakes
• 10:30 Lessons From Retail Checkout Aisles
• 11:33 Limits of Shopify's Recommendations
• 12:17 Frequently Bought Together Widgets
• 13:43 Recommending Items to Hit Free Shipping
• 16:07 Testing With Rebuy's Smart Cart
• 19:46 Build-Your-Own Bundles
• 21:07 Tailoring Tactics to Your Industry
• 22:29 Checkout and Post-Purchase Upsells
• 26:13 How Much You Can Realistically Upsell
• 27:12 Recap: The Quickest AOV Wins
• 28:02 A/B Testing and Collection Design
• 30:15 Starter Kits and Gift Bundles
• 30:51 Gift Wrap and Personalization
• 32:16 Content That Drives Bundle Sales
• 33:01 Subscriptions as an AOV Play
• 34:01 AOV, LTV, and What's Next
• 35:04 Wrapping Up

Book a Call

• Book a Call with Patrick: https://calendly.com/patrickriceco/strategy-call
• Book a Call with Leighton: https://cal.com/leightontaylor/discovery-call?utm_source=podcast

Work with Us

• Work with Patrick (SEO and Google Ads): https://patrickriceco.com/
• Work with Leighton (Shopify Store Builds, Migrations, & Ongoing Support): https://envision.io

You may notice that our content sometimes includes affiliate links or sponsored content. We may receive compensation for this type of content, which supports the work we do at no cost to you.

Many Shopify sellers have no idea whether their Google Ads are actually making money. Patrick Rice breaks down the numbers that tell you the truth, why a 10x ROAS can still lose you money, and how to know your ad manager is doing a good job even if you never open the dashboard yourself.

Links Mentioned

• Google Ads Search Terms Report (Campaigns > Insights and reports > Search terms): https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2472708
• Shopify Marketing Performance & Attribution Reports (new vs. returning customers): https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/analyze-marketing/marketing-performance
• Google AI Max for Search campaigns: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/15910187

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:24 How to Hire an Ads Person
• 3:30 Start With the Search Terms Report
• 4:53 The Brand Keyword Trap
• 7:06 Should You Bid on Your Brand?
• 10:24 What Owners Should Monitor
• 13:35 Why ROAS Can Deceive You
• 15:47 Break-Even ROAS Explained
• 17:09 Why Chasing 10x ROAS Backfires
• 19:23 New vs. Returning Customers
• 20:41 Shopify's Attribution Advantage
• 23:58 PMax, Shopping, and Search
• 27:03 How PMax and Shopping Interact
• 28:20 What's Changed Recently
• 29:26 Testing Google's AI Max
• 30:39 Consolidation Beats Segmentation
• 31:41 A 10x Turnaround Story
• 35:09 Pilot Budgets and Structure
• 39:15 Site Optimization and CRO
• 40:19 The 90s Website Story
• 44:12 Wrapping Up

Book a Call

• Book a Call with Patrick: https://calendly.com/patrickriceco/strategy-call
• Book a Call with Leighton: https://cal.com/leightontaylor/discovery-call?utm_source=podcast

Work with Us

• Work with Patrick (SEO and Google Ads): https://patrickriceco.com/
• Work with Leighton (Shopify Store Builds, Migrations, & Ongoing Support): https://envision.io

You may notice that our content sometimes includes affiliate links or sponsored content. We may receive compensation for this type of content, which supports the work we do at no cost to you.

"What apps should I use on my Shopify store?" is a question we hear all the time. Leighton and Patrick break down how to decide between a Shopify app and custom development, the trade-offs of each, and the apps they install on almost every store, from reviews and subscriptions to CRO, SEO, and indexing.

Links Mentioned

• Shopify Search & Discovery: https://apps.shopify.com/search-and-discovery
• Judge.me Product Reviews: https://apps.shopify.com/judgeme
• Microsoft Clarity: https://apps.shopify.com/microsoft-clarity
• Matrixify: https://apps.shopify.com/excel-export-import
• Ilana's JSON-LD for SEO: https://apps.shopify.com/json-ld-for-seo
• Frequently Bought Together (CBB): https://apps.shopify.com/frequently-bought-together
• Rebuy Personalization Engine: https://apps.shopify.com/rebuy
• Awtomic Subscriptions: https://apps.shopify.com/awtomic
• InstaIndex: IndexNow for Bing: https://apps.shopify.com/instaindex
• AI image alt text app: [URL TO BE ADDED]

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:46 App vs Custom Question
• 3:02 The Three App Categories
• 5:57 Must-Have Review Apps
• 10:03 App vs Custom Trade-offs
• 16:33 Theme Updates & Maintenance
• 18:36 Reviews & Subscription Apps
• 21:22 Should You Build Your Own?
• 23:09 Microsoft Clarity Deep Dive
• 30:31 Matrixify & JSON-LD SEO
• 31:52 Bought Together & Rebuy
• 36:21 Apps That Hijack Collections
• 38:46 SEO Apps & Bing IndexNow
• 44:00 AI Alt Text & Sitemaps
• 45:25 Wrapping Up

Book a Call

• Book a Call with Patrick: https://calendly.com/patrickriceco/strategy-call
• Book a Call with Leighton: https://cal.com/leightontaylor/discovery-call?utm_source=podcast

Work with Us

• Work with Patrick (SEO and Google Ads): https://patrickriceco.com/
• Work with Leighton (Shopify Store Builds, Migrations, & Ongoing Support): https://envision.io

You may notice that our content sometimes includes affiliate links or sponsored content. We may receive compensation for this type of content, which supports the work we do at no cost to you.