For many brands, the fastest way to improve paid performance isn’t lowering CAC. It’s increasing average order value.

A higher AOV does three critical things:

• Offsets rising new customer acquisition costs
  
• Gets more products into a customer’s hands on their first purchase
  
• Increases the likelihood that the customer comes back and buys again
  
  

Yet AOV is often the first lever brands abandon when acquisition gets expensive. That’s a mistake.

We recently ran a test with The Zero Proof that reinforced why AOV should remain a core part of your new-customer strategy.

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Our Approach 

We started by reviewing new-customer product purchase behavior and looking for clear themes in what people were buying together.

That analysis allowed us to:

• Identify a top sellers bundle
  
• Create a second bundle centered around their top-performing brand and products

From there, we focused on execution:

• Recommended a new-customer bundle discount that felt compelling without over-discounting
  
• Added bundle visibility directly into site navigation via targeted CRO updates
  
• Built bundle-specific ads and drove traffic straight to the PDP
  
  

CRO Execution 

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Paid Ad Execution 

The goal wasn’t just a higher AOV, but giving new customers better optionality on their first purchase.

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The Outcome 

The impact was immediate and measurable:

• New customer AOV increased 12%
  
• 2 bundles now rank in the top 15 products for new customers (previously: 0)
  
• Bundle discounts improved CVR while increasing product exposure on first purchase
  
• YoY retention rates increased 20%, driven by broader first-order product adoption
  
• 6-month LTV on the top bundle is up 20% compared to the business average
  
  

Closing Thoughts 

Improving AOV isn’t just about short-term efficiency. It’s about building better first purchases that convince customers to keep coming back.

When customers start with more products:

• They understand the brand faster
  
• They find more reasons to return
  
• Lifetime value improves naturally

If acquisition is getting more expensive, don’t abandon AOV. Double down on it strategically.

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