Because not all growth is real growth.
AOV growth feels like success.
But it can hide real problems.
Here are 9 common AOV scenarios:
(and what they might really mean)
AOV ↑ + Conversion rate ↓ → price push is backfiring
AOV ↑ + Profit margin ↓ → heavy discounting
AOV ↑ + LTV ↓ → one-time splurges
AOV ↑ + Items per order ↓ → luxury skew
AOV ↑ + Add-to-cart rate ↓ → price shock
AOV ↑ + % of orders with 1 SKU ↑ → 1 item drives growth
AOV ↑ + Avg items per order = → just price changes
AOV ↑ + CR = + Profit margin ↑ → healthy upsell
AOV ↑ + LTV ↑ + Repeat rate ↑ → profitable loyalists
Same AOV growth.
Very different stories.
Dmitry Nekrasov turned these into a one-screen cheat sheet.
So you can cross-check before calling it “growth.”
