Lachezar Voynov shared a powerful example on the 2X eCommerce Podcast of how one of their in-house brands tackled this exact problem. They managed to increase their AOV by 30 percent with a single, surprisingly simple tactic: offering tiered discounts directly on the product page. It wasn’t a complex post-purchase upsell flow or a separate email campaign. It was an offer right where the customer was making their decision, like giving 10% off for buying two of an item, and 15% off for buying three.
The reason this works so well for low AOV products is that it doesn’t add any friction or require the customer to make another, separate decision. You’re not paying extra to acquire that bigger sale. They were already on the page, ready to buy one. The offer simply encourages them to stock up, which is often a welcome suggestion for consumable or frequently used products. As Kunle Campbell’s guest on another episode, Leonardo, pointed out, it is incredibly tough to build a profitable business on products under $50 AOV without a strong repurchase rate or a strategy for increasing Average Order Value. This tiered discount strategy is a direct and immediate way to address the AOV part of that equation, boosting your contribution margin on the spot.
But a purely tactical approach isn't the whole story. For a more foundational strategy, you have to look at the ideas discussed in an episode of the Ecommerce Playbook, titled "Why Retention Starts at Acquisition." The hosts make a compelling case that many retention strategies fail because they only kick in after the first purchase. True, sustainable retention begins with who you target in the first place. Instead of just optimizing for the cheapest customer acquisition cost (CAC), the most advanced brands are focused on acquiring customers with the highest predicted lifetime value (LTV). This is a fundamental shift in thinking.
It means your acquisition campaigns are designed from day one to attract people who are more likely to buy again, spend more over time, and become loyal to the brand. Nik Sharma made a similar point on Limited Supply, noting that the best DTC brands don’t have a "retention team" working in a silo. Instead, retention thinking is embedded into every part of the business, from marketing campaign briefs to product development roadmaps. It’s a cultural shift that sees every customer touchpoint as an opportunity to build a long-term relationship.
So you have two paths that work together. The immediate, tactical path is to implement simple, effective AOV-boosters like Voynov’s tiered discount to improve your unit economics right now. But the long-term, strategic path is to re-evaluate your acquisition strategy to build a base of customers who are primed for high customer retention and loyalty from the very beginning.
