If you’ve ever opened your Strique dashboard and paused at the section titled “Average Order Value (AOV),” you’re not alone. It doesn’t just show you one number—it shows four:
Mean AOV
Median AOV
Mode AOV
Mode-to-Mean AOV Ratio
So, why the complexity?
And why are these numbers so different?
The answer is simple: no single AOV tells the full story of how your customers are spending. At Strique, we believe that understanding revenue means going deeper—so you’re not just seeing the number, you’re seeing why that number matters, what’s affecting it, and how to act on it.
Let’s break down each AOV type, how it’s calculated, what it tells you, and why you need all four.
1. Mean AOV – The Straightforward Average
What it is:
This is the classic AOV everyone’s familiar with. It tells you the average amount a customer spends per order, across a specific time frame.
Formula:
Mean AOV = Total Revenue ÷ Total Number of Orders
Example:
Let’s say you made ₹5,000 from 100 orders.
Your Mean AOV is ₹5,000 ÷ 100 = ₹50
This number is useful when you want a high-level snapshot of how much customers are spending—but it's important to know it can be easily skewed by a few high-value orders.
2. Median AOV – The Middle Ground
What it is:
Median AOV is the middle value of all your order amounts when arranged in ascending order.
It shows what a “typical” customer spends—and it’s not affected by extreme outliers the way Mean AOV is.
How to calculate it:
Sort all order values from lowest to highest.
If you have an odd number of orders, the median is the middle one.
If you have an even number, it’s the average of the two middle values.
Example:
Order values: ₹20, ₹40, ₹60, ₹80, ₹100
Median AOV = ₹60
Now add a high-value order (₹500):
Order values: ₹20, ₹40, ₹60, ₹80, ₹100, ₹500
Median AOV = (₹60 + ₹80) ÷ 2 = ₹70
Despite a huge jump in one order, the median gives you a more balanced view of your customers’ spending behavior.
3. Mode AOV – The Popular Choice
What it is:
Mode AOV shows the most frequently occurring order value in your dataset.
If 30% of your customers are consistently spending ₹1,000, that’s your mode—even if your average is much lower or higher.
How to calculate it:
Identify which order value occurs most often in your data.
Example:
Order values:
₹499, ₹999, ₹999, ₹999, ₹1499, ₹499, ₹499
Mode AOV = ₹499 and ₹999 (both appear 3 times)
This means customers cluster around those two price points.
In Strique, Mode AOV is especially useful for:
Bundling strategies
Anchor pricing
Spotting customer comfort zones
4. Mode-to-Mean AOV Ratio – The Revenue Balance Check
What it is:
This ratio tells you how your most common order value (mode) compares to your average (mean). It’s a diagnostic tool to help you understand how evenly your revenue is distributed.
Formula:
Mode-to-Mean AOV Ratio = Mode AOV ÷ Mean AOV
What it tells you:
Ratio < 1: Your Mean AOV is being pulled up by a few large orders. This indicates a right-skewed distribution—most customers spend less than the average.
Ratio > 1: Your Mode AOV is higher than the Mean. This means most customers spend more than the average, and smaller transactions are pulling the average down.
Ratio ≈ 1: Your order values are fairly balanced, and there’s minimal skew.
Example:
Mean AOV = ₹800
Mode AOV = ₹500
Mode-to-Mean Ratio = ₹500 ÷ ₹800 = 0.625
Interpretation: A few large orders are pulling your average up, but most customers are spending ₹500.
So Why Are All These Numbers Different?
Because they’re looking at your revenue from different angles:
AOV Type | Tells You... |
Mean | What your average revenue per order is. |
Median | What a typical order looks like, unaffected by extremes. |
Mode | What most customers are actually spending. |
Mode-to-Mean Ratio | How balanced or skewed your revenue distribution is. |
In a data set with wide price ranges (e.g., a fashion brand selling socks and blazers), these numbers should be different—and understanding the gap between them helps you make better decisions.
Why Does Strique Show All Four?
Most platforms stop at showing you just the mean—but we don’t believe that’s enough. Here’s why we show four distinct AOV metrics in Strique:
Because your Mean AOV alone can lie—especially when skewed by outliers.
Because Median helps you understand your customer base more realistically.
Because Mode shows you where your pricing sweet spots are.
And because Mode-to-Mean Ratio helps you assess the health of your revenue model.
Together, they give you context, clarity, and control—so you can optimize not just for revenue, but for long-term profitability.
Turn These AOV Insights into Revenue Growth
Understanding the difference between Mean, Median, and Mode AOV—and the relationship between them—isn’t just a numbers game. It’s how you build smarter pricing strategies, bundle better, allocate ad spend wisely, and identify where your actual growth potential lies.
At Strique, we surface all four metrics because each one tells a different part of your revenue story. And when you see them side by side, patterns emerge, blind spots disappear, and decisions become clearer.
So the next time you log in to Strique, take a closer look at your AOV scorecards—not just to track performance, but to guide your next move.
Need help interpreting your numbers or acting on what they mean? Our team is here if you need us.