Returning Customer Total AOV: Repeat Buyer Average Order Value

The average total transaction value for returning buyers, including shipping and taxes.

Formula

Returning Customer Total AOV = Returning Customer Total Revenue ÷ Returning Customer Orders

Formula Components

Metric	Definition
Returning Customer Total Revenue	Sum of all revenue from repeat buyers including shipping and taxes
Returning Customer Orders	Orders from customers who had already bought before. A customer who orders twice in the period counts twice

Metadata
Type	Currency
Data Source	Shopify
Aggregation	Average

Example

Your store had 837 returning customer orders in March with $112,450 in total revenue:

Metric	Value
RC Total Revenue	$112,450
Returning Customer Orders	837
RC Total AOV	$134.35

How It Works

Returning Customer Total AOV divides your repeat buyer revenue (including shipping and taxes) by the number of returning customer orders, so a customer who orders twice counts twice. Shopify determines returning status when a customer’s email matches a previous order.

When to Use

Scenario	Action
Measure loyalty impact	Compare RC Total AOV against NC Total AOV — returning customers typically spend 15-25% more
Evaluate retention programs	Track whether loyalty rewards or subscriptions increase basket size
Calculate retention value	Combine with purchase frequency to estimate repeat buyer contribution
Optimize upsell strategies	Target returning customers with higher-value product recommendations

Metric	Relationship
Total AOV	All customers combined (NC + RC)
New Customer Total AOV	The acquisition counterpart to compare against
Returning Customer Total Revenue	The numerator of this metric
Returning Customer Net AOV	Same segment, after discounts and refunds

See all AOV metrics →