If your ads are working but revenue per order feels stuck, the answer is rarely another ad set. It is your offer. By re-architecting how you package products, frame price, de-risk the purchase, and layer on high-perceived-value bonuses, you can lift both conversion rate and average order value without inflating media spend. For Shopify-first DTC brands, this is one of the fastest paths to break-even efficiency and profitable scale that the team at Evolvingo builds into every campaign.
What a high-converting DTC offer looks like
High performers share four traits that stack together.
Relevance over complexity. A clear promise tied to a defined use case, supported by product bundles that solve the whole job.
Risk reversal in plain sight. A guarantee plus a visible, friction-light return experience.
Price framing that increases perceived value. Anchors, endings, or tiers that make your “best value” option obvious.
Margin-aware incentives. Free shipping thresholds, gifts, or subscribe-and-save perks that nudge spend up while protecting contribution margin.
Average order value is a lever, but treat it with nuance. Instead of just chasing the mean, consider the modal order value so you nudge the most common basket up in small steps. That approach is exactly what the AOV guide from Shopify’s research on AOV recommends when it urges brands to study the mode, not only the average, to design practical upsells and bundles.
Bundles that increase AOV without hurting conversion
Bundles work because they simplify decisions and boost perceived value. The “complete kit” offers the outcome in one click, and a “bundle and save” badge makes the value explicit. The practical result is larger carts with fewer decisions. Shopify’s own AOV playbook notes that curated packages are one of the most reliable ways to raise order size, since bundles let customers get everything they need at once while paying less than if purchased separately, a point their guide on average order value emphasizes with examples like BioLite’s camp stove kits.
Use these bundle patterns when you plan your catalog.
Outcome bundles. Package everything needed for one specific job. For skincare, think Cleanse, Treat, Moisturize as a three-step routine.
Build-your-own. Let buyers choose shades, sizes, or flavors inside a fixed bundle framework so you maintain inventory control while offering choice.
Laddered bundles. Offer Small, Standard, and Ultimate kits so your mid-tier becomes the “best value” decoy that most people choose.
Price your bundles with a clean percent-off anchor and show separate line prices so the discount is obvious without math. If you run Shopify, the native Bundles app makes this painless, and launching or migrating on Shopify gives you a deeper ecosystem of cross-sell and merchandising tools to execute quickly.
Where bundles belong in the journey
Product pages. Add a bundle block above the fold so the bundle competes with single SKU purchases.
Cart. Offer an on-brand “complete the set” upsell for the most commonly paired items.
Post purchase. If you want a zero-risk test, mirror the logic immediately after checkout. The AOV guide from Shopify’s AOV resource calls out post-purchase upsells as a proven tactic because they do not jeopardize the initial conversion.
Bonuses that feel like free money
Free gifts and bonuses work because they increase perceived value without lowering price. Survey work cited by Retail TouchPoints shows that nearly 90 percent of consumers who received a gift reported they were somewhat likely to buy more frequently from that retailer afterward, which the article on free gift with purchase and brand loyalty attributes to an uptick in loyalty and word of mouth.
Borrow these bonus structures.
Gift with purchase at a threshold that is just above your modal order. For example, “Free travel-size serum when you spend 55 dollars.”
Tiered bonus stack. Example: 50 dollars gets a sample, 85 dollars adds a deluxe mini, 120 dollars adds expedited shipping.
Experience bonuses. Early access to drops or a members-only tutorial complements physical gifts without shipping cost.
Avoid margin leaks by tying gifts to SKUs with healthy margins or to inventory you want to move. Surface the threshold in a sticky announcement bar and in-cart progress meter so shoppers see how close they are to the bonus.
Guarantees and returns: de-risking to lift conversion
Risk reversal is one of the strongest conversion levers because it addresses the single biggest fear in ecommerce: “What if I do not like it?” The Baymard Institute’s UX statistics report that 10 percent of users abandon sites due to unsatisfactory return policies, yet 42 percent of sites do not display or link to return information on the product page, which their compilation of ecommerce UX statistics calls out along with the finding that 70 percent is the global average cart abandonment rate.
Clarity is non-negotiable. According to Narvar, 86 percent of shoppers check the return policy before making a purchase, and their write-up on the “new normal” of returns stresses that communicating return windows, costs, and refund timelines on the product page and cart is essential for trust, which the Narvar returns analysis explains in detail.
Practical guidelines for guarantees and returns that convert.
Keep the headline plain. “30 day money-back guarantee” beats clever phrasing.
Put a short policy summary on the PDP with a link to the full policy.
Default to 30 days unless your category requires longer. Mattresses and footwear often win with 60 to 100 day trials, while cosmetics can lean on a “love it or return it” approach with partial use allowed.
If you introduce return fees, offer fee-free store returns or a shorter window with free returns inside it, which Narvar suggests as a behavior incentive in their returns guidance.
Free shipping thresholds that nudge order size up
Shipping fees are often the friction that breaks a checkout. The free-shipping guide from Shopify’s analysis of shipping offers notes that 75 percent of shoppers prioritize free shipping over fast shipping according to FedEx data, and that as many as 80 percent of online shoppers are willing to meet a minimum threshold to avoid shipping costs. Shopify also advises setting the free shipping threshold just above your modal order value to motivate bigger carts without prompting abandonment.
To set a profitable threshold, calculate your AOV, average shipping cost, and gross margin, then model a few threshold levels to keep shipping cost per qualified order low. Their guide walks through this math and underscores that a dynamic cart message or progress bar at checkout keeps the incentive top of mind, which the Shopify free shipping playbook shows with brands like SKIMS and Allbirds.
Pricing psychology that ethically increases perceived value
Price is a signal and a frame, not just a number. You can increase perceived value and choice clarity by how you present prices.
Charm pricing. A controlled field experiment by Schindler and Kibarian published in the Journal of Retailing found that using 99 endings led to increased consumer purchasing compared with 00 endings, which the Rutgers summary of the study on 99-ending prices and sales lift explains.
Compare-at anchors. Showing MSRP with a strikethrough next to your price clarifies savings. The psychological pricing overview from Shopify’s pricing psychology guide includes “slashing the MSRP” as a classic, high-performing tactic because it gives shoppers a frame of reference.
Decoy and tiering. Good-better-best plans steer buyers toward the middle “best value” option. Use meaningful feature jumps so the middle tier feels right-sized. While the decoy effect has been debated in some contexts, the broader principle of structured tiering remains widely effective when the options map to distinct needs, as framed in Shopify’s 10 pricing tactics.
Price appearance. Shorter-looking prices can feel cheaper. Shopify’s guide points to “price appearance” tactics such as removing .00 from whole-dollar prices to reduce visual length, reinforcing a lower-cost feel in their psychology article.
Use pricing psychology sparingly and transparently so you build trust. McKinsey’s explainer on personalization makes the broader case that experiences which feel tailored and fair tend to lift both revenue and marketing ROI, with their analysis showing personalization can lift revenue by 5 to 15 percent and increase marketing ROI by 10 to 30 percent, as detailed in McKinsey’s personalization explainer.
Payment options that increase conversion and order size
Offering pay-over-time can expand baskets and reduce sticker shock on higher priced items. A synthesis of public data by Capital One Shopping reports that BNPL transactions result in an 85 percent higher average order value than other payment methods and that usage has grown rapidly in recent years, which the team’s BNPL market statistics track along with seasonal usage trends.
Use this lever responsibly. Offer BNPL mainly on higher ticket items or bundles. Monitor post-purchase repayment issues and returns. Pair with a strong guarantee so buyers feel safe.
Put the offer to work in your creative
Even elite media buying cannot save a weak offer. Creative must do two jobs: make the value obvious in seconds and make the offer feel like a no-brainer. UGC is particularly effective at this. The Evolvingo playbook on UGC that sells shows how to script “problem, proof, and offer” so your bonus, bundle, or guarantee is spoken aloud and on screen within the first six seconds, a structure that lines up with platform guidance and lifts click intent.
Offer-led ad concepts to test fast.
Bundle demo. Side-by-side of buying individually vs bundle price, with a “bundle and save” tag.
Threshold nudge. A creative that says “You are 12 dollars away from free express shipping” with three quick add-on ideas.
Guarantee close. A customer story that addresses the biggest objection, then says “Try it for 30 days with a no-questions-asked return.”
When your offer is tight and creative shows it clearly, your paid channels stabilize. If you want a full campaign built with this philosophy, Evolvingo’s practitioners plan and produce offers, copy, and design while staying ruthless about ROI. See the “break even in 30 days” framework in our Shopify DTC ad playbook.
A Shopify-first implementation blueprint
You can ship all of this with standard Shopify tools and a light app stack.
Bundles. Use Shopify Bundles for fixed or mix-and-match kits and display bundle savings on PDPs. If you are not on Shopify yet, you can launch quickly on Shopify with a conversion-friendly theme and native checkout that supports post-purchase offers.
Thresholds. Add an announcement bar for free shipping and a cart progress meter. Tie gifts to automatic discounts that trigger at set subtotals.
Bonuses. Create “free gift” rules with a hidden gift product that is added when cart value exceeds your threshold. Call out the gift in mini-cart and checkout.
Guarantees. Place a one-sentence summary on every PDP and a policy link. Use a returns portal that supports easy labels and store credit options.
BNPL. Enable Shop Pay Installments where appropriate. Test messaging on higher-priced bundles to see the AOV impact.
Instrument the experience so messaging is consistent. The Baymard Institute found that 43 percent of sites fail to show shipping information on the product page even though 64 percent of users actively look for it, and that omission corrodes trust in ways that hurt conversion, as their UX statistics compendium shows. Put shipping, returns, and bonus details on the PDP and repeat them in cart and checkout.
How to price and present your tiers and bundles
Bring structure to your catalog so your “best value” offer stands out and drives mix.
Good-better-best for subscriptions. Show monthly per-unit cost with “best value” on the middle tier. The “flat rate bias” discussed in Shopify’s pricing psychology primer hints at why predictable plans feel better to shoppers, even when the math is close.
“Starter” anchor for bundles. Price the entry bundle competitively, then create a clearly superior “Complete” bundle with a small absolute upsell and larger perceived savings.
Round for premium, charm for value. If your brand is premium, use whole numbers to signal quality. If you sell value, .99 endings can boost sell-through, an effect observed in the Schindler and Kibarian study.
Testing offers like a scientist
Treat each component as a testable variable and move in small, confident steps.
Baseline your order distribution. Pull a histogram of order values and identify the mode. If most orders cluster at 38 to 42 dollars, set the free shipping threshold at 50 dollars and a gift at 65 dollars.
Rotate one variable at a time. For two weeks, test charm endings versus rounded prices on your top two SKUs. Next, test bundle savings at 12 percent versus 18 percent. Then, test a 30 day versus a 45 day guarantee on your best seller.
Watch the right metrics. Track conversion rate, AOV, and margin per order together. As Shopify’s AOV overview notes, raising order size means little if margin per order drops. Watch return rate and post-purchase tickets when you change guarantees and BNPL messaging.
Personalize where it counts. McKinsey’s work on personalization shows a 5 to 15 percent revenue lift and 10 to 30 percent ROI increase when messages are tailored, which their personalization explainer quantifies. Use that to show relevant bundles, not to create bait-and-switch.
Offer recipes by vertical you can ship this week
Beauty and personal care. Routine bundle with 15 percent savings, free silicone applicator at 65 dollars, 30 day “love it or return it”, price endings at .99 for entry SKUs and whole numbers for pro kits.
Supplements and wellness. Subscribe-and-save with a “2 month free shipping” launch promo, BNPL on 3 and 6 bottle bundles, 60 day results guarantee.
Home and kitchen. Starter vs Complete cookware bundles, bonus utensil set at 200 dollars, free returns within 30 days on unused items, Shop Pay Installments on premium sets.
Apparel. Capsule bundle with 3 items for a set price, threshold gift like free socks at 120 dollars, easy returns portal with free in-store returns if applicable, “compare at” MSRP anchors on seasonal markdowns.
Pitfalls to avoid when you “re-architect” the offer
Hidden policies. If returns and shipping details are buried, conversion suffers. The Baymard data that 12 percent abandon due to return policy dissatisfaction and that 42 percent of sites hide return info on PDPs is your warning, captured in their UX statistics page. Put key facts on the page.
Free shipping that kills margin. Always model gross margin after shipping. Shopify’s free shipping guide details a step-by-step threshold math that prevents accidental losses, which you can follow in their shipping strategy write-up.
Over-discounting bundles. If the percent-off is so high that single-SKU sales collapse, you are training customers to wait for bundles. Keep bundle discounts meaningful but not destructive.
Bonuses that feel like clutter. Make the gift relevant to the hero product. Random swag is easy to ignore and expensive to ship.
Your next steps
Pull last 60 days of orders. Find the modal order value and create a free shipping threshold 20 to 30 percent above it.
Create one outcome-based bundle and add it to your top three PDPs above the fold with a clear percent-off.
Add a one-line guarantee to every PDP and a returns summary in the cart.
Script two UGC ads that state your offer out loud in the first six seconds using the structure in this UGC how-to.
Launch a two week price presentation test on a top SKU: rounded vs .99 endings, then read conversion and profit.
If you want a team that builds the offer, writes the copy, designs the assets, and runs the tests with a break-even-first philosophy, talk to the practitioners at Evolvingo. We build end-to-end campaigns for Shopify-focused DTC brands and publish our playbooks for free on the blog. If you are still choosing your stack, start a trial on Shopify to get the fastest path from idea to conversion-ready storefront.