How a skincare brand lifted AOV 23% with in-cart upsells
A subscription-led skincare store was leaving money on the table at the cart. By switching on AI in-cart upsells and a free-shipping progress bar, they grew average order value 23% in six weeks with no extra ad spend.
Where they were stuck
The brand had strong repeat purchase rates but a flat average order value. Most shoppers bought a single hero product and checked out immediately, and the team had no way to surface complementary items without interrupting the flow. Rising acquisition costs meant growth had to come from existing traffic, not more of it.
The approachWhat they did with Cartylabs
Enabled AI in-cart upsells
Cartylabs surfaced the single most relevant complementary product inside the cart drawer for each shopper, such as a serum for cleanser buyers or an SPF for moisturizer buyers, addable in one click without leaving the cart.
Added a free-shipping progress bar
A spend threshold bar showed shoppers exactly how much more they needed to unlock free shipping, nudging single-item carts toward a second product.
Tuned offers from the dashboard
Using the Cartylabs analytics dashboard, the team compared upsell offers weekly and kept the highest-converting recommendations, retiring offers that underperformed.
What changed
Within six weeks, average order value rose 23% and nearly a third of all orders included an upsold item. Because the gains came entirely from existing traffic, revenue per visitor climbed 14%, capturing more value from every shopper already on the site with no extra acquisition spend.
We expected a small bump. Instead the cart became our best-performing “channel,” and we didn’t spend an extra dollar on ads to get it.
Cartylabs features used
This case study describes an anonymized store archetype. Figures are representative of typical Cartylabs store performance rather than a single named customer.
Questions about this result
How do you increase average order value on Shopify?
The fastest levers are in-cart upsells, a free-shipping progress bar, and bundles. In this case the store added AI in-cart upsells and a free-shipping threshold and grew AOV 23% in six weeks using only its existing traffic, with no extra ad spend.
Do in-cart upsells annoy shoppers?
In-cart upsells appear inside the cart drawer the shopper already opened, so they are far less intrusive than pop-ups. In this store, 31% of orders added the recommended product, with dismissal a fraction of typical pop-up rates.
How long does it take to see AOV results with Cartylabs?
The free-shipping bar usually shows impact within 48 hours, while AI upsells take about a week to gather enough data to personalise well. This store saw a measurable AOV lift inside the first two weeks and 23% by week six.
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