Definition
Average sale, also called average transaction value, is the total sales for a period divided by the number of sales in that period. It tells you what a typical customer spends per visit.
The formula
Use the same period for both figures, such as one day, one week or one month. Count each completed sale once. Refunded sales should come off both the total and the count.
A worked example
A variety store takes $1,260 across 42 sales on Saturday. Average sale = 1,260 / 42 = $30. The following Saturday it takes $1,300 across 52 sales, an average of $25. Sales went up, but each customer spent less. That is worth knowing: more people came in, perhaps for a cheap promotion, and fewer of them bought extras.
Looking at average sale alongside the transaction count tells you whether growth came from more customers, bigger baskets or both.
How small shops raise it
- Put related items together. Batteries near torches, lids near containers.
- Stock the small add-ons at the till. Low-price items that people grab while paying.
- Offer a larger pack at a lower unit price, when your margin allows it.
- Train the counter to ask once: 'Anything else with that?' is enough.
Check gross margin before pushing a product, because a larger basket of low-margin goods may not add much profit.
In Shopkeepa
Average sale is one of the figures in Shopkeepa's sales and profit reports, alongside sales by day, week and month. Shopkeepa is not yet available; early access is open to join.
Related terms
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