Why everyone defaults to average order value

Average order value is simple, familiar, and dangerously misleading. I’ve seen teams celebrate AOV growth that was driven by just a handful of huge orders.

What goes wrong with the average

A few outliers can completely distort reality.

  • One enterprise deal
  • One bulk purchase
  • One abnormal order

Suddenly “typical customer behavior” doesn’t look typical at all.

Why median tells a better story

Median answers a different question: what does a typical order look like?

It ignores extremes and focuses on the middle, which is often what product and pricing decisions actually need.

How I calculate it safely

First, I rebuild orders properly. Only then do I touch percentiles.

Once teams see median next to average, conversations become much calmer — and much more realistic.

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