As customer acquisition costs rise and paid media efficiency tightens, extracting more revenue from existing traffic has become more valuable than simply driving incremental visits. A higher AOV improves return on ad spend (ROAS), contribution margin per order and customer lifetime value.

The challenge is doing it without eroding margin or brand equity.

This is where Try Before You Buy (TBYB) changes the equation.
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Why Traditional AOV Tactics Fall Short

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Most brands attempt to increase AOV through:

• Bundles
• Cross-sell pop-ups
• Spend thresholds
• Limited-time discounts
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While these tactics can lift short-term revenue, they often rely on price incentives rather than behaviour change. Over time, this compresses margin and trains customers to wait for promotions.

The real barrier to larger baskets is not discovery. It is hesitation.

In fashion, beauty and lifestyle categories, shoppers face uncertainty around fit, feel, quality and suitability. The larger the cart, the higher the perceived risk.

Without removing that risk, upselling has limits.

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The Psychology Behind Larger Orders

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Customers hesitate at checkout because the decision feels final.

What if it doesn’t fit?
What if the fabric isn’t right?
What if they prefer another size or style?

Try Before You Buy restructures this moment.

Instead of asking customers to commit financially at checkout, brands allow them to try at home first. The purchase decision moves from the checkout page to after the home trail.

This shift changes behaviour.

When risk is reduced, customers are more willing to:

• Order multiple sizes
• Compare styles
• Add complementary pieces
• Explore higher-priced items
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Confidence increases cart size.

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How Try Before You Buy Increases AOV

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Mirra enables brands to offer a seamless home trial experience. Customers select items, receive them with no upfront charge beyond an authorisation hold, trial them for a defined period, and pay only for what they keep.

This model drives AOV uplift in several structural ways.

1. Larger initial baskets
Customers consolidate exploration into a single transaction instead of placing multiple smaller orders.

2. Fewer split purchases
Instead of testing one item at a time, shoppers compare options in one delivery, increasing total cart value.

3. Higher kept value
Side-by-side comparison often results in multiple retained items.

4. Stronger first-time conversion
New customers are more likely to engage when financial risk is reduced, improving both conversion rate and basket size.

For enterprise brands, this means improved revenue per visitor without increasing traffic spend.

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AOV Growth Without Margin Erosion

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Unlike discount-led strategies, TBYB increases AOV by removing friction rather than reducing price.

This preserves:

• Full-price sell-through
• Contribution margin
• Brand positioning
• Long-term pricing power
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In premium categories, maintaining brand equity is as important as driving growth. Experience-led strategies support both.

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Beyond Revenue Per Order

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The commercial impact extends further.

Brands also benefit from:

• Faster purchase decision cycles
• Improved inventory recirculation
• Better insight into try versus keep behaviour
• Reduced markdown dependency through stronger full-price conversion.
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From Hesitation to Higher Value
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If the objective is to increase average order value, the solution is not always a larger incentive.

It is a better experience.

Try Before You Buy transforms hesitation into exploration and browsing into higher-value baskets. By redesigning the decision moment, brands can increase AOV, strengthen customer trust and improve the efficiency of every dollar spent acquiring traffic.

In a market where acquisition costs are high and margin pressure is real, confidence is not a soft metric.

It is a revenue driver.

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