> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Average Transaction, Recharge > Average Transaction for Recharge stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Supporting Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Payment Gateway](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > The **average value of a successful Recharge charge** in the period: `total_volume ÷ total_transactions`. On Recharge specifically this is dominated by the monthly base subscription price (USD 79 for an Athletic Greens-style brand, USD 25 for a coffee subscription, USD 40 for a meal-kit), with build-a-box add-ons inflating it and annual prepaid charges (USD 790 in one go) creating large outliers. AOV is the single best card for diagnosing plan-mix shifts. | | | | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `SUM(total_price) ÷ COUNT(*)` over Recharge `/charges` where `status = SUCCESS`. | | **Currency** | Currency-grouped. A multi-currency store sees a separate AOV per currency (USD AOV, GBP AOV, EUR AOV) NOT a blended single number. | | **Fees / processing cost** | **Gross.** AOV is what the customer was charged, not what hit the bank. | | **Refunds** | NOT deducted from numerator. | | **Failed / declined payments** | Excluded entirely (numerator and denominator). | | **Build-a-box add-ons** | Inflate AOV. A USD 79 subscription with USD 30 of add-ons reads as a USD 109 AOV charge. | | **Annual prepaid distortion** | A single USD 790 annual prepaid charge in a window of mostly USD 79 monthly rebills will pull the AOV up materially. Use the trend with annual-vs-monthly toggle to separate. | | **Plan swaps** | Counted at the prorated delta amount; small swaps (USD 5, 20) drag AOV down slightly. | | **Time window** | `30D vsP` default. | | **Alert trigger** | `change >10% vsP` either direction. AOV moves are usually plan-mix shifts; sudden moves merit investigation. | | **Reading hints** | Rising AOV: add-on attach rate growing, plan-mix shifting to higher tier, annual cohort billing this period. Falling AOV: discount campaign, plan downgrades, low-AOV starter SKU launched. | | **Roles** | owner, finance, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your Recharge data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example "Daily Greens Co", same supplement brand. April 26 USD-only AOV calculation (excluding GBP for clarity): | Cohort | Charges | Total revenue | Avg charge | | ------------------------------------------ | ---------- | ----------------- | ------------- | | Monthly subscribers, base only | 14,210 | USD 1,122,590 | USD 79.00 | | Monthly subscribers, with collagen add-on | 2,840 | USD 275,480 | USD 97.00 | | Monthly subscribers, with vitamin D add-on | 1,180 | USD 107,380 | USD 91.00 | | Monthly subscribers, with both add-ons | 190 | USD 20,710 | USD 109.00 | | Annual prepaid renewals | 312 | USD 246,480 | USD 790.00 | | Recharge Checkout first-orders | 1,840 | USD 145,360 | USD 79.00 | | Plan swaps (proration) | 84 | USD 4,800 | USD 57.14 | | **Period total (USD)** | **20,656** | **USD 1,922,800** | **USD 93.07** | ```text theme={null} USD AOV (this card) = USD 1,922,800 ÷ 20,656 = USD 93.07 Without annual prepaid skew = (1,922,800 - 246,480) ÷ (20,656 - 312) = USD 82.51 (much closer to the "true" monthly AOV) With only base monthly = 1,122,590 ÷ 14,210 = USD 79.00 (the catalogue price) ``` What the merchant should notice: 1. **Period AOV (USD 93.07) is materially above the catalogue price (USD 79).** The 312 annual prepaid renewals at USD 790 each pull the average up by USD \~10.50. Add-on attach rate adds another USD \~3.50. The remaining USD 0.50 is rounding / plan swaps. AOV reading without context misleads. 2. **Add-on attach rate is the most actionable lever.** 4,210 of 18,420 monthly subscribers (\~23%) attached an add-on. Each add-on subscriber generates USD \~12, 30 of incremental monthly revenue at near-zero acquisition cost. Optimising add-on placement in the customer portal is high-ROI. 3. **Annual prepaid distortion is real.** April reads USD 93.07; a quiet month with no anniversary cohort would read USD \~82.50. Year-over-year compare on the same month controls for this; raw month-over-month does not. 4. **First-order AOV equals base monthly.** USD 79 first-order matches the monthly catalogue price because Daily Greens does not bundle add-ons or apply a starter discount on first order. Brands that DO discount the first-order (BFCM, "first month USD 39" promos) see a depressed first-order AOV that pulls the period AOV down during heavy acquisition spend. 5. **Plan-swap charges (USD 57.14 average) are the proration delta**, not the new plan price. They drag AOV slightly. A swap-heavy month (often a downgrade campaign) reads lower AOV without indicating any structural problem. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Average Transaction | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [`rec_total_volume`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/recharge/total-volume) | Numerator. AOV × txn count = volume. | | [`rec_total_transactions`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/recharge/total-transactions) | Denominator. | | [`rec_volume_trend`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/recharge/volume-trend) | Daily AOV trend exposes plan-mix evolution over time. | | [`rec_top_payment_methods`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/recharge/top-payment-methods) | Method mix correlates with AOV (Amex traffic skews higher AOV). | | [`rec_refund_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/recharge/refund-rate) | High AOV plans churn at different rates than low AOV plans; cross-check. | | Shopify [`average_order_value`](/nerve-centre/shopify/average_order_value) | Storefront-wide AOV. Recharge AOV usually higher (subscriptions tend to be larger basket). | | Stripe / Shopify Payments AOV | Processor-wide AOV. Includes non-subscription orders. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in the Recharge merchant portal:** [admin.rechargepayments.com](https://admin.rechargepayments.com). The closest comparable view is **Recharge Admin → Analytics → Subscriptions → AOV** for the same date range. Recharge admin also exposes a "median charge" metric next to AOV which controls for annual-prepaid skew. **Why our number may legitimately differ from the Recharge merchant portal:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | -------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Annual prepaid handling** | Theirs may exclude, ours includes | Recharge admin sometimes filters annual prepaid from the AOV tile to give a "monthly recurring" figure. This card includes all `SUCCESS` charges. | | **Time zone bucketing** | Boundary days off | Same as Total Volume. | | **Currency** | Ours splits by currency, theirs may aggregate | Recharge admin offers a USD-rolled AOV; this card preserves per-currency AOV. | | **Failed-then-recovered timing** | Same as Total Volume | Successful retries shift between snapshots. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Comparison | Expected relationship | When divergence is legitimate | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `rec_avg_transaction` ↔ [`shopify.average_order_value`](/nerve-centre/shopify/average_order_value) | Recharge AOV usually higher | Subscription orders tend to be larger basket than one-time storefront purchases. The gap is the "subscription premium". | | `rec_avg_transaction` × `rec_total_transactions` ≈ `rec_total_volume` | Always | Internal identity. | ***
Documentation cross-reference * [`recurly.rec_avg_transaction`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/recurly/average-transaction) * [`stripe.stripe_avg_transaction`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stripe/average-transaction-value)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **"AOV jumped 15% but my catalogue prices haven't changed, why?"** Three usual suspects on Recharge: (1) it's an annual prepaid anniversary month, the prepaid charges (USD 790) skew the average; (2) add-on attach rate is rising, customers are sticking collagen / vitamin D / coffee adds onto their core subscription; (3) plan-mix shift, customers migrating from a USD 49 starter SKU to the USD 79 flagship SKU. **"AOV dropped 10% suddenly, what changed?"** Most often a discount campaign just kicked in (Recharge's Promotions module applied X% off to a cohort of rebills) or a new lower-priced plan launched and customers are signing up for it. Check Recharge Promotions activity and SKU launches in the same week. **"Why is the median charge so much lower than the average?"** Annual prepaid skew. The mean (average) is dragged up by a few USD 790 outliers; the median is the typical monthly rebill (USD 79). On any subscription business with a meaningful annual cohort, mean > median. Use the median for a more representative monthly-customer picture. **"My subscription price is fixed, why does AOV vary day-to-day?"** Daily mix changes. Day-of-month with the largest monthly-only cohort billing reads at AOV \~USD 79. The day with annual anniversaries reads higher. The day with mostly add-on subscribers reads slightly higher. Day-to-day noise is normal; week-over-week or month-over-month is the clean read. **"Recharge Pro vs Standard, does AOV calculate differently?"** No, the formula is identical. Pro and Standard differ only in the platform fee Recharge charges *you*, not in what the customer paid. Customer-paid is `total_price`; this card divides that. **"How do I get a 'true monthly recurring AOV' that excludes annual prepaid?"** Filter `recurring_type != prepaid` in the Recharge admin, or use the median-charge tile. We're adding a "monthly-only AOV" sibling card on the roadmap. In the meantime: subtract (annual prepaid revenue) from numerator, subtract (annual prepaid count) from denominator, recalculate. **"Plan swaps drag AOV down, is that good or bad?"** Neither inherently. Swap charges represent actual customer activity (upgrades, downgrades, frequency changes); the small dollar amount of a swap charge is just the proration delta. Heavy swap volume often indicates engaged subscribers tinkering with their plan, which correlates positively with retention. The AOV depression from swaps is cosmetic. **"AOV is higher in GBP than in USD when converted, why?"** UK pricing for Daily Greens-style brands is typically set higher than USD when converted at FX (e.g. USD 79 / GBP 65 = 1.21 vs spot FX of \~1.27). The local-currency price is a UK-market positioning decision, not an FX-driven one. Many DTC brands intentionally price higher in GBP / EUR to fund local fulfilment costs. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Average Transaction* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Recharge and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.