Average order value

Gross merchandise value divided by the number of orders.

The measure interacts directly with unit economics, because most fulfilment costs are per order rather than per rupee. A ₹420 order carrying ₹95 of delivery and payment cost is very different from an ₹1,100 order carrying the same ₹95.

Raising order value is therefore the single most effective lever on contribution margin in Indian e-commerce, which is why free-delivery thresholds and bundling exist.

Small baskets are the structural problem in this market.

Fulfilment costs scale per order, not per rupee.

Which is why the two levers that actually move Indian consumer internet economics are order value and order density. A larger basket spreads the same fixed delivery cost over more revenue. Higher density in a locality lets one rider complete more deliveries per hour, which reduces the cost per order directly. Neither is a marketing decision. Both are consequences of where the company operates and what it sells, and a business that cannot improve either has a structural problem that no amount of scale will resolve.