Glossary
What is repeat purchase rate?
Repeat purchase rate is the share of customers who come back after a first visit. It is a blunt but honest measure of whether your business earns a second visit, and it is the number most directly affected by a loyalty programme.
Simple to compute and difficult to argue with.
Why it is the right first metric
Everything else about a loyalty programme is downstream of whether people come back at all. If this number does not move, nothing else you measure matters.
Measure it by cohort
A single blended figure moves with your acquisition mix rather than with your service. Split it by joining period and it starts telling you something.
Related terms
- ChurnCustomers who stop coming back over a given period.
- Cohort retentionTracking how long groups of customers who joined together keep coming back.
- Customer lifetime valueThe total margin a customer generates over the whole relationship.
- Visit frequencyHow often a customer comes back over a given period.