Glossary - Customers and retention

Repeat purchase rate

Repeat purchase rate is the percentage of a store's customers who have placed more than one order. It is calculated as customers with two or more orders ÷ total customers × 100, and ecommerce operators use it to gauge how reliably first-time buyers convert into second-time buyers.

Repeat purchase rate = (customers with 2+ orders ÷ total customers) × 100

Variable	What it covers
Customers with 2+ orders	Unique customers who have placed a second or later order.
Total customers	All unique customers in the same window. Fix the window - all-time or trailing 12 months - and say which, because the two read very differently.

Worked example

Total customers12,000

Customers with two or more orders3,240

= Repeat purchase rate (3,240 ÷ 12,000)27%

Contribution per A$85 order at a 40% marginA$34.00

First-order position after a A$70 blended CAC−A$36.00

Each repeat order (no CAC attaches)+A$34.00

Example numbers. At these numbers the first order finishes A$36 under water and every repeat order contributes the full A$34 - the average customer needs roughly one repeat order just to break even, which is why this rate moves the whole P&L.

What is a good repeat purchase rate?

There is no cross-category benchmark worth trusting. The rate is set by what you sell: consumables reorder on a cycle, durables may take years or never, and single-hero-product stores repeat less than broad catalogs regardless of how good the experience is. It also depends mechanically on the window - an all-time rate falls while acquisition accelerates, because the denominator fills with brand-new one-order customers faster than older customers place second orders. Judge your own rate against your margin structure: the free Margin LTV calculator shows what a change in purchase frequency is worth in dollars you keep.

Repeat purchase rate vs related metrics

Metric	What it measures	How it differs from repeat purchase rate
Retention rate	Share of a cohort still buying after a set period.	Time-boxed and cohort-based; repeat purchase rate is a cumulative, base-wide share.
Customer lifetime value (LTV)	Total value across the whole relationship.	Repeat behaviour is one input to LTV, via purchase frequency and lifespan.
Average order value (AOV)	Revenue per order.	Order size, not order count; the two multiply inside lifetime value.
RFM segmentation	Customers scored by recency, frequency and monetary value.	Turns the single rate into segments you can actually act on.

Common mistakes

Reading a falling all-time rate as decaying loyalty. During heavy acquisition the denominator grows faster than second orders can arrive; check cohorts before concluding anything.
Counting orders instead of customers. A handful of heavy buyers placing many orders can mask a base that is overwhelmingly one-and-done.
No fixed window. Customers acquired last week have had no time to repeat; either exclude recent cohorts or use a trailing window.
Comparing across categories. A supplements store and a furniture store with the same rate are in opposite states of health.
Celebrating discount-driven repeats without checking margin. A second order bought with a deep code can contribute nothing; a repeat only counts if it leaves margin behind.

Repeat purchase rate FAQ

Repeat purchase rate is a base-wide share - customers with two or more orders over all customers - while retention rate is time-boxed on a specific cohort. The first tells you the shape of the base; the second tells you whether it is improving.

Any second or later order from the same customer, matched on customer identity rather than email or device alone where possible. Exchanges and replacement shipments should be excluded - they are the same purchase resolving, not new demand.

Usually the denominator: fast acquisition adds one-order customers faster than existing customers place second orders, so the all-time rate falls even when every cohort is repeating better. Read it by cohort before changing anything.

Retention rate Customer lifetime value (LTV) Average order value (AOV) Cohort analysis RFM segmentation All 14 free tools →

The frequency axis of the margin-true RFM cube in Blufire S4 Customer Value & Segmentation splits one-time from repeat buyers by the margin they leave behind, and S8 Persona Analytics turns those groups into audiences. The Math teaches the full method free.

Updated July 2026