# Customer lifecycle stages

> What New, Active, Due Reorder, Lapsed, and Lost mean — and how to tune the day-thresholds that define each stage for your brand.

Source: https://help.tryordinary.com/features/customer-lifecycle

---

Every purchased customer is automatically placed in a lifecycle stage
based on how long it's been since their last order. Visible on the
**Customers** page as a row of tiles.


## The four stages

The defaults are tuned for typical consumable DTC brands; adjust them
to match your replenishment cadence.

| Stage       | Default threshold          | What it means                        |
|-------------|---------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| **New**     | ≤30 days since last order | Recently acquired / recently active  |
| **Due Reorder** | 31-60 days since last order | Overdue for replenishment        |
| **Lapsed**  | 61-90 days since last order | Disengaging; retention win possible  |
| **Lost**    | 90+ days since last order | Cold; reactivation rather than retention |

Customers with zero orders don't appear in these buckets — they're
"Prospects" (see [Customer lists and segments](https://help.tryordinary.com/features/customers)).

## Why it matters

Each stage implies a different marketing action:

- **New** — welcome series, cross-sell, plant the seeds for reorder.
- **Due Reorder** — replenishment reminder email or SMS. Highest ROI
  segment. These are customers who intended to come back and just
  forgot.
- **Lapsed** — win-back campaign. Offer a small discount.
- **Lost** — reactivation campaign. Bigger offer or no-strings-attached
  gift. Low expected return per customer but large pool.

## Tuning thresholds

The defaults don't fit every brand. If you sell:

- **Consumables that last 30 days** (supplements, coffee) — defaults
  are right.
- **Longer-cycle goods** (apparel, home) — bump thresholds:
  New ≤60, Due Reorder 60-120, Lapsed 120-180, Lost 180+.
- **Subscription-primary** (Recharge) — thresholds matter less because
  renewals auto-generate orders. Use subscription status instead.

Adjust on **Settings → Preferences → Lifecycle thresholds**:


Three sliders:

- **Max days for New**
- **Max days for Due Reorder** (must be > New)
- **Max days for Lapsed** (must be > Due Reorder)

Anything past the Lapsed cap is Lost.

Changes apply immediately to the Customers page tiles and any
segmentation that uses these stages.

## Filtering by stage

On the Customers page, sort by **Days Since Order** (descending for
Lost first, ascending for most-recent first). Or search by email if
you want a specific person.

A dedicated "filter by lifecycle" control is tracked as a post-launch
enhancement.

## Related features

- [Customer lists and segments](https://help.tryordinary.com/features/customers) — the full Customers page tour.
- [Cohort retention analysis](https://help.tryordinary.com/features/cohort-retention) — retention as a
  curve rather than a bucket (Advanced).
- [Offer calculator](https://help.tryordinary.com/features/offer-calculator) — model a win-back discount's ROI.