# Retention — how many customers come back

> How the Retention page measures your repeat purchase rate, what each extra point of repeat rate is worth, and what customers buy after their first product.

Source: https://help.tryordinary.com/features/retention

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Retention is available on **every plan**. Left nav → **Insights →
Retention**.

The page answers two questions: how many customers come back, and
what each point of that is worth to you.


## Choosing a window

At the top of the page, pick an observation window: **90 days**,
**180 days** or **12 months** (the default). Each customer is measured
over that window from their **own first order** — it isn't a calendar
date range, so the date picker doesn't change this page.

## The four tiles

- **Worth per point** — the extra revenue you'd see over the window if
  one more percentage point of customers came back, at your current
  repeat-order value. Shown in your shop's currency.
- **Comes back** — your repeat purchase rate: the share of customers
  who placed another order within the window after their first. The
  tile shows how many of how many customers that is.
- **Repeat order** — the average value of repeat orders (second order
  onward), net of refunds.
- **Orders per returner** — the average number of repeat orders among
  customers who come back.

## What improvement is worth

Four mini tiles show what lifting your repeat rate by **+1**, **+2**,
**+5** and **+10** points would be worth over the window, and the
repeat rate each would take you to. This is a sizing aid, not a
target — how far a store can move its repeat rate depends on its
category and how many buyers it has.

## After the first order

A flow chart shows what customers did after their first order, for
your largest group of customers who started with the same product
(their highest-value item on the first order). Each customer is
counted once, in one outcome, so the branches add up to the group:

- the products they bought next
- **Several products**
- the same product **again**
- **Never ordered again**

Only orders placed *after* the first one count — add-ons in the same
order aren't something a customer came back for.

When several products each started enough customers, a **Started
with** list on the left lets you switch between them, with each
product's customer count and repeat rate.

## How this is counted

Only customers who placed a first order at least one full window ago
are counted, measured over that same window from each customer's own
first order — so everyone in the number has had the same chance to
come back. Recent customers are left out rather than counted as
non-returners.

A few more rules:

- **Refunds** — a refunded repeat order still counts as the customer
  coming back; refunds lower the **Repeat order** value.
- **Guest checkouts** — orders without a customer record can't be
  linked to a returning customer, so they aren't counted.

## Retention and Cohorts

Retention gives you the headline: how many customers come back and
what that's worth. **Cohorts** *(Advanced)* breaks the same question
down month by month — what each month's new customers were worth over
time. See [Cohorts](https://help.tryordinary.com/features/cohort-retention).

## Related articles

- [Cohorts — what new customers are worth over time](https://help.tryordinary.com/features/cohort-retention)
- [Customer lifecycle stages](https://help.tryordinary.com/features/customer-lifecycle)
- [Customer lists and segments](https://help.tryordinary.com/features/customers)