Returning customer vs repeat customer

In the ecommerce jargon, returning customer can mean a lot of things.

Most of the time it means a customer who came back to order again. It's just another word for repeat customer.

Sometimes though, returning customer takes on a different meaning. Sometimes a customer is only labeled a returning customer for their 2nd through 4th orders. Then with their 5th order they are relabeled repeat customer.

To add to the confusion, many metrics like Repeat Purchase Rate or Shopify's Returning Customer Rate include both returning and repeat customers. That means a metric that has Returning Customer in the name isn't actually measuring returning customers.

Bonkers.

There's no benefit of having two names just to split customers into returning/repeat buckets. If you're wanting to segment customers, call them "4th purchasers" or "repeat customers (4th)". That's much clearer than an arbitrary cutoff.

It kinda makes me wonder if the distinction was coined by a consultant looking to befuddle a client.

Eric Davis

Optimize your promotion timing to save money and attention

Repeat Customer Insights will analyze a ton of customer behavior data for you, including their buying cycles.
If you knew exactly when the majority of your customers were ready to buy again, you can increase your orders and profit just by tweaking your message timing.

Learn more

Topics: Repeat customers

Would you like a daily tip about Shopify?

Each tip includes a way to improve your store: customer analysis, analytics, customer acquisition, CRO... plus plenty of puns and amazing alliterations.