Customer acquisition channel retention in the first six months
The short answer
Divide the customers from each acquisition channel who bought again within six months by all new customers from that channel, and you have customer acquisition channel retention. Use cohorts with a full six months of history, tag each customer by the source of their first order, and compare channels on the same window.
Repeat purchase rate by channel, worked through
Why it matters
Acquisition budgets are usually set on cost per first order, which treats a customer who never returns the same as one who buys every season. Retention by channel shows what each channel really delivers, and where a cheap first order hides an expensive customer.
The question to ask
Copy this into Lexi as written.
How to work it out
1. Build cohorts by first-order month. Take new customers acquired at least six months ago, with one record per person across channels.
2. Tag the acquisition channel. Assign each customer the channel of their first order, such as paid social, search, email sign-up, marketplace or store.
3. Calculate and compare. Divide each channel's six-month repeat buyers by its new customers, then check whether repeat buyers came back online, in store or both.
What the answer looks like
Illustrative output on sample data
Illustrative example: how Lexi answers this for an outdoor retailer. It follows customers acquired from January to March, with store and online orders matched to one person, and checks who bought again within six months.
- Paid search: 4,800 new, 28% repeat
- Paid social: 6,200 new, 14% repeat
- Email sign-up offer: 2,500 new, 34% repeat
- In store: 7,100 new, 33% repeat
What the data shows
Paid social brings in the second-largest group and keeps the fewest.
What it means
At $22 per acquisition, each returning paid social customer costs about $157, against $39 for paid search. Many in-store customers came back online, which a channel-by-channel report would miss.
What to do
Move part of the paid social budget to search and the email sign-up offer, and judge channels on retained customers.
Want me to compare the first products bought by each channel's repeat customers?
Frequently asked questions
Is customer retention rate by channel the same as repeat rate?
They are close relatives. Repeat rate asks whether a new customer bought a second time within a window. Retention rate usually asks whether a customer is still active in a later period, such as month 12. Use repeat rate for young cohorts and retention rate once you have a year of history.
Why does last-click channel tagging distort acquisition retention?
Last-click tags the final touch before the first order, which often credits branded search or email for customers another channel introduced. Retention then looks strong for channels that close sales and weak for channels that start them. Check first-touch tagging alongside last-click before cutting a channel.
How many customers per channel do I need for a fair comparison?
Aim for several hundred new customers per channel in each cohort, so a handful of buyers does not swing the rate. Combine months into quarterly cohorts for smaller channels. If a channel still has too few customers, report it with its count and treat the rate as directional.