Glossary / Repeat Rate
Repeat Rate
Repeat rate is the share of your customers in a period who had bought from you before. Divide returning customers by total customers for the same period.
Work out yours
Repeat rate = returning customers ÷ total customers × 100
26%
Normal, and the cheapest place you have to improve.
Why it matters
Repeat rate is the third lever on revenue and the one nobody measures. Revenue is customers multiplied by ticket multiplied by how often they come back, so a business that lifts all three by a quarter roughly doubles, while a business pushing on volume alone has to find twice as many strangers.
Where people get it wrong
A low repeat rate is not always a loyalty problem. Sometimes the work genuinely happens once. Check whether there is a legitimate reason to come back before you build a campaign around it.
If this number is not where you want it
Almost every small business with a low repeat rate has no system for contacting past customers, only intentions. A scheduled recall with a specific reason to return fixes it in weeks.
Follow-Up and Recall Automation, $800 one time
See what it would take, free →About Follow-Up and Recall AutomationRelated terms
- Churn RateChurn rate is the share of customers who stop buying from you over a period.
- Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)Customer lifetime value is everything one customer pays you across the whole relationship, not just the first sale.
- Effective Hourly RateYour effective hourly rate is what an hour of your own time is actually worth to the business.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)Customer acquisition cost is what you spend, on average, to win one new customer.
Common questions
+ What is a good repeat rate?
It depends entirely on the category. A dentist should be high because the work recurs by nature. A roofer will be low and that is fine. Compare yourself to last quarter, not to an industry number.
Part of the small business glossary. All six free calculators are here.