Cohort Analysis
Grouping customers by a shared characteristic (month of first purchase) and tracking their behavior over time. Reveals real changes that averages can hide.
In practice
Cohort analysis answers: are customers I acquired in January worth more than those acquired in July? Without it, you might improve CR while lowering LTV — bringing in cheap customers who never come back.
Common misconception
'Cohort analysis is too complex.' In Klaviyo: Analytics → Cohort Analysis — 2 clicks. The basic metric — what % of month X's customers bought again in month X+1 — can even be calculated in a spreadsheet.
How to fix it
Cohort retention declining? (1) Improve the post-purchase experience, (2) check whether products naturally drive repeat purchases, (3) run a win-back campaign for at-risk cohorts, (4) measure NPS by cohort.
Example
A supplements store: the Black Friday cohort's repeat rate was 8% the following month. Regular-purchase cohorts: 34% returned. Black Friday cut LTV by 60% — they changed their sales strategy.
Priority
Run cohort analysis quarterly. Question: 'What % of month X's customers bought again within 90 days?' Below 20% signals a retention problem. Above 40% is a healthy business.
Related terms
Keep learning. Metrics that touch the same area:
- ConversionAnalyticsA desired action a visitor takes — a purchase, sign-up, form submission. The basis for measuring marketing success.
- Conversion Rate (CR)AnalyticsThe percentage of visitors who completed a desired action. Average: 1-4% for purchases, depending on category.
- ATC – Add To CartAnalyticsThe action where a visitor adds an item to the cart. Average ATC rate: 8-10% of product page visits.
- Cart AbandonmentAnalyticsA customer added an item to the cart but didn't complete the purchase. Average: 70-75%. One of the biggest opportunities.
- Open RateAnalyticsThe percentage of recipients who opened the email. Average: 20-25% in eCommerce.
- Click RateAnalyticsThe percentage of recipients who clicked a link. Average: 2-3%. A CTOR (click-to-open rate) of 10-15% is a good target.
Jimmy tracks your Cohort Analysis, automatically
WhatsApp alerts when something important changes. No dashboards, no hassle.