Repeat purchase rate

Repeat purchase rate is the share of customers who ordered in a period and placed two or more orders in that same period.

By Berend Vrakking, founder of Product Metrics. Updated 7 October 2026.

Formula

Repeat purchase rate = customers with 2 or more orders in the period ÷ all customers who ordered in the period

State the period, for example the last 12 months. A rate over 3 months and a rate over 12 months are different numbers, so compare like with like. Write it as 25% or 0.25.

Example

Worked example, last 12 months
Step	Value
Customers who ordered	800
Customers who ordered once	600
Customers who ordered 2 or more times	200
Repeat purchase rate (200 ÷ 800)	25%

One in four customers who ordered in the last 12 months ordered again in the same 12 months. Illustrative data.

For one product, and for an account

Per product, take the customers who bought it and count how many placed another order, for that product or anything else. A high rate means the product brings in people worth more than their first order. Blend every product into one account rate and the good recruiters vanish into the average.

This matters for ads, because the first order is often the only order you can see when you decide what to pay. Full Signal Tracking sends returning customers and lifetime value to Google Ads as their own conversion actions, so orders after the first are counted separately from new customers.

Common mistake

Comparing rates from different periods, or including customers whose first order arrived yesterday. They have had no time to come back, so they drag the rate below where it will end up.

Questions

How do you calculate repeat purchase rate?

Divide the customers who placed two or more orders in the period by all customers who ordered in that period. If 200 of 800 customers ordered at least twice in 12 months, the rate is 25%.

What is a good repeat purchase rate?

One that holds up against your own history. A shop selling coffee and a shop selling sofas should not expect the same rate, because people need them at very different intervals. Compare your own rate for the same period over time, and by product, and check it against what you can afford to pay for a first order.

What does repeat purchase mean?

A repeat purchase is any order from a customer who has ordered from you before. Repeat purchase rate measures how many of your customers do it within a set period.

Keep reading

Cohort analysisFollow repeat orders for each first-order month instead of one blended rate.
LTV:CAC ratio for ecommerceRepeat orders decide what a customer is worth after the first one.
Customer acquisition cost for ecommerceWhat a first order costs, which repeat orders may pay back.
Full Signal TrackingHow new and returning customers reach Google Ads.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)What a customer cost before they ordered again.