The jump from one order to two is the hardest step in retention, and the most valuable: customers who order twice are far more likely to order a third time.
Track it by acquisition month and by first product. Some products bring in customers who come back; others bring in deal-seekers who never do.
Formula
Second-order rate = First-time customers who reordered within the window ÷ First-time customers
Example
600 of 2,000 customers acquired in June ordered again by September: a 90-day second-order rate of 30%.
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Related terms
- Repeat purchase rateRepeat purchase rate is the share of customers who place a second order within a…
- Time between ordersTime between orders is how long customers take to place their next order, often…
- Cohort analysisCohort analysis groups customers by when they were acquired and tracks how each…
Where this comes up
How to get the second orderThe jump from one order to two is the most valuable step in D2C retention. How to find customers who are due, time the message to your own repeat pattern, and know whether it worked. Is your best seller losing money? How to measure product profitabilityRevenue rankings hide the products that lose money. How to build a product P&L that shares shipping, fees, discounts and RTO fairly, and what to do with the gaps it finds.Part of the growth marketing glossary by Shiva Sharma.