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Proven strategies to increase repeat purchase rates for ecommerce stores

We might sound like a broken record at this point, but every ecommerce store knows how vital it is to get repeat customers. Repeat Purchase Rate (RPR) is a crucial metric for any ecommerce business to measure the success of its loyalty efforts. It measures how often customers return to your business to make a purchase. 

  • A high RPR means customers are returning to your business to buy more of your products, which signifies high customer loyalty and satisfaction. 
  • A low RPR may mean that customers aren’t finding the value they want in your products or brand and need more convincing to return. 

In this post, we’ll look at the importance of the Repeat Purchase Rate metric and how it can gauge customer loyalty and satisfaction for ecommerce businesses.

What is Repeat Purchase Rate?

Repeat Purchase Rate (RPR) is a metric that measures the percentage of customers who purchase from a company more than once over a certain time period. It is an essential indicator of customer satisfaction and loyalty, and helps track customer retention strategies’ success. By understanding the RPR, businesses can better target their marketing and customer service efforts to retain existing customers and increase customer loyalty.

The benefits of having a high Repeat Purchase Rate 

Increased Customer Lifetime Value

It’s no secret that having a high repeat purchase rate benefits businesses. One of the most significant advantages is increased customer lifetime value. This means the total amount customers spend with your business will grow significantly.

When customers return to purchase more products or services, they are likely to spend more money than when they first became customers every returning visit, these figures can add up quickly and increase overall profit margins due to higher sales volume. In fact, on average, loyal customers are worth up to 10x as much as their first purchase. Also, loyal customers tend to be less price-sensitive than new customers, so it’s easier to drive up revenue per transaction.

The benefits don’t stop there; satisfied customers will also help spread the word about your brand through positive reviews and recommendations on social media platforms, or among friends and family members. This could further your company’s growth as you acquire more leads from referrals and gain valuable insights into what truly resonates with your target audience. Fostering strong relationships with existing customers is pivotal in driving long-term success for any business.

To see this in action, take a look at how LIVELY’s team designed a loyalty program that increased its customer lifetime value by 39% and customer spend by 36%.

Lively Loyaltylion Tiers


By understanding how crucial returning customers are, companies can start taking necessary steps towards creating better experiences, including incentives such as discounts, exclusive offers, or tailored rewards programs. These are all designed to encourage repeat purchases and boost loyalty rates even further.

Improved brand recognition and loyalty

One of the most important advantages of having a high repeat purchase rate is the improved brand recognition and loyalty it brings. Customers who come back to purchase your products or services repeatedly say that they trust your company, creating a direct connection between their positive experiences with you and your reputation in the industry. This can be highly beneficial as customers are more likely to recommend your business to friends and family if they have had good experiences with you in the past.

Building on this, developing solid relationships with returning customers also has its benefits. By understanding what motivates them, companies can create tailored offers that will help build further trust. Additionally, loyal customers allow businesses to fine-tune their marketing efforts; targeting those already familiar with their brand, they won’t have to spend time introducing themselves whenever they want to promote a new product or service.

An established core group of returning customers provides many long-term benefits for any business. It also increases consumer lifetime value and strengthens a brand’s presence in the marketplace – all invaluable assets for any successful enterprise!

Greater cost efficiency from acquisition and retention campaigns

With greater cost efficiency from acquisition and retention efforts, businesses can save money while creating loyal customers more likely to make subsequent purchases.

Companies can save on costs when it comes to acquiring and retaining their customers by using loyalty programs or other incentives to encourage them to return. By offering discounts or rewards points, businesses can reward their most devoted customers without spending too much money. Additionally, these types of promotions help create an atmosphere where people feel appreciated and valued for being a part of the company’s family, which further helps build trust with the brand.

In addition to saving money on acquisition and retention expenses, businesses also benefit from increased brand recognition as they develop strong relationships with loyal customers. When consumers become familiar with your product or service, they’re more likely to recommend it to others, leading to exponential growth through word-of-mouth referrals. This type of positive reputation leads to better online and offline visibility, making it easier for potential new customers to find you.

Companies can enjoy improved brand recognition and increased profits over time by taking advantage of cost-effective measures like loyalty programs and focusing on building lasting connections with their customer base.

More opportunities to upsell and cross-sell to existing customers

When it comes to growing a business, one of the significant benefits of having a high repeat purchase rate is that loyal customers will provide more opportunities to upsell and cross-sell. This means businesses can benefit from higher revenues with less effort since they don’t have to invest as many resources toward acquiring new customers.

For example, let’s say a company sells a product or service. Instead of advertising campaigns targeting potential new buyers, the company can offer related products or upgrades for their current services if the existing customers already trust the brand enough to purchase again. This way, there’s no need for extra marketing costs, yet companies still get profitable returns from their investments.

Improved revenue streams & margins

Repeat customers provide businesses with a reliable income stream. Not only do they bring in revenue, but their loyalty often increases profit margins. This is why companies are eager to understand and capture the power of loyalty.

Retaining customers can lead to cost savings over time since acquiring new ones costs more money than retaining them. Businesses can increase customer retention rates and improve profits by incentivizing repeat customers through rewards or discounts.

Overall, understanding the benefits of a high repeat purchase rate can help businesses get an edge over competitors by creating improved revenue streams and increased profit margins. With such advantages at hand, there’s no doubt that loyal customers play an invaluable role in any business looking for success.

TIP: Offer special rewards or discounts to your loyal customers to show them how much you appreciate their support and encourage future visits!

The ability to grow and scale the business faster

The ability to grow and scale the business faster is a key benefit of having a high repeat purcahse rate. Through loyalty, companies can better predict future revenue streams and margins and anticipate market trends. With this knowledge comes increased confidence in investing more resources into expanding the company’s reach without taking on unnecessary risk.

Furthermore, loyal customers typically require less marketing spend than new ones; this gives businesses an invaluable edge when budgeting for growth projects. Additionally, loyal customers provide feedback that can be used to refine products or services, leading to further expansion opportunities.

Overall, understanding the power of loyalty and its benefits has many advantages for businesses wanting to grow quickly and sustainably. By leveraging customer data and insights gained through relationships with returning customers, organizations have the potential to make informed decisions about investments that will pay off in both short-term gains and long-term success.

How to measure Repeat Purchase Rate

The formula for Repeat Purchase Rate is:

Repeat Purchase Rate = (Number of Customers Who Have Made Repeat Purchases / Total Number of Customers) x 100

For example, if a business has a total of 500 customers, and 250 of those customers have made repeat purchases, then the Repeat Purchase Rate for that business would be 50%. 

This implies that half of the business’s customer base has made repeat purchases, showing that the business has a successful customer retention program.

How to improve Repeat Purchase Rate

If your ecommerce business is struggling with its RPR, here are some suggestions to help improve it: 

– Offer different types of incentives, discounts, and rewards programs within your loyalty program, such as:

– Double or triple points awards

– Tiered loyalty programs where customers can work their way up to the highest perks 

– Experiential rewards, e.g., sending highest value customer products before they launch and collecting feedback

– Free or discounted shipping for higher-value customers 

– Recycling initiatives where customers get points for trading in old products, so they have more to spend on new products. E.g. Astrid & Miyu’s ‘Astrid & Renew’ jewelry recycling scheme

– Building a community by offering loyalty points for Instagram follows or UGC

Astrid & Miyu’s ‘Astrid & Renew’ jewelry recycling scheme
   Astrid & Miyu’s ‘Astrid & Renew’ jewelry recycling scheme

– Re-engage abandoned shopping carts or inactive customers through targeted email/SMS campaigns or remarketing strategies

– Create seamless experiences across all platforms (mobile, web, etc.)

– Focus more on Relationship Marketing

– Utilize data analytics to track customer satisfaction levels, purchase behaviors, and other relevant metrics 

– Create effective content marketing initiatives such as email newsletters, blogs, and social media campaigns tailored toward loyal buyers 

– Offer discounts or special promotions exclusively for returning customers 

How LoyaltyLion helps brands improve Repeat Purchase Rate

LoyaltyLion is a loyalty and rewards platform that makes it easy to set up a high-performing loyalty program for your ecommerce store. Here’s how LoyaltyLion helps your store improve its repeat purchase rate.

Full-featured loyalty programs

With LoyaltyLion, you can set up a comprehensive loyalty program to show your customers that their loyalty is appreciated. Your loyalty program can include rewards such as discounts, points for purchases, charitable donations, early access to products or sales events, and even special VIP events. And LoyaltyLion integrates with apps such as Klaviyo, Okendo, and Attentive to provide an even more seamless customer experience.

Powerful analytics

LoyaltyLion’s powerful analytics let you collect customer data, giving you valuable insight into buying habits and preferences. This makes it easier to personalize and tailor your messaging even more effectively. By identifying when a customer is at risk of churning, you can send out specific messaging to re-engage them and keep them as loyal customers.

Winback churned customers

LoyaltyLion helps win back churned customers by allowing businesses to create personalized rewards programs tailored to their customer base. We help businesses stay connected with their customers by sending automated emails and notifications reminding customers of their loyalty points, rewards, and exclusive offers. And you can track customer engagement to identify customers at risk of churning and target them with tailored rewards and incentives. 

To learn more about how LoyaltyLion helps your store with retention, schedule a demo with our team.

About the author

Georgie Walsh

Georgie is the Content Marketing Manager at LoyaltyLion. Georgie has spent most of her 6+ years marketing in B2B companies, and has developed a huge passion for bringing B2B voices alive through engaging copy and memorable storytelling.

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