What's a Good Repeat Customer Rate in Ecommerce? (Latest Benchmarks for 2026)

DTC ecommerce brands need repeat customers.

Repeat customers are where most of your profit comes from. It costs a lot of money to acquire customers (some brands barely break even on the first sale), but when they come back a second time, the customer typically spends more, and costs less.

So, with that in mind, what kind of repeat customer rate should you be aiming for? How do you know if your returning customer rate is good enough (or if your retention funnel is actually a leaky bucket)?

Read on and we’ll help you know where your business stands, and what constitutes a good repeat customer rate, with the latest benchmarks from around the ecom world.

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What Is Repeat Customer Rate?

Your repeat customer rate is the percentage of customers who come back and buy from you more than once within a given time period (usually 12 months).

The formula is straightforward:

Repeat Customer Rate = (Number of customers who purchased more than once / Total number of customers) x 100

If you had 1,000 customers last year and 280 of them bought from you at least twice, your repeat customer rate is 28%.

It's one of the clearest signals of whether your business is building lasting relationships or constantly chasing new buyers.

What's the Average Repeat Customer Rate in Ecommerce?

Most sources put the average somewhere between 25% and 30%. 

Shopify stores specifically average around 27%. Bluecore's benchmark report, which analyzed 100+ retailers, found a somewhat lower average of 16.5%, though that study used a narrower measurement window.

Here's the quick breakdown:

• Below 20%: You're likely losing customers faster than you should be. There's significant room to improve.
• 20-30%: You're in line with most ecommerce brands. Solid, but there's still upside.
• 30-40%: You're outperforming the average. Your retention efforts are working.
• Above 40%: You're in strong territory, often seen with subscription models or high-frequency consumables.

The "right" number depends heavily on what you sell. A furniture brand with a 20% repeat rate is doing well. A supplement brand with the same number has a problem.

Repeat Customer Rate by Industry

Here's how repeat customer rates typically break down across major ecommerce categories. 

(Industry-level data is drawn primarily from Bluecore's Customer Growth Benchmarks Report and Opensend's repeat purchase rate analysis, supplemented with company-specific data where noted.)

Grocery and Food Delivery

Repeat rate: 40%+

Grocery is at the top because people need to eat every week. About 40% of online grocery shoppers order weekly, and repeat purchase intent reaches roughly 65%. 

Once someone gets comfortable with a delivery service, switching costs feel high (they've saved their favorites, they know the interface), even if they're not actually locked in.

Pet Supplies

Repeat rate: 30-40%+

Pet owners buy the same food, treats, and supplies on a regular cycle, and they're not inclined to experiment with what their pet eats. 

Chewy is the poster child here: roughly 78% of their sales come through auto-ship subscriptions, and about 90% of revenue comes from existing customers.

Health and Supplements

Repeat rate: ~29%

Supplements and health products are consumable by nature, and customers who find something that works tend to stick with it. Auto-refill and subscription options push repeat rates even higher. This is one of the strongest categories for retention outside of grocery.

Fashion and Apparel

Repeat rate: 20-26%

Apparel has a solid but not exceptional repeat rate. People buy clothes regularly, but they also shop around. Bluecore puts apparel at about 20%, while other sources cite closer to 25-26%. Seasonal trends and personal style loyalty both play a role.

Beauty and Cosmetics

Repeat rate: ~21-26%

Beauty lands in a similar range to apparel. Deal-hunting behavior is common in this category, which drags the average down. But brands with strong loyalty programs and replenishment cycles (think skincare routines) can push well above 40%.

Sporting Goods and Outdoor

Repeat rate: ~21%

A mix of consumable accessories (golf balls, supplements, socks) and bigger-ticket equipment keeps this category in the low twenties. The repeat rate depends heavily on how much of your catalog is replenishable vs. durable.

Electronics and Tech

Repeat rate: ~18%

People don't buy a new laptop or pair of headphones every few months. Long product lifecycles naturally suppress repeat rates. Brands that sell accessories and consumables alongside their hardware do better here.

Home and Furniture

Repeat rate: ~15%

This is one of the lowest categories, and that makes sense. You buy a couch once every several years. 

Bluecore's data shows a 14.7% repeat purchase rate. Wayfair is a notable exception, reporting that nearly 80% of orders come from repeat customers, but they've built a massive catalog across home goods, decor, and smaller items that people reorder more frequently.

Luxury Goods and Jewelry

Repeat rate: ~10%

Luxury has the lowest repeat purchase rate. Bluecore found that only about 9.9% of first-time luxury and jewelry customers made a second purchase within a year. High price points and long consideration cycles make this the hardest category for repeat purchases. 

That said, when luxury customers do come back, they tend to spend significantly more.

Why Repeat Customers Matter So Much

Excuse me if it sounds dramatic - but most ecommerce businesses will live and die based on how many repeat customers they get.

You've probably heard the stats, but they're worth revisiting because the gap between new and repeat customers is genuinely dramatic.

They cost less to convert

Acquiring a new customer costs 5-25x more than getting an existing one to buy again. The probability of selling to someone who's already bought from you is 60-70%. For a new prospect, it's 5-20%.

They spend more per order

Repeat customers spend roughly 67% more per order than first-time buyers, according to BIA Advisory Services. Bluecore's more recent data is consistent, showing active buyers spending about 69% more than new customers.

They drive a disproportionate share of revenue

About 65% of a company's revenue comes from existing customers. The top 5% of customers alone generate 35% of total ecommerce revenue. Stores with a 40% repeat customer rate generate about 50% more revenue than stores sitting at 10%.

The second purchase is the hardest

After a first purchase, there's roughly a 27% chance a customer will return. But once they make that second purchase, the probability of a third jumps to 54% or higher. Everything you do to earn that second order compounds from there.

Small improvements have big payoffs

A 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by 25-95%, according to research from Bain & Company and Harvard Business School. That's not a typo. The range is wide, but even the low end is significant.

What Drives Repeat Purchases?

Before jumping into tactics, it helps to understand the main factors that influence whether someone comes back.

Product type and purchase frequency

This is the biggest factor, and it's largely outside your control. If you sell something people use up and need to replace (food, supplements, skincare), you'll naturally see higher repeat rates than brands selling durable goods.

Product quality

57% of shoppers cite product quality as a top driver of loyalty. This is table stakes. If your product is good, people come back. If it's inconsistent, they don't.

Customer experience

45% of consumers have switched brands due to poor customer service. Fast shipping, easy returns, and responsive support aren't differentiators anymore; they're the baseline.

Personalization

About 60% of consumers say they're more likely to become repeat buyers after a personalized experience. That could mean product recommendations based on past purchases, targeted email flows, or personalized offers.

Loyalty programs

83% of consumers say loyalty program membership influences their repurchase decisions. Well-structured programs with tiered rewards achieve 1.8x higher ROI than flat programs.

Convenience and friction reduction

Subscription options, one-click reordering, and saved payment methods all reduce the effort required to buy again. The easier you make it, the more likely it happens.

How to Improve Your Repeat Customer Rate

Here are the highest-impact levers, roughly in order of how quickly they can move the needle.

1. Nail the post-purchase experience

The period between a customer's first order and their second is the most critical window you have. Use it well:

• Send order confirmations and shipping updates promptly
• Follow up after delivery to check satisfaction
• Share product tips, care instructions, or usage ideas
• Time your next outreach based on your product's natural replenishment cycle

Brands that send personalized post-purchase communications see up to 45% higher second-purchase rates.

2. Launch (or improve) a loyalty program

If you don't have a loyalty program, start one. If you do, make sure it actually rewards meaningful behavior. 

The best programs create a reason to consolidate spending with your brand rather than spreading it around.

Tiered structures work particularly well because they give customers something to work toward. The feeling of "almost reaching Gold status" drives behavior in a way flat discounts don't.

Learn more: Best Shopify Loyalty Program Apps

3. Offer subscriptions or auto-replenishment

If you sell anything consumable, subscriptions should be part of your model. They take the decision-making out of repeat purchases and dramatically reduce churn. 

Give customers a small discount (10-15%) for subscribing, and make it easy to skip, pause, or cancel.

Learn more: Best Shopify Subscription Apps

4. Personalize your marketing

Generic email blasts don't drive repeat purchases. Segmented, behavior-based campaigns do. At minimum:

• Recommend products based on purchase history
• Send replenishment reminders timed to your product's usage cycle
• Trigger win-back campaigns for customers who haven't bought in a while

5. Reduce friction everywhere

Look at your reorder experience through the eyes of a returning customer. Can they reorder a previous purchase in two taps? Are their payment details saved? Is checkout fast on mobile?

Free shipping increases repeat rates by about 20%. Easy returns add another 12%. These aren't perks; they're expectations.

6. Build a mobile app

Mobile apps are one of the best ways to increase loyalty and retention. 

This one deserves its own section:

How a Mobile App Drives Repeat Purchases

A mobile app is one of the most effective tools for turning one-time buyers into repeat customers. The data backs this up consistently.

App users buy more often

Brands with mobile apps see up to 50% higher repeat purchase rates compared to mobile web alone. 60% of first-time app buyers go on to make additional purchases. App users purchase about 33% more frequently than non-app users.

The reason is simple: your app sits on the customer's home screen. It's a persistent, low-friction path back to your store, compared to expecting someone to remember your URL or find you through a search engine again.

Push notifications bring people back

Push notifications are the single biggest retention advantage apps have over mobile web. They let you reach customers directly, without competing in a crowded inbox or paying for ads.

The numbers are compelling:

• Push notification click-through rates for ecommerce run 3-5%, which is 3-5x higher than email
• Personalized push notifications get 4x higher open rates than generic blasts
• 65% of users return to an app when push notifications are enabled
• Abandoned cart recovery through push notifications can recover thousands in monthly revenue per brand

Push gives you a direct, owned channel to re-engage customers at exactly the right moment, whether that's a restock reminder, a price drop alert, or a flash sale.

The conversion and engagement gap is huge

Mobile apps don't just drive more repeat visits. They convert better when people do come back:

• Apps convert at roughly 3x the rate of mobile websites
• Average order value runs 10-50% higher in apps than on mobile web
• Cart abandonment drops to about 20% in apps, compared to 86% on mobile web
• Users spend 18x more time per month in shopping apps vs mobile web

App users are worth more over their lifetime

All of this adds up. App users generate 2.8-5x higher lifetime value than web-only shoppers. They visit more often, spend more per order, and are less likely to churn.

For ecommerce brands doing meaningful mobile traffic, a well-built app is one of the highest-ROI retention investments available.

Get the latest data on ecommerce mobile apps in our Benchmark Report.

You don't need to rebuild anything to get one

This is where most brands stall out. Building a native app from scratch is expensive, time-consuming, and adds a second codebase to maintain. 

For ecommerce brands, it's overkill.

MobiLoud takes a different approach. We turn your existing website into a fully native iOS and Android app, so you get all the retention benefits (push notifications, home screen presence, native performance) without rebuilding your store or maintaining a separate platform.

Everything you've already built, your checkout flow, your integrations, your loyalty program, your content, all of it works in the app from day one.

Curious whether a mobile app could move the needle on your repeat customer rate?

‍Get a free app preview to see what your store would look like as a native app, or book a free consultation to talk through your retention strategy.