.jpg)
Most Shopify brands obsess over acquisition while their existing customers quietly disappear. The average ecommerce store loses 70-75% of its customer base annually—yet repeat buyers generate 44% of total revenue despite representing just 21% of customers. For Shopify merchants building sustainable growth, understanding retention benchmarks isn't optional. It's the difference between profitable scaling and an endless treadmill of paid acquisition.
This guide breaks down 25 critical retention statistics for 2026, organized by industry vertical and performance category. Use these benchmarks to assess where your store stands, identify gaps, and build a loyalty program that moves your metrics in the right direction.
Key Takeaways
- E-commerce retention lags other industries – The average ecommerce retention rate is 30%, compared to 63% for traditional retail and 70-80% for subscription services.
- Vertical performance varies significantly – CBD leads at 36.2% repeat purchase rate, while luxury goods trail at just 9.9%. Know your category's benchmark before setting targets.
- Small retention gains compound quickly – A 5% improvement in retention can boost profits by 25-95%, making it one of the highest-leverage investments available.
- Churn is largely preventable – 85% of customer churn stems from fixable service issues, not product problems or competitive offers.
- Personalization drives repeat behavior – 56% of shoppers become repeat buyers after receiving personalized experiences, yet most brands still deliver generic interactions.
Core E-commerce Retention Benchmarks
Before comparing yourself to industry leaders, you need baseline context. These statistics establish what "average" looks like across ecommerce—and reveal how much room exists between typical and top-tier performance.
1. The Average E-commerce Retention Rate Is 30%
This is your starting benchmark. If your retention rate falls below 30%, you're underperforming the market average. If you're above it, you're ahead of most competitors—but top performers reach significantly higher. This figure represents the percentage of customers who return to purchase again within a defined period, typically 12 months. Source: Shopify Canada
2. Average Repeat Customer Rate in E-commerce Ranges From 15-30%
Repeat customer rate measures what percentage of your total customer base has made more than one purchase. The wide range reflects significant variation by product type, price point, and purchase frequency. Consumable products sit at the high end; durables and luxury items cluster near the bottom. Source: MobiLoud
3. E-commerce Businesses Face 70-75% Annual Churn
Flip the retention statistics and you see the real challenge: most ecommerce brands lose seven out of every ten customers each year. This churn rate far exceeds other industries and explains why acquisition costs continue rising—brands must constantly replace departing customers just to maintain revenue. Source: UpCounting
4. Traditional Retail Retains 63% of Customers Annually
Traditional retail—physical stores with in-person relationships—retains more than double the customers that ecommerce does. The gap highlights the challenge of building loyalty without face-to-face interaction and underscores why intentional retention strategies matter more for online brands. Source: Exploding Topics
Industry-Specific Retention Benchmarks
Your retention target should reflect your vertical, not cross-industry averages. A 25% repeat rate might signal strong performance in luxury fashion but underperformance in consumables. These benchmarks help you calibrate expectations.
5. CBD Industry Leads E-commerce With 36.2% Repeat Purchase Rate
Consumable products with regular replenishment cycles naturally drive higher retention. CBD's leading position reflects both product consumption patterns and the trust factor—once customers find a brand they trust in a loosely regulated category, they tend to stick. Source: Shopify Enterprise
6. Grocery and Food Delivery Achieves 65.2% Repeat Purchase Intent
No surprise here: people eat every day. Grocery and food delivery benefit from high-frequency need states and convenience lock-in. If your products serve recurring needs, this benchmark—not the 30% average—is your target. Source: Envive AI
7. Pet Supplies Brands Achieve 30%+ Repeat Customer Rates
Pet owners need to replenish food, treats, and supplies on predictable schedules. This creates natural retention opportunities that smart brands capture through subscription models and loyalty programs. Source: MobiLoud
8. Health and Supplements Category Averages 29% Repeat Rate
Supplements require ongoing consumption, driving repeat behavior. The 29% rate suggests room for improvement through better subscription offerings and loyalty incentives that reward consistent purchasing patterns. Source: MobiLoud
9. Beauty and Cosmetics Achieves 25.9% Repeat Purchase Rate
Beauty sits slightly below the ecommerce average despite product replenishment potential. High competition and frequent brand-switching behavior contribute to the lower figure. Strong VIP tier programs can help brands stand out in this crowded category. Source: MobiLoud
10. Fashion Averages 24.4% Retention, With Luxury at Just 9.9%
Fashion retention varies dramatically by segment. Luxury brands face longer purchase cycles and higher consideration—making each customer relationship more valuable but harder to maintain. Fashion brands overall sit slightly below the ecommerce average, with luxury goods at the lower end of the spectrum. Source: Envive AI
11. Home and Furniture Sees Just 14.7% Repeat Purchase Rate
Long replacement cycles explain the low figure. Customers don't buy sofas monthly. Brands in this category should focus on maximizing lifetime value through adjacent categories, referral programs, and extended engagement rather than expecting frequent repeat purchases. Source: MobiLoud
12. Electronics Faces 18% Retention Due to Extended Replacement Cycles
Similar to home goods, electronics purchases happen infrequently. A customer who buys a laptop won't need another for years. Success in this category requires referral marketing and accessory upsells rather than repeat core-product purchases. Source: Envive AI
Churn Rate Statistics by Product Category
Understanding churn by category helps you diagnose whether your performance reflects industry norms or fixable problems. These annual churn rates show what percentage of customers don't return within 12 months.
13. Beauty and Fitness: 62% Annual Churn Rate
Despite product replenishment potential, beauty and fitness brands lose nearly two-thirds of customers annually. High competition and low switching costs contribute. Loyalty programs that create genuine switching friction—accumulated points, tier status, exclusive access—can significantly improve these numbers. Source: UpCounting
14. Apparel: 71% Annual Churn Rate
Fashion's churn rate exceeds most categories. Trend sensitivity, extensive competition, and price-driven shopping behavior all contribute. Building brand affinity through community, personalization, and rewards programs offers a path to improvement. Source: UpCounting
15. Consumer Electronics: 82% Annual Churn Rate
The highest churn rate in ecommerce reflects the category's fundamental challenge: products last years, not weeks. Electronics brands must extract maximum value from each customer through accessories, services, and referrals since repeat core-product purchases are rare. Source: UpCounting
ROI and Revenue Impact Statistics
These statistics quantify the financial upside of retention improvements—and the cost of ignoring them.
16. A 5% Increase in Retention Boosts Profits by 25-95%
Small retention improvements compound significantly. Retained customers cost less to serve, spend more per order, and require no acquisition investment. The range depends on your current baseline—brands with lower retention rates see the most dramatic gains. Source: Envive AI
17. Acquiring New Customers Costs 5-25x More Than Retaining Existing Ones
Acquisition requires ad spend, creative production, landing pages, and conversion optimization. Retention requires maintaining relationships you've already built. The cost differential makes retention the higher-leverage investment for most established brands. Source: Envive AI
18. Brands Lose an Average of $29 Per Newly Acquired Customer
Rising acquisition costs have pushed customer acquisition economics into negative territory. This figure represents the average loss before any repeat purchases occur. Without retention infrastructure, brands subsidize one-time buyers who never return. Source: Envive AI
19. 65% of Company Revenue Comes From Existing Customers
Your existing customer base is your primary revenue engine. Treating retention as an afterthought means neglecting the majority of your revenue potential. Source: Envive AI
20. Repeat Customers Generate 44% of Revenue While Representing Just 21% of the Customer Base
This disproportionate contribution reveals the true value of repeat buyers. Each retained customer delivers more than twice the revenue impact of a typical customer. Identifying and nurturing high-value repeat buyers should be a central business priority. Source: Shopify Enterprise
Customer Experience and Service Impact
Retention isn't only about rewards and discounts. These statistics demonstrate how experience quality directly impacts whether customers return or churn.
21. 95% of Consumers Say Customer Service Is Essential for Brand Loyalty
Product quality gets you the first sale. Service quality determines whether customers forgive mistakes and keep buying. A single negative service interaction can undo months of brand building. Source: Forbes
22. 85% of Churn Is Preventable Through Better Customer Service
Most customers don't leave because competitors offered better products. They leave because something went wrong and nobody fixed it. Proactive outreach and rapid issue resolution can recover the vast majority of at-risk customers. Source: Envive AI
23. Companies With Strong Omnichannel Engagement Retain 89% vs. 33% for Weak Implementations
Consistency across touchpoints—website, email, SMS, mobile, in-store—creates seamless experiences that keep customers engaged. Fragmented experiences create friction that drives churn. The gap between 89% and 33% shows just how much implementation quality matters. Source: Envive AI
24. 56% of Shoppers Become Repeat Buyers Following Personalized Experiences
Personalization isn't just a nice-to-have—it directly converts one-time buyers into repeat customers. Brands that remember preferences, purchase history, and engagement patterns earn the repeat business that generic experiences don't. Source: Envive AI
How to Calculate Your Retention Metrics
Benchmarks only matter if you can measure your own performance. Here are the formulas you need to track retention accurately.
Customer Retention Rate Formula:
((Customers at End of Period – New Customers Acquired) / Customers at Start of Period) x 100
Example: You start Q1 with 1,000 customers, acquire 300 new customers, and end with 950 customers. Your retention rate = ((950 – 300) / 1,000) x 100 = 65%.
Repeat Purchase Rate Formula:
(Number of Customers Who Purchased More Than Once / Total Unique Customers) x 100
This metric shows what percentage of your customer base has converted to repeat buyers. Compare against your vertical's benchmark to assess performance.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) Formula:
Average Order Value x Purchase Frequency x Average Customer Lifespan
CLV helps you understand how much you can afford to spend on both acquisition and retention while maintaining profitability. Improvements to any variable—AOV, frequency, or lifespan—compound the total value.
Churn Rate Formula:
(Customers Lost During Period / Customers at Start of Period) x 100
Churn is the inverse of retention. Tracking both provides a complete picture of customer movement.
How Rivo Helps Shopify Brands Beat These Benchmarks
The statistics above aren't just information—they're targets. Reaching them requires retention infrastructure built specifically for modern Shopify brands.
Rivo is a retention platform built exclusively for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants. The platform powers loyalty programs, referral marketing, paid memberships, and customer accounts for over 7,000 brands—driving more than $1.5 billion in revenue.
Here's how Rivo addresses the benchmarks covered in this guide:
- Customizable loyalty programs that increase repeat rates: Rivo Loyalty offers points programs, cashback, and VIP tiers with 8+ checkout extensions. Brands like Kitsch have generated $5.8M in loyalty-attributed revenue with 8.7x higher repeat purchase rates for top-tier VIPs.
- Referral programs that capture organic growth: Rivo Referrals includes white-labeled referral pages, tiered rewards, and 20+ fraud prevention tools. HexClad generated $450K in referral revenue in the first 90 days with 92x ROI.
- Omnichannel consistency across touchpoints: Native Shopify POS integration ensures your loyalty program works identically online and in-store—addressing the 89% vs. 33% retention gap between strong and weak omnichannel implementations.
- Personalized customer account portals: Rivo Accounts provides unified customer dashboards with wishlists, order tracking, and loyalty status—all synced to Klaviyo for segmented campaigns that drive the personalization repeat buyers expect.
- Modern architecture without legacy workarounds: Rivo uses Shopify's theme app extensions and checkout extensibility—loading in under 100ms with 99.98% uptime. No deprecated scripts. No performance drag.
For Shopify merchants serious about retention, Rivo provides the tools to move from average (30% retention) toward top-performer territory. Month-to-month pricing. No annual contracts. White-glove onboarding included on Plus and Enterprise plans.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good customer retention rate for a Shopify store in 2026?
The ecommerce average is 30%, but your target should reflect your vertical. Consumable products (grocery, supplements, pet supplies) should aim for 40%+. Fashion and apparel brands may benchmark success at 25-30%. Durables like electronics and furniture naturally see lower rates (15-20%) due to extended replacement cycles.
How can loyalty programs directly impact my Shopify customer retention rate?
Loyalty programs create switching costs through accumulated points, tier status, and exclusive benefits. They also provide psychological incentives to return—customers who've invested in earning rewards are more likely to redeem them rather than abandon their progress. Well-implemented programs see 12-18% higher revenue from members versus non-members.
What industries have the highest and lowest customer retention rates on Shopify?
Highest: grocery and food (65.2% repeat intent), CBD (36.2%), and pet supplies (30%+). Lowest: luxury goods (9.9%), home and furniture (14.7%), and electronics (18%). The pattern follows product consumption frequency—items that need regular replenishment naturally drive more repeat purchases.
How does a modern retention platform improve customer engagement and reduce churn?
Modern retention platforms address multiple churn drivers simultaneously: loyalty programs reduce price-sensitivity and create switching friction, referral programs bring in higher-quality customers who stay longer, and personalized account experiences build emotional connection. Combined with consistent omnichannel presence, these tools tackle the 85% of churn that's preventable.
What role does customer account experience play in long-term retention?
Customer accounts serve as retention hubs—consolidating order history, loyalty status, saved preferences, and wishlists in one place. When customers can easily track rewards, view past purchases, and access personalized recommendations, they stay engaged between purchases. Passwordless login and mobile-first design remove friction that otherwise causes abandonment.
