Purchase Frequency

Purchase Frequency shows how many orders your customers placed in the date range. It tells you how many placed 1 order, how many placed 2 or more, and so on, with the average and the median.

How It’s Calculated

The cards at the top show Average orders per customer and Median orders per customer for the date range. The average has 2 decimal places and the median has 1. The median can fall between 2 whole numbers, because it’s worked out between the middle customers.

The table has one row for each order count, written as “or more”, such as 1 or more, 2 or more and 3 or more. The rows cover 1 to 10, then 20, 30 and on up to 100, then 500 and 1000. A row only shows if at least 1 customer is in it.

The chart draws the same Customers as bars. The columns are:

• Number of Orders: for example 3 or more.
• Customers: the number of customers who placed at least that many orders.
• Percentage of Customers: those customers as a share of every customer who ordered.

The rows overlap. A customer with 3 orders is in 1 or more, 2 or more and 3 or more. So 1 or more is always 100%, and each row is the same as or smaller than the one before it.

What Counts

• Only orders in the date range count. A customer’s orders from before the range aren’t included. To see more of their history, choose a longer range, such as Last year.
• Orders with no customer attached aren’t counted.
• Orders that were canceled, or whose payment was voided or expired, don’t count.
• Sales Channel, Segment and Filters narrow the report down. There’s no comparison period.

What Good Looks Like

A store where customers reorder has a higher average and a higher share in 2 or more and 3 or more. The right level depends on what you sell, so compare your store with itself over the same length of time.

When the average is well above the median, a small group of customers is placing most of the orders. Customer Loyalty shows who they are.

What to Do About It

• A low share in 2 or more: work on the second order with Cohort Repurchase Rate, which shows when customers usually return.
• A long tail of frequent customers: reach them with Customer Loyalty.
• A falling average: check Purchase Frequency Over Time to see when it started.

Where to Find It

• Purchase Frequency: open Reports and look under Customers.
• Purchase Frequency Over Time: average orders per customer, period by period.
• Time Between Orders: how many days customers wait between orders.