Repeat Purchase Rate: The Economics of Keeping Existing Customers

September 24, 2026 · KârHesapla · Ferhat Demir · E-commerce Specialist

In the previous article we looked at what determines a customer’s first purchase decision. This article is about the second purchase: after a customer has bought from you once, do they come back, or do you have to look for new customers from scratch every month? The answer to this question directly determines how quickly the marketing budget melts away.

Why is an existing customer cheaper?

Winning a new customer requires convincing that customer for the first time — it takes an investment in ads, discounts or visibility. An existing customer, on the other hand, already knows you, has already tried your product, and the trust barrier has largely been overcome. Because of this difference, a repeat purchase usually happens at a much lower marketing cost than a first purchase — sometimes at almost zero cost, when the customer comes back on their own.

How is the repeat purchase rate calculated?

A simple method: take the total number of unique customers who placed orders in a given period (for example the last 3 months); divide the number of those who had already shopped with you at least once before by this total. For example, if 40 out of 200 customers had shopped with you before, your repeat purchase rate is 20%. It is more meaningful to compare this rate with your own past data rather than the category average — because natural purchase frequency varies greatly between categories (cosmetics are repurchased often, furniture rarely).

The real cost of a low rate

The business in the second situation needs fewer new customers to achieve the same total sales — which means less pressure on the ad budget and therefore a healthier margin.

The real factors that increase repeat purchases

This rate grows through experience, not campaigns. The three most decisive factors: the product genuinely delivering what it promises (alignment of expectation and reality), the delivery and return process going smoothly, and the existence of a simple after-sales reminder/communication (for example, a reminder close to when a consumable product would run out). A price discount can trigger a return in the short term, but on its own it does not create a sustainable repeat purchase habit.

Which product categories naturally have a high repeat rate?

Consumable products needed on a regular basis (cosmetics, cleaning products, food supplements, office consumables) naturally have a high repeat rate. Durable, long-lasting products (furniture, electronics, some clothing items), on the other hand, inherently have a low repeat rate — for these products the strategy may shift from repeat purchases to getting recommendations/referrals from the same customer. Concluding “my rate is low, something is wrong” without knowing the natural limit of your own category can be misleading.

Should repeat purchases always be the priority?

No — for a business that has not yet completed its first 100 orders and has not yet validated product-market fit, the priority is still the first sale. A repeat purchase strategy becomes meaningful once the core product and pricing have been validated; for a product that has not yet proven itself, “how do I get people to buy again?” is a premature question.

New customer or existing customer: the difference in numbers

Let’s say a seller’s average cost of winning a new customer through ads is 45 TL. If the same seller sends a 500 TL reminder campaign (SMS or email) to their customer list and brings back 40 previous customers, the cost per customer falls to just 12.5 TL — roughly a third. When this difference repeats every month, it opens a significant gap in the total marketing budget; many sellers don’t notice this gap because ad spend is concrete and visible, while the cost of “a reminder that was never sent” is never seen.

If you sell directly under your own brand, this rate is even more critical

For a manufacturer selling its own product under its own brand, the repeat purchase rate is a direct indicator of brand loyalty — it means the customer prefers you. For a distributor or a seller reselling a well-known brand, however, the customer may stay loyal to the product or the price rather than to you; they can buy the same product from another seller. This distinction matters for understanding whether a low repeat rate is a “problem” or simply “the nature of the channel”.

The real common mistake: trying to win customers back with discounts

The first method that comes to mind for increasing repeat purchases is usually a discount campaign, and it does work in the short term. But a customer constantly brought back with discounts gradually develops a “wait until the discount comes” behavior — which makes selling at the normal price increasingly difficult and erodes the margin. Repeat purchases achieved through the quality of experience and communication grow more slowly than those achieved through discounts, but they protect the margin.

The hidden effect of returns on repeat purchases

A customer who has gone through a return is noticeably less likely to shop with you again than a customer whose delivery went smoothly — especially if the return process took a long time or the refund was delayed. That is why the return rate should be read not only as a cost item but also as a customer experience problem that directly affects the repeat purchase rate. When calculating the cost of returns, keep this second, invisible loss in mind as well.

Checklist

• Have you calculated your own repeat purchase rate?
• Have you compared this rate with your own past data (not the category average)?
• If it is low, have you distinguished whether it stems from your category’s natural limit or from a real experience problem?
• Do you have a simple after-sales communication/reminder process?