Volume 98: January 25, 2012
California
May 14 - 18, 2012
July 16 - 20, 2012
September 10 - 14, 2012
December 3 - 7, 2012
Sydney, Australia
1-Day Training
February 29, 2012
July 31, 2012
September 4, 2012
November 6, 2012
Milan, Italy
Conference Training
San Jose February 27, 2012
Toronto April 24, 2012
Seattle June 7, 2012
New York October 5, 2012
New York March 23, 2012
Toronto June 13, 2012
San Francisco August 17, 2012
Chicago TBD, 2012
Measuring Retention
Customer retention is important to websites for various reasons. For instance, research shows that keeping existing customers costs less than attracting new customers. Studies have shown that the cost for acquisition on a per-customer basis may be 5 to 10 times that of customer retention. Research also says there is a 5 to 20 percent chance of converting a prospect to first-time customer status, and a 20 to 40 percent chance of reacquiring a lost customer. So customer retention is key.
The metrics and ratios below can help tell you how you rate at customer retention.
- Number of returning visitors
- Average frequency of returning visitors
- Ratio of returning visitors to all visitors
- Frequency of visit
- Recency of visit
- Activity of retained visitors
- Views of key pages and contents
- Retained visitor conversion rate
- Customer retention rate
- Average frequency of return for retained visitors
While some business models do not expect customers to make a second purchase right away (e.g., auto, housing, travel), very few websites are designed for a single visit without return. The KPIs listed below are those that should be tracked regardless of business model or industry.
- The ratio of daily to monthly returning visitors -- quick measure of the average frequency of return for all visitors.
- Percent of returning visitors -- align new/returning visitor mix with new/retention marketing spend.
- Loyalty measurements for groups of returning visitors -- monitor big changes in visitor loyalty.
- Retained visitor conversion rate – determine website or campaign success.
- Customer retention rate – determine website success.