Repeat Purchase Rate

Repeat Purchase Rate (RPR) is the percentage of customers who make at least one additional purchase after their first. Computed as: (Customers with 2+ purchases / Total customers) × 100. It is the leading indicator of customer retention quality and the single most leveraged metric for revenue growth — a 5% increase in retention can lift profit by 25-95% (Bain).

Repeat purchase rate formula

RPR = (Customers with 2+ purchases / Total unique customers) × 100. Example: a coffee shop with 1,000 unique customers in the past year, of whom 450 returned for a second visit, has a 45% repeat purchase rate. Higher is always better. Benchmark your RPR against your industry tier baseline.

Industry repeat-rate benchmarks

Typical repeat purchase rates by industry: coffee shops 45%, QSR 35%, fast casual 30%, casual dining 25%, fine dining 30%, beauty salons 55%, nail salons 65%, barbershops 70%, medspas 55%, wellness spas 50%, gyms 80%, fitness studios 65%, retail 35%, ecommerce 25%, auto service 45%, HVAC 25%, dental 75%, chiropractic 70%, pet services 60%. Beating the median by 10+ points is a meaningful competitive moat.

How to improve repeat purchase rate

The three highest-leverage moves: (1) wallet-pass loyalty card installed at the first transaction (captures 60-80% of first-time customers vs <10% for app-based programs); (2) industry-tier-calibrated lifecycle automation that fires at the right cadence (7-day for coffee, 60-day for medspa, 365-day for HVAC — not a generic 30-day); (3) tier or membership progression (Champions, Loyal, At Risk segments treated differently).