> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Customer Spend Segments, BigCommerce > Customer Spend Segments for BigCommerce stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Supporting Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Ecommerce Platform](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > Customers split by 90-day spend tier: One-time, Casual (2-3 orders), Regular (4-9 orders), VIP (10+ orders or top-spend cohort). Plus a separate New vs Returning split based on first-order timing. The card the marketing team uses to segment campaigns, set loyalty-program tiers, and prioritise retention investment. | | | | ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | Each registered customer with at least one order in the 90-day window assigned to a tier based on order count and / or total spend. Default tiers: One-time (1 order), Casual (2-3), Regular (4-9), VIP (10+ OR top 5% spend). Configurable thresholds per merchant. Headline shows count and revenue share per tier. | | **VAT / tax treatment** | Tax-inclusive for the spend dimension. | | **Shipping** | Included in customer spend. | | **Discounts** | Already deducted. | | **Refunds** | Not deducted (gross spend tier; refunded customers stay in their original tier). | | **Cancelled / voided orders** | Excluded from order count and spend. | | **Currency** | Multi-currency without FX in the spend dimension. Order count is currency-agnostic. | | **Channels / sources** | All channels contribute. Customer order count sums across all channels (web + POS + B2B + marketplace if linked). | | **New vs returning** | Orthogonal to the tier breakdown. New = first-ever order in the period; Returning = first order before the period. The two splits combined tell you the acquisition / retention dynamic. | | **B2B Edition note** | B2B accounts often only place 4-12 orders/year (quarterly cycles), so the default tier thresholds underweight B2B. Configure B2B-specific tiers (e.g. VIP = 4+ orders rather than 10+) for meaningful B2B segmentation. | | **Healthy distribution** | Typical B2C BC store: 50-65% one-time, 20-25% casual, 8-15% regular, 2-5% VIP. The tail (regular + VIP) drives 40-60% of revenue despite being 10-20% of customers. Strong Pareto. | | **Time window** | `90D` (longer window than 30D for more stable segmentation; tier assignments shift slowly) | | **Alert trigger** | None on this card directly. | | **Roles** | owner, marketing | ## Calculation ``` RANGE(totalIncTax) by spend bucket WHERE date BETWEEN [period_start, period_end] ``` ## Worked example A US homewares brand on BigCommerce Pro, 90-day window 14 Feb 26 to 14 May 26. | Tier | Customers | % of base | Avg order count | Avg total spend | Revenue contribution | % of revenue | | ----------------------- | ---------- | --------- | --------------- | --------------- | -------------------- | ------------ | | One-time | 5,840 | 58% | 1 | \$86 | \$502,240 | 30.4% | | Casual (2-3 orders) | 2,420 | 24% | 2.4 | \$194 | \$469,480 | 28.4% | | Regular (4-9 orders) | 1,360 | 13.5% | 5.8 | \$456 | \$620,160 | 37.6% | | VIP (10+ or top 5%) | 480 | 4.8% | 14.2 | \$1,180 | \$566,400 | 34.3% | | **Total** | **10,100** | **100%** | 1.95 | \$164 avg | **\$1,651,000** | **100%** | | | | | | | | | | **New customers** | 4,820 | 48% | 1.4 | \$108 | \$520,560 | 31.5% | | **Returning customers** | 5,280 | 52% | 2.6 | \$214 | \$1,129,920 | 68.5% | What's interesting: 1. **VIPs at 4.8% of customers drive 34.3% of revenue.** Classic Pareto, the top tier deserves disproportionate retention investment. White-glove customer service, exclusive access, dedicated account manager (if budget allows). Cross-reference [BC Top Customers](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/top-customers) for the named VIP list. 2. **Regular tier (13.5% of customers / 37.6% revenue) is the hidden growth engine.** These customers are demonstrably loyal but not yet VIP. **Loyalty-program tier upgrade for high-Regular customers** (those at 8-9 orders trending toward 10+) creates VIP-aspiration motivation; many will upgrade themselves with the right incentives. 3. **One-time at 58% of customers / 30.4% of revenue is the conversion target.** Half of these will never come back; the other half can be converted to Casual with the right post-purchase flow (welcome series, replenishment reminder, "you might also like" emails). Even a 10% one-time-to-casual conversion adds 290 new Casual customers. 4. **Returning customers carry 68.5% of revenue at 52% of count.** This is the retention-economy reality: returning customers spend roughly 1.6× more than new customers in the period. Retention investment ROI is structurally higher than acquisition. 5. **48% new customer share** is balanced. Above 60% suggests acquisition heavy / leaky retention; below 30% suggests stagnant base / weak acquisition. 40-55% is healthy growth dynamic. Action priority order: 1. **Loyalty-program tier definitions** match this card's tier structure; make tier benefits visible to encourage upgrade. 2. **Post-purchase flow for one-time customers** automated email sequence to convert one-time to Casual; biggest absolute opportunity by customer count. 3. **VIP retention program** identify the 480 VIPs by name; assign account-management attention; quarterly check-ins. 4. **Regular-tier upgrade incentive** "spend \$X more this quarter and unlock VIP" creates aspiration without giving away margin. 5. **Quarterly: review tier thresholds** customer behaviour drifts; tier definitions may need adjustment to maintain meaningful segmentation. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Customer Segments | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [BC Top Customers](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/top-customers) | The named VIP list; this card is the aggregate; that card is the individuals. | | [Customer Count](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/unique-customers) | The total customer base denominator. | | [Repeat Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/repeat-customer-rate) | Cross-segment repeat-rate; VIPs by definition repeat; one-time conversion to repeat is the key metric. | | [New Customers](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/new-customers) | The new-customer subset; this card splits new vs returning. | | [Churn Risk](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/customer-churn-risk) | At-risk customers concentrate in casual and regular tiers (one-time can't be at-risk; VIPs are usually safe). | | [Order Frequency](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/customer-order-frequency) | Per-customer order frequency; informs tier definitions. | | [BC Top Coupons](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/top-coupons) | Coupon usage by segment; first-purchase coupons primarily target one-time-to-casual conversion. | | [`klaviyo.kl_lifecycle_stages`](/nerve-centre/klaviyo/kl_lifecycle_stages) | Klaviyo's predictive customer-lifecycle segments; should align with this card's tiers. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in BigCommerce Control Panel:** [Customers → Customer Groups](https://login.bigcommerce.com/deep-links/manage/customers/groups) lets you define groups (typically used for B2B / wholesale tiers, not RFM-style spend tiers). [Analytics → Customer Reports](https://login.bigcommerce.com/deep-links/manage/analytics) on Plus / Pro / Enterprise plans includes a "Top Customers" view but no native RFM-tier view. **The spend-tier segmentation is Vortex IQ's contribution; BC has the data but doesn't surface it as tiers.** **Why our number may legitimately differ from any BC native view:** | Reason | Direction | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | **Tier thresholds**. Default thresholds (1, 2-3, 4-9, 10+) are configurable. Different thresholds produce different distributions. | Configurable | | **VIP definition**. Default is "10+ orders OR top 5% spend". Some merchants prefer pure spend-based; configurable. | Configurable | | **Time window**. We use 90D rolling; BC's "Top Customers" is lifetime by default. | Different baselines | | **Cancelled orders**. Excluded from order count; some BC views include. | Vortex IQ LOWER counts | | **Guest dedup**. Default excludes guests; toggle includes. | Different totals | | **Multi-currency**. Spend dimension doesn't FX; tier-by-spend may misclassify multi-currency customers. | Configuration-dependent | **Cross-connector reconciliation (when CRM and email integrations are connected):** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`klaviyo.kl_lifecycle_stages`](/nerve-centre/klaviyo/kl_lifecycle_stages) | Klaviyo's predictive segments; one-time / casual / regular / VIP should align broadly. | Klaviyo uses email-engagement and predictive ML; this card uses raw order data. \~75-85% overlap typical. | | [`hubspot.hs_lifecycle_stage`](/nerve-centre/hubspot/hs_lifecycle_stage) | HubSpot's lifecycle stages; partial alignment depending on configuration. | HubSpot includes B2B-specific stages (lead, opportunity, customer); not 1:1 with retail spend tiers. | **The customer-segment view is BC-aligned with Shopify and Adobe Commerce; semantics broadly equivalent though tier definitions vary.** ***
Same-metric documentation cross-reference (for agencies running multiple platforms) * [`shopify.customer_segments`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/customer-spend-segments) (planned) * [`adobe_commerce.customer_segments`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/customer-spend-segments) (planned)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **My one-time tier is 70% of customers, is that bad?** Not necessarily, but it's the lever. 50-65% one-time is typical B2C; above 70% means high acquisition / weak retention. Investigate post-purchase flow: do customers receive a welcome email, replenishment reminder, second-purchase incentive? Each missing touchpoint loses one-time-to-casual conversion. **My VIP tier shrinks every quarter, why?** Either VIPs are being acquired slower than they're aging out (regular promotion to VIP requires sustained behaviour), or some VIPs are downgrading. Cross-reference [Churn Risk](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/customer-churn-risk) for at-risk VIPs. VIP retention is the highest-LTV-per-effort investment. **Should I run different ad campaigns per tier?** Yes for VIP (lookalike audiences from VIPs convert highest); maybe for one-time (acquisition targeting); rarely for Casual / Regular (these tiers are mid-funnel and respond to email marketing more than ads). Klaviyo / Mailchimp lookalikes from VIP cohort are typically the highest-ROAS audience. **My B2B tier distribution looks weird, why?** Default tiers are B2C-calibrated. B2B accounts often only place 4-12 orders/year, so they classify as Casual or Regular instead of VIP. Configure B2B-specific thresholds (VIP = 4+ orders for B2B) for meaningful B2B segmentation. Or run separate B2B and retail dashboards. \*\*A customer with 1 huge order ($5,000), what tier?** Default order-count basis = One-time tier (despite high spend). Configurable to spend-based VIP definition: "VIP if total spend >$X". Many BC merchants use a hybrid: VIP = 10+ orders OR top 5% spend. The single-large-order customer is usually B2B or wholesale; tag them in BC for separate treatment. **Should the card include guests?** Default no (guests can't be tier-tracked across orders without email dedup). Toggle to include email-deduped guests if your guest rate is high (>30%); otherwise guest exclusion is cleaner. **Why does my Klaviyo segment differ from this card's tier?** Klaviyo uses predictive ML (email engagement, click patterns, time-since-last-purchase); this card uses raw order data. They overlap 75-85% but diverge on edge cases (an active email-clicker who hasn't purchased recently shows as engaged in Klaviyo but at-risk here). Both views are valid for different decisions. **Should I exclude refund-heavy customers from tier calculations?** Configurable. Some merchants exclude customers with >50% refund rate (they're unprofitable regardless of order count); others include them as "active customers, problematic". For LTV-focused decisions, exclude; for engagement-focused, include. **My Regular tier is shrinking but VIP is growing, healthy?** Mixed signal. VIPs growing means upgrades are happening; Regular shrinking means either upgrades to VIP (good) or downgrades to Casual (concerning). Cross-reference flow rates: out of last quarter's Regular tier, how many became VIP vs Casual vs Lapsed? The flow direction tells the story. **Multi-currency: do tier definitions adjust per currency?** The order-count dimension is currency-agnostic. The spend-based VIP threshold doesn't FX-adjust; multi-currency customers may be misclassified. Configure per-currency thresholds or use single-currency conversion for clean comparison. **Should I email all tiers the same content?** No. VIPs deserve exclusive previews and personal outreach; Regulars get loyalty / replenishment messaging; Casuals get repeat-purchase incentives; One-time get welcome / second-purchase nudges. Generic email-blast-everyone is missed segmentation opportunity. **My new vs returning split shifted toward returning, why?** Either acquisition slowed or retention improved (or both). Investigate: cross-reference [New Customers](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/new-customers) trend; if new is flat / falling, acquisition is the issue (ad-spend efficiency, SEO, content). If new is growing but returning is growing faster, retention is winning, healthy mature pattern. **How often should I re-baseline tier thresholds?** Quarterly review; annual recalibration. Customer behaviour drifts (industry-wide trends, your catalogue evolution, channel mix changes). The tier definitions that segmented well 18 months ago may segment poorly today; periodic recalibration keeps the card actionable. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Customer Spend Segments* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across BigCommerce and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.