The retention number that acquisition metrics hide. A rising repeat-purchaser count means the email programme is building a base, not just renting traffic.
At a glance
Repeat Purchasers counts the customers who placed two or more orders within the selected window, a retention signal Klaviyo derives from profile order history. It is a customer count, not an order count and not a revenue figure: ten orders from one person count as one repeat purchaser. This card matters because repeat buyers are the cheapest revenue a brand has, requiring no fresh acquisition spend, and a healthy email and SMS programme should grow this number over time through welcome, post-purchase and win-back flows. Read it next to total active subscribers and predicted CLV to see whether your list is converting into a loyal base or just churning through one-time buyers.
| What it counts | Distinct customers with two or more placed orders in the window. A customer count, deduplicated by profile. |
| API endpoint + statistics field | Derived from profile and Placed Order event history via GET /api/metrics and GET /api/metric-aggregates, counting profiles whose order history crosses the two-order threshold in the window. |
| Attribution model | This is a customer-level retention count, not a per-send attribution metric, so Klaviyo’s 5-day click and 1-day view window does not gate it the way it gates revenue cards. |
| Email vs SMS aggregation | Channel-agnostic. It counts purchasing behaviour on the profile, regardless of which channel last touched the customer. |
| Chart type | KPI (single number for the period). |
| Time window | Selected period (default 30 days). |
| Alert trigger | A decline in the repeat-purchaser count versus the prior comparable period, which signals weakening retention. |
| Roles | owner, marketing |
Calculation
Calculated automatically from your Klaviyo data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
An illustrative supplements brand on Shopify using Klaviyo, where reorders are central to the model. The 30-day window covers 14 Mar 26 to 12 Apr 26. Figures are illustrative.| Cohort (illustrative) | Customers | Orders placed |
|---|---|---|
| One-time buyers (1 order) | 1,820 | 1,820 |
| Repeat purchasers (2+ orders) | 640 | 1,540 |
| Total purchasing customers | 2,460 | 3,360 |
- 640 customers, not 1,540 orders. This card counts people, not orders. The 640 repeat purchasers placed 1,540 orders between them, but the headline number is the customer count.
- A 26 percent repeat-purchase rate is the deeper story. Just over a quarter of buyers came back within the window. For a consumables brand built on reorders, that is the metric to grow through post-purchase and replenishment flows.
- Repeat buyers punch above their weight. 640 repeat purchasers (26 percent of customers) drove 1,540 of 3,360 orders, about 46 percent of order volume. Retention compounds.
- Window length shapes the number. A 30-day window captures fast reorder cycles; for a brand with a 90-day reorder rhythm, widen the window or this card will understate true repeat behaviour.
- Pair with predicted CLV. A rising repeat-purchaser count alongside a growing high-CLV tier in Predicted CLV Tiers confirms the programme is building durable value, not just one-off sales.
Sibling cards merchants should reference together
Read these alongside Repeat Purchasers to size the loyal base and the opportunity to grow it.| Card | Why pair it with Repeat Purchasers |
|---|---|
| Predicted CLV Tiers | Shows whether repeat buyers are concentrating in the high-value tier, the sign of durable loyalty. |
| Active Subscribers | The list size this base is drawn from. Repeat purchasers as a share of active subscribers is a list-quality read. |
| Placed Orders | The order count repeat buyers contribute to. Useful for the orders-per-repeat-purchaser ratio. |
| Conversion Rate | Explains whether new buyers are entering the funnel to replenish the repeat base. |
| Top Segments by Revenue Send | Surfaces which segments hold the repeat purchasers so you can target retention sends. |
Reconciling against Klaviyo
Where to look in Klaviyo: Build a segment under Audience → Lists & Segments with the condition “has placed order at least twice over the window”, and read its profile count. Klaviyo’s Analytics → Customers view and any RFM or customer-lifecycle dashboards also surface repeat-buyer cohorts. The segment count is the closest direct equivalent to this card. Why our number may legitimately differ:| Reason | Direction of divergence |
|---|---|
| Time zone. Klaviyo evaluates order dates in the account time zone; Vortex IQ defaults to UTC. An order near a window boundary can fall in or out. | Small count difference at the window edge |
| Window definition. “Two orders in the window” depends on the exact start and end. A segment built with slightly different bounds will count differently. | Direct function of the chosen window |
| Profile merging. Klaviyo merges duplicate profiles over time. Orders attached to a not-yet-merged duplicate can split a single customer into two, changing the count. | Either direction until profiles merge |
| Order event coverage. Repeat detection relies on the Placed Order event reaching Klaviyo. Gaps in that integration undercount orders and so undercount repeat buyers. | This card can understate |
| Currency base. This is a customer count, so currency does not affect it. | None |