Why churn rate matters
Churn is the leak growth has to outrun. High churn means acquisition spend refills a draining bucket, and lifetime value never compounds.
Reading churn in ecommerce
- Define “churned” by your reorder cycle, not a fixed 30 days
- Track by cohort to see which months bought better customers
- Separate voluntary churn from failed payments
- Watch churn after price, shipping, or quality changes
Questions
What’s the difference between churn and retention?
Two views of the same number: retention is who stayed, churn is who left. A 90% retention period is a 10% churn period.
What reduces churn?
Fixing the reasons people leave: product quality gaps, slow delivery, silent support. Exit surveys and negative reviews usually name the culprits directly.