A good repeat purchase rate for a Shopify store is 25–30%, which is where most ecommerce brands land. Anything above 30% means your retention is outperforming the market, while consumable and replenishment categories can reasonably target 40% or higher. A rate below 20% is a warning sign: you’re acquiring customers who never come back, which is one of the most expensive ways to grow a store.
Repeat purchase rate (RPR) is the percentage of your customers who have placed more than one order. It’s a direct measure of loyalty, and it’s the quiet engine behind profitable ecommerce — because the customers you already paid to acquire cost almost nothing to sell to again.
What Is a Good Repeat Purchase Rate for Shopify Stores?
A good repeat purchase rate for a Shopify store is 25–30%, but the only number that truly matters is the one for your category. The average ecommerce repeat purchase rate sits at roughly 28%, and Shopify stores specifically average around 27%.
Use these tiers as a quick gut check. Under 20% means you’re running an acquisition treadmill — paying for new customers who never return. 25–30% is healthy and on-market. Above 35% puts you in the top performers, and 40%+ is realistic only in high-frequency, consumable niches. Judge yourself against your category first, and against your own trend line second: a rate climbing from 22% to 28% over two quarters is a stronger signal than a flat 35% in a niche that should be hitting 45%.
How Do You Calculate Repeat Purchase Rate?
Repeat purchase rate is calculated with one formula: RPR = (customers with 2+ orders ÷ total customers) × 100. You count the customers who have placed more than one order, divide by your total number of customers, and multiply by 100.
Here’s a worked example. If 5,000 customers have bought from you and 1,400 of them have ordered at least twice, your repeat purchase rate is (1,400 ÷ 5,000) × 100 = 28%. Always measure over a fixed window — a quarter or a rolling 12 months — so the figure stays comparable as your customer base grows.
In Shopify, pull the inputs from Analytics > Reports > Customers, where the returning-customer and first-time-customer breakdowns give you the numbers you need. Repeat purchase rate is cumulative and tells you whether customers come back; if you also want to know when they drop off, pair it with the time-bound customer retention rate, which measures loyalty within a defined period.
What Is a Good Repeat Purchase Rate by Industry?
Repeat purchase rate varies more by category than by store quality, because buying frequency is largely set by the product itself. A supplement brand has a built-in replenishment cycle; a furniture store may see years between orders. Here are the 2026 benchmarks by niche.
| Category | Typical repeat purchase rate |
|---|---|
| Consumables (supplements, food, pet) | 35–45% |
| Health & CBD | ~36% |
| Beauty & skincare | 30–40% |
| Apparel & accessories | 25–32% |
| Home & furniture | 18–25% |
| Electronics | 12–18% |
| Ecommerce average | ~28% |
The standout is health and CBD: the CBD category leads with a 36.2% repeat purchase rate, well above the cross-industry average, precisely because it’s a habitual, replenishable purchase. The lesson isn’t to switch products — it’s to engineer reasons to reorder into whatever you sell.
Why Repeat Purchase Rate Matters for Profit
Repeat purchase rate matters because repeat buyers carry your margins. Across the average ecommerce store, repeat customers make up about 21% of the base but drive roughly 44% of revenue. You’ve already absorbed the acquisition cost on those customers, so each additional order lands with far higher margin than a first sale won through paid ads.
“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” — Jeff Bezos
That framing is why repeat purchase rate is worth obsessing over. A higher RPR raises customer lifetime value, which in turn loosens your acquisition budget — you can afford to pay more to win a customer when you know a healthy share will come back. To see how the two sides connect, run your numbers through a customer acquisition cost calculator alongside your repeat rate.
How to Improve Your Repeat Purchase Rate
To improve repeat purchase rate, focus on the first 60 days after purchase, prompt the second order before the natural reorder window closes, and give customers a structural reason to return. The highest-leverage moves are a strong post-purchase email flow, replenishment or restock reminders timed to your product’s cycle, and a loyalty or referral mechanic that rewards the second and third order rather than just the first.
Group buying is one of the more effective warm-acquisition channels for repeat behavior, because customers arrive through people they trust and the social mechanic naturally pulls them back for the next deal. At Farabiulder, group-buy customers tend to convert with social proof already baked in, and warmer acquisition usually translates into stronger repeat rates than cold paid traffic.
Whatever tactics you choose, treat repeat purchase rate as a number you actively manage, not one you check once a year. Measure it this quarter, set next quarter’s target a few points higher, and let it guide where your retention budget goes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good repeat purchase rate for a Shopify store?
A good repeat purchase rate for a Shopify store is 25–30%, which matches the ecommerce average of roughly 28%. Consumable categories like supplements and food can target 40% or higher, while electronics often sit at 12–18%. A rate below 20% signals weak retention.
How do you calculate repeat purchase rate?
Repeat purchase rate equals the number of customers who placed two or more orders divided by total customers, times 100. Written out: RPR = (customers with 2+ orders ÷ total customers) × 100. Measure it over a fixed window, such as a quarter or year, to keep it comparable.
What is the difference between repeat purchase rate and retention rate?
Repeat purchase rate is cumulative — the share of all customers who have ordered more than once. Retention rate is time-bound — the share of customers active at the start of a period who are still active at the end. Repeat purchase rate measures loyalty overall; retention measures it within a window.
How can a Shopify store improve its repeat purchase rate?
Improve repeat purchase rate by nailing the first 60 days post-purchase, prompting the second order before the natural reorder window closes, and using loyalty, referral, or group-buying mechanics. Email flows, replenishment reminders, and warm acquisition channels all lift the share of customers who come back.