What is Repeat Purchase Rate? — Definition for DTC operators

Definition

Repeat purchase rate (RPR) is the percentage of customers who place a second order within a given window, regardless of product or timing. A 12-month RPR of 30%+ is healthy for most DTC categories; 50%+ signals strong product-market fit.

How operators actually use it

RPR is the single best universal retention metric because it applies to subscription and non-subscription businesses equally. Operators report RPR as a curve (RPR at day 30, 60, 90, 180, 365) rather than a single number. Most second orders happen in days 30-90, so optimizing the post-purchase flow (welcome series, cross-sell, replenishment reminders) is the highest-leverage retention lever available.

Common pitfalls and honest-cost notes

Reporting RPR blended across all customers hides that wholesale and B2B accounts have very different repeat patterns from DTC retail. Segment. Also: do not include refunded or fraudulent first orders in the RPR denominator — they will reorder at near-zero rate and depress your metric for no actionable reason.

Related terms

Retention Rate — Retention rate is the percentage of customers from a starting cohort who are still active (have purchased or remained subscribed) at a later point.
Churn Rate — Churn rate is the percentage of customers (or subscribers) who stop buying or cancel in a given period, typically measured monthly.
Subscription Attach Rate — Subscription attach rate is the percentage of eligible new customers who select a subscription option at checkout (vs.
Cohort Analysis — Cohort analysis groups customers by a shared attribute (usually first-order month) and tracks how that group behaves over time — revenue, retention, repeat rate, refund rate.
LTV (Lifetime Value) — LTV is the projected total revenue a customer will generate over their relationship with your brand.