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Automatically Generated — This event is created by Upstack backend services for Shopify customers. You do not need to fire this event manually.

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Overview

The rc_purchase (Returning Customer Purchase) event is generated when Upstack detects a purchase from a customer who has ordered before. This event fires alongside the standard purchase event, enabling you to measure retention and optimize campaigns for repeat purchases.

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How It Works

When a purchase occurs, Upstack’s backend analyzes the customer’s order history:
  1. Order received — Shopify sends a purchase webhook to Upstack
  2. Customer lookup — Upstack checks if this customer ID has any previous orders
  3. Classification — If the customer has at least one previous order, an rc_purchase event is generated
  4. Forwarding — The event is sent to your configured destinations with proper attribution
The classification happens server-side using Shopify’s customer order history, providing accurate returning customer detection regardless of browser cookies or device changes.

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Properties

This event includes all properties from the original purchase event: No additional properties are added — the event is the purchase event with a different event name for segmentation.

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Destination Mapping

This event is forwarded to destinations as:

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Use Cases

  • Measure retention — Track how well retention and loyalty campaigns drive repeat purchases
  • Optimize for LTV — Train ad algorithms to find customers likely to purchase multiple times
  • Retargeting performance — Measure the true ROI of retargeting campaigns
  • Segment reporting — Compare new vs. returning customer metrics side by side

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Why This Matters

Understanding your returning customer purchase rate helps you:
  • Balance acquisition vs. retention spend
  • Identify which channels drive the most loyal customers
  • Calculate customer lifetime value more accurately
  • Optimize campaigns for long-term revenue, not just first-time purchases