Returning Customer Refund %: Track Repeat Buyer Returns

The share of returning customer orders that resulted in a refund.

Formula

Returning Customer Refund % = Returning Customer Refund Count ÷ Returning Customer Order Count × 100

Formula Components

Metric	Definition
Returning Customer Refund Count	Number of returning customer orders with refunds
Returning Customer Order Count	Total returning customer orders

Metadata
Type	Percentage
Data Source	Shopify
Aggregation	Ratio

Example

Your store processed 1,850 returning customer orders in Q1, with 148 resulting in refunds (8.0%):

Month	RC Orders	RC Refunds	RC Refund %
January	580	41	7.1%
February	620	50	8.1%
March	650	57	8.8%

How It Works

Divides refunded returning customer orders by total returning customer orders. A returning customer is anyone who previously completed an order. Refunds are attributed to the original order date and include both full and partial refunds.

When to Use

Scenario	Action
Comparing customer segments	Higher RC refund rate may signal product quality issues for repeat buyers
Identifying retention risks	Rising refund rates among repeat buyers can predict churn
Product category analysis	Segment by product to find categories with higher repeat-buyer returns
Benchmarking against new customers	Compare to NC Refund % to understand segment behavior

Metric	Relationship
Refund %	Overall refund rate across all customers
New Customer Refund %	Compare acquisition vs retention refund behavior
Returning Customer Refunds	Dollar amount refunded to returning customers
Returning Customer Refund Count	Numerator in this formula

See all Adjustments metrics →

RC Refund Count RC Refund per Order

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​Formula

​Formula Components

​Example

​How It Works

​When to Use

​Related Metrics

Formula

Formula Components

Example

How It Works

When to Use

Related Metrics