Returning Customer Marketing Cost: Retention Marketing Spend

Marketing costs allocated to returning customer orders, filtered by customer_type = returning_customer.

Formula

Returning Customer Marketing Cost = Marketing Cost WHERE customer_type = returning_customer

Formula Components

Metric	Definition
Marketing Cost	User-defined marketing costs from order cost entries
customer_type = returning_customer	Filters to orders from customers who have purchased before

Metadata
Type	Currency
Data Source	Upstack Costs
Aggregation	Sum

Example

Your store allocated $7,800 in marketing costs to returning customers in Q1:

Month	RC Marketing Cost	RC Orders	Cost Per Order
January	$2,400	892	$2.69
February	$2,600	978	$2.66
March	$2,800	1,064	$2.63

How It Works

Returning Customer Marketing Cost filters Marketing Cost to include only orders where customer_type = returning_customer. This isolates retention marketing spend from acquisition spend, enabling accurate calculation of returning customer contribution margin.

When to Use

Scenario	Action
Track retention marketing spend	Capture loyalty program costs, email marketing, or referral rewards
Calculate RC contribution margin	Include all returning customer marketing costs for accurate profitability
Compare NC vs RC marketing	Separate acquisition vs retention marketing investment
Budget retention spend	Track and optimize marketing costs for repeat customers

Metric	Relationship
Marketing Cost	Unfiltered version across all customers
New Customer Marketing Cost	Acquisition counterpart filtered by new customers
Returning Customer Contribution Margin	Deducts this cost to calculate RC CM3
Total Cost	All costs combined

See all Contribution Margin metrics →

RC Contribution Margin %RC Total Cost %

⌘I

​Formula

​Formula Components

​Example

​How It Works

​When to Use

​Related Metrics

Formula

Formula Components

Example

How It Works

When to Use

Related Metrics