The average number of product units included in each returning customer’s order.
| Metric | Definition |
|---|
| Returning Customer Units Sold | Total product units purchased by repeat buyers |
| Returning Customer Orders | Count of orders placed by returning customers |
| customer_type = returning_customer | Filter applied to both numerator and denominator |
| Metadata | |
|---|
| Type | Number |
| Data Source | Shopify |
| Aggregation | Ratio |
Example
Your store’s returning customers averaged 3.1 units per order in January:
| Segment | Units/Order | Orders | Total Units |
|---|
| Returning Customers | 3.1 | 2,200 | 6,820 |
| New Customers | 2.4 | 1,850 | 4,440 |
| All Customers | 2.8 | 4,050 | 11,260 |
How It Works
This metric divides total units purchased by returning customers by the number of repeat orders. Higher values than new customers suggest that loyal buyers are more comfortable adding multiple items to their cart, indicating trust and familiarity with your product catalog.
When to Use
| Scenario | Action |
|---|
| Measuring loyalty impact | Compare against new customers to quantify repeat buyer engagement |
| Evaluating retention programs | Track if loyalty perks increase basket size over time |
| Optimizing cross-sell strategies | Identify if returning customers respond to bundle offers |
| Forecasting inventory | Project unit demand from your retained customer base |
| Metric | Relationship |
|---|
| Returning Customer Units Sold | Numerator: total units from returning customers |
| Units Per Order | Overall average across all customer types |
| New Customer Units Per Order | Comparison metric for first-time buyers |
| Returning Customers | Count of repeat buyers |
