While attracting new customers requires a lot of effort, it’s only the first step in a long journey of building a loyal base. Keeping your customers happy and satisfied will do wonders for your business, save you money, and even create ambassadors for your brand.
That’s why we prepared these essential customer retention statistics which will keep you up to date on what you need to do to make your customers come back to your brand time and again.
Customer Retention Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- Roughly 89% of companies consider superior customer service an essential element of customer retention.
- Around 13% of unhappy customers will tell more than 20 people about their poor experience.
- Consumers spend 67% more if they are part of a company’s loyalty program.
- Getting a new customer costs five times more than retaining an existing one.
- The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%.
- About 82% of companies recognize customer retention is cheaper than acquisition.
- In 2019, the average retention rate for mobile app users was 32%.
- An increase of 5% in customer retention leads to 25%-95% higher profits.
General Customer Retention Stats
1. 89% of companies consider superior customer service an essential customer retention element.
Companies are investing more money into customer service and aim to interact with customers on multiple channels as part of a drive to improve customer experience. A recent PwC report shows that the number of brands investing in omnichannel customer support has sky-rocketed. From 20% in 2010, it reached 80% in just 10 years. Now firms communicate with their clients via social media, websites, and live chat platforms.
(SupperOffice, SemRush)
2. American companies lose $136.8 billion per year because of avoidable customer loss.
CallMiner Churn Index for 2020 indicates that the loss companies in the US suffer due to poor customer retention management is substantial. And the worse thing is, it could have been avoided. Customer retention stats show that returning customers are five times more likely to repurchase, five times more likely to forgive an error, four times more likely to recommend, and seven times more likely to try new products.
(Forbes)
3. Only 42% of companies can measure customer lifetime value.
As few as 11% of businesses ‘strongly’ agreed about being able to measure customer lifetime value, and 31% somewhat agreed. The same survey shows that 76% see customer lifetime value as a key term for their organization.
(Econsultancy)
4. Nearly 50.5% of Millennials are loyal to their favorite brands, customer retention statistics show.
Millennials are one of the most loyal generations in terms of their brands of choice. As many as 90% of them are active on up to three devices every day, with 50% on social media or other online platforms. Here they interact with their peers and other followers and carry the brand message. This segment’s high average customer retention rates are a great thing for companies, especially since 43.5% of millennials use social media to talk about a product or service.
(Inc)
5. 60% of those aged 18-25 said that negative return experiences provoked them to stop shopping with a retailer.
Ecommerce is an ever-expanding field that has gained further traction amid the pandemic. In case there is some issue with the product, they often try to return it. Ecommerce return rate statistics show that many people experience the negative side of this process. Some retailers, for instance, place obstacles so that customers have to go through multiple annoying steps to return items. This can prompt customers to drop the brand altogether, lowering online customer retention.
(Sales Cycle)
6. Product is the main driver that inspires brand loyalty.
As many as 77.84% of respondents in a survey think that way, according to repeat customers statistics. Other than that, customers’ value price (62.96%), customer service (26.14%), and loyalty programs (22.34%).
(Cision PR Newswire)
7. 91% of consumers are keener on shopping products from a brand they recognize.
Those customers are also more likely to shop with a brand that provides them with relevant recommendations and offers. The same research reveals that 75% of consumers find it extremely beneficial to create a ‘style profile’ based on which brands could adapt experience and recommend products, underscoring the importance of personalization in the customer retention process.
(Accenture)
8. Around 13% of unhappy customers will tell more than 20 people about their poor experience.
Every unhappy experience for your customer could represent a huge impact on your business, customer retention trends show. Stats show that the average dissatisfied customer is likely to inform between nine and 15 people about their disappointment.
(Customer Thermometer)
9. Only 16% of marketers use websites for customer retention.
Although websites are powerful tools to learn more about your customers and their sales journey, they are not as popular for customer retention marketing. For acquiring new customers though, marketers tend to rely more upon it (29%).
(Invesp)
10. In 58% of cases, marketers use mobile messaging for customer retention.
Typically, marketers take into consideration many customer retention factors when deciding which digital channel to use for this activity most. Based on some findings, mobile messaging (58%), email (52%), and mobile apps (44%) are the most common ones. On the other hand, the most used channels for customer acquisition are paid search (85%), SEO (66%), web retargeting (61%), and mobile web (52%).
(Invesp)
Loyalty Programs and Customer Retention
11. Just under 70% of consumers choose retailers based on where they can earn customer loyalty points.
Customer loyalty programs create significant brand awareness and improve the retention of customers. The main reasons why customers choose to sign up for loyalty programs, however, differ, with 57.4% looking to save money and 37.5% wanting the rewards. Around 64% of retailers meanwhile consider loyalty programs to be the most adequate way to connect with consumers.
(Invesp)
12. Consumers spend 67% more if they are part of the company’s loyalty program.
Customer retention statistics demonstrate that a repeat customer is more likely to spend more money. On top of that, these customers are likely to recommend the services or products of the brand to others. A good loyalty program has more impact on business and will be a good encouragement to the consumers to come to your shop and spend more money.
(Annex Cloud)
13. 76% of consumers think that a loyalty program strengthens their bond with the brand.
People are more likely to retain relationships with a brand in case they were members of its loyalty program. For 83%, it’s a driver that makes them want to keep doing business with a brand, customer retention statistics show. Half of the customers meanwhile would change their shopping behavior to enroll in a higher loyalty program tier.
(Annex Cloud)
14. Customers enrolled in the loyalty program visit the company’s website 35% more often.
Customers tend to be more interested in the brand online if they are a member of its loyalty program. Enrolling your customers in a loyalty program, therefore, could prompt them to check your website and discover new products.
(Get Feedback, Thanx)
Customer Retention vs Customer Acquisition Statistics
15. It costs five times more to get a new customer than to retain the existing one.
With getting new customers costing more, businesses are starting to shift their attention toward customer retention tactics more than ever. And yet, 44% of companies have a larger focus on customer acquisition (44%), than retention (18%). 40% of firms and 30% of agencies meanwhile focus on both actions equally.
(Invesp)
16. The probability of making a sale to an existing customer is 60-70%.
Existing customers are way more likely to purchase a product from a brand than new ones, customer retention facts and stats indicate. For comparison, new customers are only 5-20% likely to buy a product from the company. Existing customers meanwhile are 50% more likely to try a new product, or spend 30% more on it, than a first-time customer.
(Invesp)
17. About 82% of companies see retention as cheaper than acquisition.
A study conducted by Boston Consulting, and a report for Cross-Channel marketing both confirm the fact that nurturing existing clients pays off more than investing money to obtain new ones. The cost of marketing for current customers is estimated at $7/customer, compared to $34 per customer for acquiring clients.
(Finextra)
Customer Retention Rate by Industry
18. Some industries have a two-month average customer retention rate of below 20%.
Retention rates vary across industries, however, for some, they are nowhere near 100%. Repeat customer statistics show that to achieve good customer retention in your company, you should aim for 85% of the average client retention rate for your respective industry.
(Survey Sparrow)
19. The retail sector holds a retention rate of 63%.
The average customer retention rate by industry is different as we move from one branch to another. Retail faces stiff competition and simple exit options, which makes it harder to retain customers. On top of that, for some companies in the sector, the acquisition and retention costs and the difference between them are minimal.
(ProfitWell)
20. In 2018, only 4% of consumers changed their bank.
According to recent bank customer retention statistics, this field is pretty big on keeping customers. Client retention stands at a solid 75%, and consumers tend to stay with the same bank for decades. The average American for example uses the same primary checking accounts for at least 16 years.
(ProfitWell)
21. Media has an 84% retention rate, one of the highest among industries.
Professional services boasted the same enviable customer retention rate in a 2018 survey. The same survey placed the hospitality, travel, and restaurants industry at the other end of the spectrum with 55%.
(Statista)
22. Insurance agents are estimated to spend seven to nine times more money to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.
Insurance customer retention statistics show that the industry has higher acquisition costs than any other. Therefore, it makes more sense to shoulder the cost of customer retention. So, what is a good customer retention rate for that industry? The average for the sector is 84%, but top-performing insurance companies are going at least 10% over that average.
(Property Casualty 360)
23. The telecoms industry in the US has a retention rate of 78%.
US telcos boast generally high retention rates, which makes them interesting customer retention examples. That said, it is the difficulty leaving that makes telcos retain customers. This sector’s customer retention strategies include strong loyalty programs or create long-term contracts that make it hard for clients to leave. Then, in some of the industry’s branches, like wireless carriers, the similar services make leaving one provider for another nearly pointless.
(ProfitWell)
24. SaaS firms focusing on smaller companies have customer churn rates of 3-5% per month.
B2B customer retention statistics meanwhile show that unlike SaaS for small companies, customer turnover for those serving enterprise-level firms is under 1% each month. Yet, SaaS stats show that early-stage companies in the field sometimes can have up to 15% churn rates in the first year.
(Qualtrics)
25. In 2019, the average retention rate for mobile app users was 32%.
The rate peaked in 2014 at 39%, the highest level over 2012-2019. Nevertheless, it has fluctuated for years, hovering between 30 and 40%. In 2019, it registered a decrease year on year, from 38% in 2018 to 32%.
(Statista)
26. Casual gaming apps have retention rates of 3.5% for 30 days.
The mobile gaming industry is a multi-billion-dollar worth branch. Therefore, it’s no wonder that app publishers want to exploit this. However, customer retention stats show that these apps have poor retaining customer rates. For instance, casual gaming apps on day one had 31.1% retention rates. On the seventh day, it dwindles down to 9.8%, while on the 30th day we come to as little as 3.5%.
(Wappier)
Wrapping up
Companies have started to realize that the more you focus on building long-lasting customer relationships, the better for your business. It’s no wonder then that a growing number of organizations are turning toward personalization in their offers and multichannel approach to customers to make them happier with the brand. These customer retention statistics suggest that it’s never too early to start building your business strategy around keeping your customers happy and making sure they come back for more.
