Cohort Retention Analysis
Tracking how groups of users acquired during specific time periods behave and engage over extended timeframes.
Definition
Cohort retention analysis groups users by acquisition date or shared characteristics, then tracks their engagement, purchases, or other behaviors over time. This reveals patterns in customer lifecycle and product stickiness.
Unlike aggregate metrics, cohort analysis shows how user behavior evolves, helping identify when customers typically churn and which acquisition channels produce the most valuable long-term users.
Why It Matters
Cohort analysis reveals true customer value patterns and retention trends that aggregate metrics can mask, enabling more accurate lifetime value calculations and retention strategy development.
Understanding cohort behavior helps optimize acquisition spending by identifying which channels, campaigns, or time periods produce users with the highest long-term engagement and revenue potential.
Examples in Practice
A mobile app tracking that users acquired in January had 40% retention after 30 days, while February cohorts only retained 25%, indicating campaign quality differences.
A SaaS platform discovering that users who completed onboarding in their first week showed 60% higher retention after six months.
An e-commerce site finding that holiday season cohorts had lower repeat purchase rates, informing future seasonal marketing strategies.