Customers and retention
Customer analytics for WooCommerce
Askshelf answers customer questions in counts and totals, never names. Ask about new vs returning customers, repeat purchase rate or lapsed buyers, then use WooCommerce's own Customers report when you need the people behind the number.
Counts, not names
Customer data is the most sensitive data in your store, so Askshelf handles it differently from sales. It never reads or sends customer names, emails, phone numbers or addresses, and it declines questions about individual people. Questions containing an email address or phone number are refused in your browser before anything is sent.
What it can tell you is how many customers fit a pattern, and what they spent. The most useful retention number is probably how many customers who used to buy regularly have stopped.
How many customers bought at least twice but haven't ordered since July?
Change the number of orders and the date to size different groups: loyal customers (3 or more orders) who've been quiet for 90 days, or one-time buyers from last year.
New vs returning, and repeat rate
For any date range, Askshelf splits the customers who ordered into new and returning, with each group's net sales. Over all time it gives the repeat purchase rate, average orders per customer and average lifetime spend. Lifetime spend is revenue, not profit.
How many of October's customers were new vs returning, and what's our repeat purchase rate?
Then use WooCommerce for the people
Once you know the size of the group, WooCommerce › Customers in your own admin lists the people, with filters for number of orders, total spend and last active date. Export the list and send it to your email tool. The lapsed customers guide walks through it step by step.
What it doesn't do
Askshelf doesn't produce cohort tables, time between orders, first-purchase product analysis or top customers by name, and it doesn't calculate customer lifetime value or profit for an individual customer. It does give the store-wide repeat purchase rate and average lifetime spend. The customer analytics guide shows how to get the rest from WooCommerce's own data.
Questions you can ask
- “How many of last month's customers were new, and how many returning?”
- “What's our repeat purchase rate and average lifetime spend per customer?”
- “How many customers bought at least twice but haven't ordered since July?”
- “How many customers with 3 or more orders have been quiet for 90 days?”
- “How did orders from email compare with last month?”
Common questions
Why doesn't Askshelf show customer names?
By design. Askshelf never reads or sends customer names, emails, phone numbers or addresses, and it declines questions about individual people. It answers in counts and totals. For names, use WooCommerce › Customers in your own admin.
Can it calculate lifetime value or repeat purchase rate?
It gives the store-wide repeat purchase rate, average orders per customer and average lifetime spend (revenue, not profit). It doesn't calculate lifetime value for an individual customer or by segment. Our guides show how to work that out from WooCommerce's Customers report or an export.
How do I win back the customers it counts?
Use the count to size the problem, then build the list in WooCommerce › Customers with the orders and last active filters, and send it to your email tool.
The free way, step by step: WooCommerce customer analytics: the complete guide