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Why we picked it This is the cleanest side by side of the two retention worlds: it names which metrics belong to a subscription/SaaS product (churn, net revenue retention, CLV, active users) versus a transactional or ecommerce one (repeat purchase rate, time between purchases). The point it drives home is that the right metric depends entirely on your model, so a transactional founder tracking monthly churn is measuring the wrong thing. Good starting map before you pick what to instrument.
Customer Retention Metrics: Which Ones Actually Matter for Your Model
From Product School by Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia 15 min read
- SaaS retention is measured on recurring revenue (churn, net revenue retention, CLV); transactional retention is measured on repeat behaviour (repeat purchase rate, time between purchases).
- There is no single retention number: your business model, usage frequency, and customer journey stage decide which metric is honest for you.
- Universal metrics like cohort retention and CLV apply to both, but the levers you pull to move them are different in each model.
