How to Get Repeat Customers: 7 Ecommerce Retention Fixes for One-Time Buyers
To get repeat customers, you have to earn the second order on purpose: stay in touch after delivery, give shoppers a concrete reason to return and remind them right when they are likely to need you again. Most stores stop at the first sale, so most first-time buyers never come back. These seven retention fixes turn one-time buyers into repeat customers, and a small store can set them up in a week.
Why most first orders stay one-time orders
After checkout, many stores send an order confirmation, a shipping notice and then nothing until the next big sale. By then, the shopper remembers the product but has forgotten where they bought it.
Nearly three in four customers never come back. Across retailers, the average customer retention rate is 27.4%, ranging from 19.1% in jewelry to 41.2% in health and beauty.
Source: Bluecore, 2025 Customer Growth Benchmarks Report
The second order is the tipping point. Once someone buys from a store twice, they are 95% more likely to buy again.
Source: Bluecore, 2025 Customer Growth Benchmarks Report
The first order is a transaction. The second is the start of a relationship. Everything below is about getting a customer across that gap before they forget you.
How to get repeat customers: 7 ecommerce retention fixes
Ask for email consent at checkout. Add an unticked opt-in box with a clear benefit, such as early access to new products. Without permission to write, there is no retention.
Send one helpful email after delivery. Three to five days after the parcel arrives, share a care tip or a quick how-to. No discount, no pitch. It keeps your name attached to a product the customer already likes.
Time a reminder to the product’s lifespan. If a bag of coffee lasts three weeks, write on day 18, not day 60. This works for anything that runs out or wears out.
Put a reason to return in the parcel. A thank you card with a next-order code that expires in 30 days does more than a generic flyer. The deadline is what makes it work.
Make reordering take one click. Add a Buy again link to your emails and let guests order without creating an account, as we explain in why forcing shoppers to register kills your sales.
Recommend the logical next product. Suggest a refill, an accessory or the next size, not your bestseller. A relevant suggestion feels like service.
Win back customers before they are gone. When a customer passes about twice your typical reorder gap without buying, send a short, personal note. If your abandoned cart emails already work, reuse the same three-email logic.
What a healthy retention rate looks like
Measure your repeat customer rate: customers with two or more orders in the last 12 months, divided by all customers in that period. Compare it with your own category, not the overall average. A jewelry store at 20% is doing fine. A skincare store at 20% has room to grow.
Check it every month. Retention work shows up slowly, and every repeat order lowers the real cost of acquiring that customer.
These fixes draw on reciprocity and commitment, two principles explained in our complete guide to consumer psychology for ecommerce.
Most stores pour their energy into the first sale and then go quiet. The second order is usually cheaper to win than the first, but only if the customer hears from you before they forget where they bought.
About Patrik Vavrovič
Key takeaways
Only about 27% of retail customers buy again, and a store that goes silent after delivery loses most of the rest.
Once a customer buys twice, they are 95% more likely to buy again, so the second order is the one to design for.
Ask for email consent at checkout, send one helpful email after delivery and time a reminder to when the product runs out.
Track your repeat customer rate monthly and compare it with your own category, not the overall average.
FAQ
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