What is Repeat Purchase Rate?
Repeat Purchase Rate is the percentage of customers who make more than one purchase within a given period — a key retention metric for DTC brands selling consumable products.
What is Repeat Purchase Rate?
Repeat Purchase Rate (RPR) measures the percentage of your customer base that comes back to buy again within a defined time period. The formula is: (customers with 2+ purchases ÷ total customers) × 100. If 1,000 customers bought from you and 300 bought a second time, your repeat purchase rate is 30%.
For DTC brands selling consumable products (coffee, supplements, wine, skincare), repeat purchase rate is one of the most important metrics. These products are used up and need to be replaced — the question is whether customers replace them from you or from a competitor.
Repeat purchase rate is closely tied to customer lifetime value. Higher repeat rates mean more revenue per customer and better unit economics on acquisition spend.
How does Repeat Purchase Rate work?
RPR is measured over a defined time window — typically 30, 60, or 90 days. The window should match your product's typical consumption cycle. For coffee (consumed in 2–3 weeks), a 30-day window makes sense. For supplements (30–60 day supply), a 60–90 day window is more appropriate.
Factors that drive repeat purchase rate include: product quality (do they want to buy again?), repurchase friction (how easy is it to reorder?), timing of prompts (are they reminded at the right moment?), and switching costs (is there a reason to stay with your brand?).
SMS Commerce directly addresses two of these factors: friction (text-to-buy makes reordering effortless) and timing (AI-timed replenishment sends prompts when customers actually need more). These mechanical advantages drive measurably higher repeat rates.
Why does Repeat Purchase Rate matter for DTC brands?
The economics of DTC depend on repeat purchases. If your customer acquisition cost (CAC) is $30 and average order value is $25, you need multiple purchases to be profitable. Every percentage point increase in repeat purchase rate compounds into significant revenue growth.
For consumable brands, the gap between "tried once" and "kept buying" is where revenue lives or dies. A customer who loves your coffee but forgets to reorder is a customer lost to inertia — not to a competitor, not to dissatisfaction, just to friction.
Text-to-buy and AI-timed replenishment specifically target this gap. Brands on AudienceTap report that customers who buy via text spend 3x more than average customers, suggesting that removing friction from repeat purchasing has an outsized impact on retention.
Key points
Core retention metric
RPR tells you what percentage of customers come back. For consumable brands, it's the difference between growth and a leaky bucket.
Friction matters most
The easier it is to reorder, the higher the repeat rate. Text-to-buy reduces reorder friction to a single reply.
Timing is critical
Prompt customers when they're running low — not too early (ignored) or too late (already bought elsewhere). AI-timed replenishment solves this.
See Repeat Purchase Rate in action with AudienceTap
AudienceTap is the text-to-buy platform that powers repeat purchase rate for DTC brands.
Related terms
Customer Lifetime Value in SMS Commerce
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) in SMS Commerce is the total revenue a business can expect from a customer over their entire relationship, measured through the text-based sales channel.
AI-Timed Replenishment
AI-Timed Replenishment uses machine learning to predict when each customer will run low on a product and sends a personalized reorder prompt at the right moment.
Subscription Fatigue
Subscription Fatigue is the growing consumer resistance to traditional subscription models — driven by over-commitment, unused products, and inflexible billing cycles — leading to higher churn rates.
Repeat Purchase Rate FAQ
For DTC consumable brands, 25–30% is average. Top performers hit 40–50%+. The rate varies by product category — coffee and supplements tend higher (frequent consumption) while wine and specialty food may be lower.
By reducing the friction from "I should reorder" to "I reordered" down to a single text reply. Combined with AI-timed prompts that arrive when the customer is actually running low, the barriers to repeat purchasing virtually disappear.
Yes. Comparing repeat purchase rate between channels (web, email, SMS) reveals which channels drive the best retention. Brands typically find that text-to-buy customers have significantly higher repeat rates.
Ready to see if AudienceTap is right for you?
Try a live demo on your phone
Enter your number to experience a Text-to-Buy flow firsthand.
Speak to an expert
Get a free 1-on-1 consultation with personalized setup recommendations for your brand.
