Guides
7 min read
Retention, explained without the jargon
Retention answers one question: of the people who started, how many came back? How to read a retention chart, and the three mistakes we see most.
Ines Okafor
Retention is the share of people who come back after their first visit. If 100 people sign up in March and 40 of them use the product in April, your one-month retention for March is 40%.
Read it by cohort
A cohort is a group of people who started in the same week or month. Comparing cohorts shows whether the product is getting better at keeping people. If March keeps 40% and June keeps 52%, something you shipped between them is working.
Three common mistakes
Counting everyone together hides the trend. Measuring a window that is too short punishes products people use weekly. And treating any visit as a return counts people who only came back to cancel. Pick the action that means real use, and measure that.
Next post