The Customer Score looks at whether your customers come back: first-time buyers who order again, customers who keep buying, and customers who return after going quiet. It’s made of six parts, and its breakdown shows each part with its own score and the figures from your store behind it.
Where you see it #
The score is on the Customers card on the Dashboard, and under Store health on the To do page. Its breakdown is near the top of Segments, under See customer score details (See customer details while the score shows a dash). When the score has a number, clicking the Dashboard card opens the breakdown for you.
The breakdown starts with how many customers your store has, then lists the six parts. Each part has its own score out of 100, how far it moved since your previous analysis, and a line with your store’s figures. Under the parts, Your next steps shows your top three to-dos about customers.
Once two analyses have given the score a number, Reports → Customers report also shows how the score moved over your recent analyses, under Customer score over time.
Who counts as a customer #
Tendlio knows a customer by the billing email on their orders, so someone who checked out as a guest counts too. Only orders whose status counts as a sale go into the score.
The six parts #
Several parts talk about your “active” customers, customers who ordered “recently”, and customers who stopped ordering for “a long time”. How long those periods are depends on the Store vertical you picked under Settings → General → Store. On an Event-Driven / Seasonal or a Luxury & High-Ticket store they’re longer, because a shop like that can expect longer gaps between orders. They aren’t the same length in every part either, so each part’s line names its own days.
- Second orders looks at your first-time buyers and how many of them placed a second order within 90 days of their first. It only counts customers whose first order was placed long enough ago for those 90 days to be over, and not so long ago that it no longer says much about your store today. The line under the part names both limits in days.
- Repeat buyers looks at your active customers and how many of them have placed three or more orders. Your active customers are the ones who ordered within the period the line names.
- Won back looks at customers who had stopped ordering for a long time, and how many of them came back and ordered again recently. The line under the part says how many days count as recent. It only counts customers whose last order before they went quiet falls inside the active period, so customers from years ago don’t pull this part down.
- Still buying looks at your active customers and how many of them also ordered recently. The line names both periods.
- Long-term retention looks at the customers who first bought 12 to 24 months ago, and how many of them ordered again in the last 12 months. This part shows a dash until your order history covers a full year.
- Best-customer core looks at whether your top 5% of customers bring in a good share of your revenue, counted as what they paid you, tax and shipping included. A small share lowers this part, and a large one doesn’t.
How the parts add up #
The score combines the six parts, and some count more than others, so it isn’t the average of the bars.
A part needs enough customers to measure. Until it has them, it shows a dash, and its line says how many customers it has so far. The score then leaves that part out and combines the others.
When the score shows a dash #
The score shows a dash while Tendlio can’t judge your customers fairly. A line under it says why, and the Dashboard card then links to your customer segments instead of the breakdown, because segments work from your first analysis. On Segments, the link to the breakdown reads See customer details instead. These are the three reasons:
- Not enough customer history for a reliable score yet. Your store has too few customers, or its order history is still too short.
- Your store hasn’t had enough orders in the last year for a fair score. With so few orders, a customer who stopped buying looks the same as a quiet month. The score fills in as orders come in, at the next analysis.
- Not enough measurable customer activity for a reliable score yet. Your store has enough history, but too few of the six parts have enough customers to measure.
What to do about a low part #
When a part has a score of its own and it’s low, your to-do list gets a card for it, with a button to build the email that helps:
- Second orders: “Too many first-time buyers never come back”. The card suggests the welcome email and the second-order nudge, and its button is Build the welcome email, for your New customers.
- Repeat buyers: “Few customers become repeat buyers”, with Build the loyalty email for your Loyal customers.
- Still buying: “Your active customers are going quiet”, with Build the re-engagement email for your At-Risk customers.
- Long-term retention: “Older customers aren’t coming back”, with Build the win-back email for your Hibernating customers.
- Best-customer core: “No top-customer segment has formed yet”, with Build the thank-you email for your Champions.
If you already have saved emails, the button opens Campaigns with that group picked. If you don’t, it opens the email editor for that group. Nothing goes out until you’ve set up email sending.
Won back has no card of its own. The cards about quiet customers, such as “Your At-Risk customers are slipping away”, are the place to start.
Your score changes at the next analysis, once the customers you emailed have had time to order.
Additional resources #
- Understanding your scores
- What your customer segments mean
- How to act on a customer segment
- How to welcome first-time buyers and nudge them to a second order
- A score shows “-” instead of a number
- Repeat purchase rate
Frequently asked questions #
Why does one part show a dash while the score has a number? #
That part doesn't have enough customers to measure yet, and its line says how many it has so far. The score leaves it out and combines the other parts.
Why is Best-customer core at 100 when a few customers bring in most of my revenue? #
This part checks whether your top 5% of customers bring in a good share of your revenue. A small share lowers it, and a large one doesn't.
How do I raise the score? #
Open the breakdown, find the low parts, and work through the cards they put on your to-do list. The score moves at the next analysis, once customers have had time to order.