Win-back
Repeat-purchase rate is sliding.
Sync the At risk group to a Klaviyo flow with a 15% off code that expires in 72 hours. You win back customers you already paid to acquire.
RFM Loyalty
Spot at-risk customers before they leave.
A 12-cell RFM loyalty matrix sorts every customer by how recently and how often they buy, and it rescores regularly. See your best customers, your loyal middle, and your defectors at a glance. Then sync any group to Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Meta, and more.
60-second install · 14-day free trial · No credit card required
5.0 from 81 reviews on the Shopify App Store
Last 30 days · Apr 5 – May 4Compare: No comparisonSegment: All Customers
RFM Loyalty Matrix
Last purchase × number of orders
3,981 customers · rescores regularly
366+ days
181–365 days
31–180 days
Last 30 days
4+ orders
2–3 orders
1 order
Dormant
1,248
At risk
802
Loyal
216
Best
94
Promising
412
Defecting
668
Recent
541
12
RFM cells
Grouped into seven tiers
Regular
Rescoring
Cutoffs and names are yours
7
Sync destinations
Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Meta, and more
A loyalty matrix you can tune and act on.
An RFM matrix sorts every customer by how recently they bought and how often. By the Numbers does the math, shows the revenue each group holds, and lets you set the cutoffs. The result is seven groups you can act on, not a spreadsheet of raw rows.
- 12 cells: four recency buckets by three frequency buckets
- Seven named groups: Best, Loyal, Promising, Recent, Defecting, At risk, and Dormant
- Customers, AOV, LTV, and total sales for each group
- Your own cutoffs and names, with presets and suggested cutoffs
- Rescores regularly as customer behavior shifts
Last 30 days · Apr 5 – May 4Compare: No comparisonSegment: All Customers
Customer Loyalty Journey
New
1,284
100%
Promising
612
48%
Loyal
384
30%
Champion
156
12%
Biggest drop
Loyal → Champion
59% slip away at Day 180, a prime window for a Klaviyo retention flow.
Which Shopify customers deserve the discount?
Stop blanket-discounting your VIPs. The matrix tells you who would have bought anyway, who needs a nudge, and who is gone unless you act fast. Match the offer to the group.
- Best: reward, don’t discount. They are already buying.
- Loyal: cross-sell. They trust you enough to try new categories.
- At risk: 15–20% off and free shipping. This is the last chance before they go dormant.
- Dormant: send a single break-up email. It beats a four-week flow.
Last 30 days · Apr 5 – May 4Compare: No comparisonSegment: All Customers
RFM Loyalty Matrix
Last purchase × number of orders
3,981 customers · rescores regularly
366+ days
181–365 days
31–180 days
Last 30 days
4+ orders
2–3 orders
1 order
Dormant
1,248
At risk
802
Loyal
216
Best
94
Promising
412
Defecting
668
Recent
541
Use it when
Three RFM moves you can ship this week
VIP program
You don’t know who your VIPs are.
The Best group holds your top customers. Send them an early-access drop, a hand-written thank-you, or a referral incentive. Don’t waste a discount.
Inventory planning
You’re guessing demand for a SKU launch.
Filter Best and Loyal customers who bought in that category. Their group size and AOV give you a floor estimate for first-week sell-through.
The 7 groups
Every Shopify customer falls into one of seven groups.
The RFM matrix sorts customers by how recently and how often they buy. These are the default cutoffs; you can change them and rename any group.
Who they are
Bought in the last 30 days · 4+ lifetime orders
What to do
Reward, don't discount. Early access, loyalty perks, referral incentives.
Who they are
Last order 1–6 months ago · 4+ lifetime orders
What to do
Cross-sell adjacent categories. These customers trust you enough to try something new.
Who they are
2–3 orders in the last 6 months
What to do
Move them to loyal with a personalized second-purchase flow.
Who they are
Bought in the last 30 days · only 1 order so far
What to do
Welcome flow with a hero-product cross-sell. Set the cadence early.
Who they are
1–6 months since their single order
What to do
Soft win-back. 10% off, free ship, social proof for your hero SKU.
Who they are
6–12 months since their last order
What to do
Last-chance flow with a stronger incentive and a clear deadline.
Who they are
12+ months since their last order
What to do
One break-up email beats a four-week flow. Stop spending on them after.
Why it pays back
Five ways Shopify operators use the RFM matrix.
The same dataset answers five business questions. Teams that run all five get more value from every customer they’ve already paid to acquire.
01
Targeted marketing
Match the channel and the offer to the group. Best customers get an early-access invite; At risk customers get a 20% off code with a deadline. The same budget goes further.
02
Product recommendation
Use each group’s purchase history to choose the next product to recommend. With customers sorted by group, cross-sell flows are simple to plan.
03
Inventory planning
Plan restocks around what each group buys. Best and Loyal customers drive your core SKU plan; Promising customers signal which new SKUs to expand.
04
Churn watch
The matrix shows customers sliding from Loyal toward At risk before they go dormant. Catch them while a single email still works.
05
Customer retention
Move customers from Promising to Loyal to Best with lifecycle flows. Once your groups are defined, you can point a flow at each one.
The case against doing this yourself
Manual RFM is hard to keep current.
A manual RFM analysis is a seven-step job: export orders, group by recency, group by frequency, calculate monetary value, compute lifetime value, average each group, then rebuild the cells. The snapshot goes stale as new orders arrive, so the work repeats.
Hiring a dedicated data analyst to keep it fresh runs $80,000 to $120,000 a year. A one-off agency engagement to build it once costs $5K to $15K. By the Numbers ships the RFM matrix as part of the platform from $19/mo, rescores it regularly, and syncs any group to Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Meta, and more. Shopify includes a built-in RFM report that scores customers 1 to 5 and sorts them into 11 groups. By the Numbers lets you set the cutoffs and names, and sends each group to your email and ad platforms.
What manual RFM costs you
- Hours per refresh4–8h
- Refresh cadence to stay usefulWeekly
- Dedicated analyst (annual)$80K+
- One-off agency build$5K–$15K
- Shopify’s built-in RFM report11 groups, scored 1–5
- By the Numbers$19/mo · automatic
“The Loyalty, Segment, and Cohort sections are very comprehensive. The team shipped enhancements incredibly fast and support is top-tier.”
Mavi JeansShopify Plus · Apparel
“The customer loyalty report helped me bring back customers that were about to defect. The information already paid for the app for years.”
Nostalgicbulbs.comDTC · Lighting
RFM FAQ
Common questions about the RFM matrix.
What is an RFM matrix?
RFM stands for Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value, and a loyalty matrix is a grid built from those measures. In By the Numbers, the matrix sorts every customer by how recently they last ordered and how many orders they have placed. That gives 12 cells, grouped into seven named tiers, with the revenue each tier contributes. It shows who your best customers are, who is slipping, and who is gone, so you can match the marketing action to the group instead of messaging your whole list.
How is the RFM matrix calculated?
Recency is days since a customer's last order, split into four buckets. Frequency is their lifetime order count, split into three. Together they place each customer in one of 12 cells, and the cells roll up into seven groups. The default cutoffs are 30, 180, and 365 days, and 1, 2 to 3, and 4+ orders. You can pick a preset for your category, set your own cutoffs, or have the app suggest cutoffs from your order history. The matrix rescores regularly.
What's the difference between Best and Loyal customers?
At the default cutoffs, Best customers (often called Champions) bought within the last 30 days and have 4+ lifetime orders. They are active, high-frequency, and often high-value. Loyal customers also have 4+ orders, but their last purchase was 1–6 months ago. Best customers get rewarded; Loyal customers get cross-sold.
Why use RFM instead of lifetime value alone?
LTV is a single backward-looking number. The matrix adds when and how often a customer buys. You can see which valuable customers are drifting toward At risk, which newer customers are climbing toward Loyal, and which one-time buyers are unlikely to return. The right action differs for each.
Does Shopify have RFM analysis?
Yes. Shopify includes a built-in RFM customer analysis report that scores customers 1 to 5 on recency, frequency, and monetary value and sorts them into 11 groups, and you can filter customer segments by RFM group. By the Numbers takes a different approach: a 12-cell recency and frequency matrix whose cutoffs and group names you set, with the revenue and customer counts for each group. Every group is also a segment you can sync to Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Attentive, Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, or Reddit Ads.
How do RFM groups sync to Klaviyo and other platforms?
Each of the seven groups is a ready-made segment. Connect a platform, pick the group, and it syncs as a live audience to Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Attentive, Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, or Reddit Ads. The audience refreshes regularly, so when a customer moves from Loyal to At risk, they join the win-back flow or ad audience you already built at the next sync.
How much does an RFM analysis cost without an app like this?
A dedicated data analyst can run $80K–$120K a year. Even a one-off agency engagement to build the report and the flows around it typically runs $5K–$15K. By the Numbers ships the RFM matrix as part of the platform from $19/mo and rescores it for you regularly.
From the blog
Related guides
- GuideWhat is RFM Analysis for Shopify?RFM analysis scores Shopify customers on recency, frequency, and monetary value, sorting them into seven segments you can target with precision.
- Shopify Email Marketing: Segmentation TipsShopify email marketing segmentation tips: group customers by purchase history and engagement, personalize each message, and keep segments fresh to lift sales.
- Shopify Loyalty Programs That Work: Get Repeat CustomersShopify loyalty programs that work reward the right customers. See the key features, common mistakes, and loyalty models that turn buyers into fans.
- Best Email Flows for Repeat Purchases on ShopifyBest email flows for repeat purchases on Shopify: thank you, welcome, post-purchase, review, and reorder flows timed to real customer behavior data.
See your RFM matrix overnight.
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