Why Cohort Analysis Matters in Klaviyo

Most marketers don’t know when customers drop off.

If you're not using cohort analysis, you're flying blind regarding retention. You might know your overall revenue or open rates, but when do customers stop buying?

This guide walks you through how to track, interpret, and act on cohort data in Klaviyo to boost retention and lifetime value (LTV) with confidence.

Understanding Cohort Analysis

What is Cohort Analysis?

Cohort analysis means grouping your customers based on a shared action (like placing their first order) and tracking their behaviour over time.

It’s different from segmentation:

• Cohorts track people over time from a single starting point.

• Segments show who fits a condition now.

Example:

• Cohort: Customers who bought for the first time in January.

• Segment: Everyone who has purchased more than twice this year.

Why it matters: It helps you understand how long people remain active, when they churn, and what triggers additional repeat purchases. 

To take segmentation further, explore our 3 Klaviyo Segmentation Strategies to Boost DTC Sales for building high-intent segments that complement cohort views.

Types of Cohorts in Klaviyo

Time-based cohorts

• Based on when someone first buys or signs up

• Use case: See how Jan buyers vs Feb buyers perform over 6 months

Action-based cohorts

• Based on doing something (like subscribing or adding to the cart)

• Use case: Track people who signed up during BFCM vs. a normal week

Why Cohort Analysis Matters for Your Business

Cohorts help you:

• Track Retention: See how many customers stick around.

• Spot Repeat Purchases: Know when they buy again.

• Grow LTV: Keep customers longer to earn more.

• Data Point: E-commerce brands with strong retention see 30% more revenue than those without.

Why You Should Use Cohort Reports in Klaviyo

Klaviyo’s cohort reports give you more than just open rates or revenue. They show you exactly when and why customers return—or disappear. Here’s how these reports unlock smarter retention and stronger growth.

1. Track Retention Over Time

• See when customers stop buying

• Spot drop-off points and add winback flows

2. Optimise Lifecycle Flows

• Time your flows based on actual cohort behaviour

• Fix where drop-offs happen

• If you’re new to flow design, start with our 8 Essential Klaviyo Flows to Boost Customer Loyalty to build your automation foundation.

3. Identify High-LTV Segments

• Double down on cohorts that convert again and again

4. Compare Performance by Acquisition Channel

• Does Meta or email bring more repeat buyers?

• Use cohorts to find out

5. Predict Repeat Purchase Behaviour

• Trendlines can show churn before it happens

Source: Klaviyo

Step-by-Step – How to Run a Cohort Report in Klaviyo

Never used a cohort report in Klaviyo? No worries. This step-by-step guide walks you through the exact clicks to create, customise, and analyse a report—even if you’re brand new to it.

Accessing the Cohort Report

• In Klaviyo, go to Advanced KDP or Marketing Analytics in the left-hand navigation.

• Click Customer insights

• Select the Cohort analysis tab

• Click Create cohort report to begin from scratch

  
  

Tip: You’ll also see 4 helpful prebuilt reports to get started quickly:

• SMS Consent to First Order

• Repeat Purchasers

• Post-Purchase Activity

• Email Consent to First Order

Configuring Your Cohort Report

When creating a new report, define the following:

• Report Name – Give your report a clear, descriptive name.

• Description (Optional) – Add notes for future reference.

• Cohorting Event – Choose the action that starts the cohort (e.g. Placed Order).

• Instance – Choose between:

  • First in all event history

  • First, within a selected period

• Cohorting Event Filters – Narrow your cohort based on filters (e.g., product SKU).

• Cohorting Property Relationship – Set the logic (e.g., equals, contains, starts with).

• Reporting Event – Define what you want to measure over time (e.g., Placed Order).

• Reporting Filters & Property Relationship – Apply filters to measure only specific behaviours.

  
  

Customise Report Settings

Once your cohort and reporting events are defined, adjust the report view:

• Date Range – Set how long to track performance.

• Time Interval – Choose weekly or monthly tracking.

• Measurement Options:

  • Conversions (count or average)

  • Profiles (total or % of cohort)

  • Conversion Value (total or average revenue)

• View By – See totals, averages, or percentages.

• Trend on Hover – Pick hover behaviour:

  • Horizontal (row view)

  • Vertical (column view)

  • Diagonal (month view)

    
    

Reading the Report

• Horizontally – Track how a single cohort behaves over time (great for spotting drop-off windows).

  
  

• Vertically – Compare cohorts at the same lifecycle stage (e.g., how all 3-month cohorts perform).

  
  

• Diagonally – See what’s happening in a single calendar month across cohorts (e.g., Oct holiday sales).

  
  

Source: Klaviyo

Note: The darker the colour in the chart, the better the performance.

Example Setup

Let’s say you want to track customers who placed their first order and see how often they return:

• Cohorting Event: Placed Order

• Instance: First in all event history

• Reporting Event: Placed Order

• Time Interval: Month

• Measurement: Conversion Count (Total)

If you're also mapping these behaviours to specific campaigns, learn how to Master Klaviyo DTC Reporting & Analytics for deeper insights.

5 Smart Ways to Use Cohort Insights

Cohort data is only powerful if you act on it. These 5 use cases show how to use your insights to improve flows, identify loyal customers, and fix common revenue leaks.

1. Find When Repeat Drops Off

• Look for weeks where retention sharply declines

• Tip: If a drop happens at Week 4, insert a winback flow there

• You can build it using our proven tactics from Winback Flow: 6 Tips To Re-engage Lapsed Customers.

2. Compare Channels

• Use segments to compare Meta Ads vs Google

• Paid ads vs organic cohorts

• Identify which drives better long-term LTV

3. Identify VIP Behaviour

• Which cohort had 3+ orders in 90 days?

• Clone those journeys: emails, offers, delays

4. Fix Discount Addiction

• Compare discounted vs full-price cohorts

• Are discounts hurting long-term retention?

• Reduce offer frequency

5. Measure Flow Impact

• Add cohort filters by email flow ID

• See which automation improves the repeat rate

• See if your new Welcome Flow improved 30-day retention

• If you’re still building one, check out 18 Welcome Series Email Examples That Build Trust and Drive Engagement to model yours after.

Mock Examples by Niche

Different businesses need different strategies. Here are real-world examples of how DTC, subscription, and seasonal brands use cohort analysis to improve customer retention and increase repeat purchases.

DTC One-Time Product (e.g. apparel)

Challenge: Buyers disappear after one purchase.

Cohort Use: Track drop-off after the first order.

Insight: Churn spikes at Day 60.

Action:

• Day 30: Cross-sell related items

• Day 45: Request review with UGC incentive

• Day 60: Win-back offer

Subscription (e.g. supplements)

Challenge: Cancels after Month 2–3.

Cohort Use: Monitor subscription retention.

Insight: Drop-off hits after the second renewal.

Action:

• Month 1: Education email (how to use)

• Month 2: Delay/cancel incentive

• Month 3: Loyalty milestone (gift/referral)

Seasonal Brand (e.g. gifting)

Challenge: One purchase per year.

Cohort Use: Compare Q4 vs Q2 buyers.

Insight: Most don’t return unless reminded.

Action:

• Re-engage before the next key season

• Send birthday/holiday reminder emails

• Launch seasonal countdown flows, and for best practices, review our Mastering BFCM: The Ultimate Guide (2024).

Advanced Cohort Setup & Optimisation Techniques

Ready to go beyond the basics? This section shows how to layer segmentation, predictive metrics, and external tools onto your cohort reports—so you can turn data into decisions even faster.

Segment Cohorts Before You Start

Purpose: Make your cohort reports more insightful by grouping customers by relevant behaviours or traits.

Segment users before report creation based on:

• Acquisition channel (e.g. paid, organic, referral)

• Discount usage (e.g. “used welcome10”)

• Email/SMS flow engagement (e.g. opened welcome email)

Benefits:

• Compare retention between paid and organic.

• Understand if discounts hurt long-term value.

• Optimise flows for engaged cohorts.

Add Custom Metrics with Predictive Analytics

Purpose: Use Klaviyo’s built-in predictive properties to add more depth to your cohort insights.

Use metrics like:

• Predicted Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

• Expected next order date

Apply these to the cohorts to:

• Identify high-value groups for loyalty campaigns.

• Plan retargeting windows

You can layer in metrics like Predicted CLV or Expected Next Order Date. For a full guide, see Klaviyo Predictive Analytics: AI Guide & 3 Use Cases.

Combine with External Tools

Purpose: Enhance your retention strategy by pairing cohort data with broader attribution and analytics tools.
Details:

• Export Klaviyo cohort data as CSV

• Cross-reference with:

  • Google Analytics: to track traffic sources effectiveness

  • Meta Ads Manager: to compare cohort LTV across ad sets

• Use cases:

  • Understand ad-driven cohorts’ retention curves.

  • Optimise budget towards high-LTV segments

Use Cohorts to Improve LTV

Purpose: Translate cohort insights into actions that boost Customer Lifetime Value.
Details:

• Trigger flows based on cohort behaviour:

  • Loyalty reward flow for high-value cohorts

  • Replenishment flow timed to reorder trends.

  • Win-back flow for cohorts with a sharp drop-off at 2 or 3 months

• Monitor impact month-over-month using cohort heatmaps.
  
  
  

Win-back flow for cohorts with sharp drop-off at 2 or 3 months—link it with learnings from Klaviyo Replenishment Flow: 5 Strategies for Repeat Sales to time reorder nudges effectively.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even good reports can fail if the setup is wrong. Here are the most common cohort mistakes we see—and how to fix them before they hurt your retention strategy.

Reports without action = wasted time. To stay proactive, learn how to Master Klaviyo Custom Properties in 12 Minutes and use your data to power smarter flows.

Turn Cohort Insights Into Retention Flows

This section shows how to plug your cohort learnings directly into Klaviyo flows—so you keep the right people coming back at the right time.

Need inspiration for flow creation? Read Klaviyo Flow Triggers 101: Turn Customer Data into Revenue to design flows aligned with your cohort drop-offs.

FAQs

1. Can cohort reports track email open or click rates?

•  No. Cohort reports in Klaviyo are focused on conversion-based events like purchases, not engagement metrics like opens or clicks. For email performance, use Campaign or Flow Analytics.

2. How far back does Klaviyo cohort data go?

•  You can set cohort reports to include historical data, but it depends on how long you’ve been collecting event data (e.g., Placed Order). The more historical data available, the deeper your cohort analysis.

3. Can I combine multiple events in one cohort report?

•  Not directly. Each report focuses on a single cohort event and one reporting event. To compare multiple behaviours, create separate reports and compare the results manually.

4. Do cohort reports work with Klaviyo’s predictive analytics?

•  Yes. You can layer in properties like Predicted CLV or Expected Next Order Date to make your cohort views more powerful and actionable.

5. Can I export cohort data for use in other tools?

•  Yes. You can export cohort reports as CSV files and analyse them further using spreadsheets, BI tools, or import them into platforms like Google Analytics.

Conclusion

If you’re serious about improving customer retention, Klaviyo’s cohort analysis is a must-have tool. It helps you understand exactly when and why customers stop buying—so you can fix it. 

Whether you're tracking first-time buyers, subscribers, or high-value repeat customers, cohorts give you the visibility you need to take action. 

With the right setup, you can build better flows, optimise lifecycle timing, and focus on what truly moves the needle: keeping customers around for longer. 

The best part? You don’t need to guess anymore. Let the data lead.

Key Takeaways

• Know When They Drop Off: Use cohort reports to track churn points week by week.

• Build Smarter Flows: Align win-back, loyalty, and replenishment flows with actual cohort behaviour.

• Spot High-LTV Segments: Identify cohorts that drive revenue and replicate what works.

• Compare Channels Clearly: See whether Meta, Google, or email brings better long-term results.

• Go Beyond Basics: Add predictive metrics, segment filters, and external tools to deepen your insights.

Struggling to understand why your repeat purchase rate is dropping?

Discover how Klaviyo cohort analysis shows where customers are dropping off and what needs to be addressed. Click here to receive a free audit with us and learn how to transform cohort insights into increased retention and revenue.