How To Conduct Effective Customer Retention Analysis

What is a customer retention analysis?

Customer retention analysis is the systematic process of identifying, tracking, and evaluating key metrics that reflect customer loyalty over time. It provides insights into app features which engage users the most, helps predict customer behavior, and throws light on improvement areas for causing a reduction in user churn.

There isn’t one way to conduct a customer retention analysis—instead, there are multiple techniques and methods that can be used: 

• Cohort analysis

• Retention dashboards

• Session replays and heatmaps

• Event analytics

… and more.

Why is customer retention analysis important?

Increased revenue

In general, you have a 60-70% chance of selling to an existing customer and a 5-20% chance of selling to a new customer. Focusing on retaining customers is a very effective way to boost your revenue while keeping your marketing and acquisition costs low.

Improved customer satisfaction

Retention generally improves when your customers are happy—and vice versa. By analyzing customer retention, you can identify areas where customers may be dissatisfied or dropping off, allowing you to make necessary changes and improvements to keep them satisfied.

Better understanding of customer behavior

Retention analysis will also likely reveal other insights into user behavior beyond just retention rates. You can track usage patterns, identify popular features or products, and gain a better understanding of your target audience's preferences and needs.

How to conduct a comprehensive retention analysis with UXCam

1. Set up retention analytics

2. Examine user flows

3. Segment your customer base

4. Conduct surveys and gather feedback

Now let's dive deep into each step.

1. Set up retention analytics

Setting up retention analytics with UXCam’s SDK is as simple as installing a single code snippet into your app. Once the code is embedded, UXCam will automatically track every user interaction using tagless autocapture technology.

To access our dedicated retention analytics feature, navigate to the ‘Retention’ tab.

There, you’ll be able to create customizable retention reports that offer week-by-week insights into retention rates.

To maximize the value of these reports and yield deeper insights, you can:

• Specify start and return actions

• Specify return intervals

• Add filters, groupings, and segments

• Compare cohorts

We’ll talk more about these higher-level features below. Even without them, the basic retention report will give you valuable insights into things like when users stop finding value in your app and when they churn.

2. Examine user flows

In addition to UXCam’s dedicated retention feature, our platform also allows you to view detailed user flows using:

• Screen flows

• Screen bursts

• Funnels

These are powerful tools for retention analysis because they allow you to see which paths through your app lead to the best (and worst) user outcomes.

For example, let’s say you notice that lots of users are dropping off right after completing your onboarding flow. Screen flow allows you to see the many paths that these users are taking—by comparing these to the paths taken by users who stick around, you can identify potential areas for improvement in your app’s onboarding process.

3. Segment your customer base

Creating segments is a must if you want to arrive at deeper, more impactful retention insights.

You can create segments in UXCam from any screen or feature—just click the ‘Add Filter’ button and choose any user property, event, or UX issue. Then click ‘Save Segment’ to save the filter for future use.

The specific segments you create will depend on your specific business and user base. However, here are some common examples:

• New users vs. returning users

• High-value vs. low-value users

• Demographic segments

• Slipping away users

UXCam comes preloaded with many of the most impactful user segments so that you can get started quickly.

4. Conduct surveys and gather feedback

Quantitative data is great, but it often lacks the context that qualitative data can provide. That’s why it’s important to also gather feedback directly from your users.

Surveys are a great way to get a broader understanding of your user base and their behaviors. You can use tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to create surveys and distribute them to your users via email or through in-app pop-ups.

When crafting your survey, be sure to ask open-ended questions that allow for detailed responses rather than simple yes or no answers. This will give you more valuable insights into how your users interact with your product.

Start your advanced customer retention analytics journey

Customer retention analysis gives you the data and insights you need to reliably measure and track how well you’re retaining your customers. By combining both quantitative and qualitative data, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of why your users are leaving or staying with your product.

At UXCam, we arm mobile product teams with a comprehensive set of user behavior and product analytics features—session replays, heatmaps, retention reports, and more. Get started with a free trial and see first-hand how UXCam can help you improve customer retention and drive growth for your mobile app.

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