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Customer Lifetime Value Metrics Glossary

This article explains every metric in TrueProfit's Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) report — what it means, how it's calculated, and what it tells you about your customers. Use Ctrl+F to quickly find the term you're looking for.

1. All-time Overview

All-time Customers

All-time Customers is the total number of unique customers who have placed at least one paid order in your store, across your entire store history.

Each unique customer is counted once, no matter how many orders they placed.

Helps you:

  • See how many real buyers your store has acquired over time, not just within a selected date range.

Repurchase Rate

Repurchase Rate is the percentage of customers who have purchased more than once.

Repurchase Rate = (Number of Repeat Customers / All-time Customers) × 100A repeat customer is someone who has placed 2 or more paid orders.

Helps you:

  • Understand how loyal your customers are.

  • A higher rate means customers come back and buy again.

  • A lower rate means you may need to improve retention (email, SMS, offers, product experience).

Revenue

Revenue is the total sales value generated from all customer orders since your store was established.

Helps you:

  • Understand how much money your customers have brought into your business over time.

Use this to:

  • Compare against total ad spend

  • Understand your overall business scale and growth

LTV (Lifetime Value)

LTV (Customer Lifetime Value) is the average amount of revenue each customer generates over their entire relationship with your store.

LTV = Total All-time Customer Revenue / All-time Customers

Helps you:

  • Understand how much each customer is worth to your business over time.

Use this to:

  • Decide how much you can afford to spend to acquire a new customer

  • Evaluate long-term customer value, not just one-time purchases

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) is the average cost to acquire one new customer through paid ads.

CAC = Total All-time Ad Spend / Total All-time New Customers

Helps you:

  • Understand how much you pay, on average, to get one new customer.

Use this to:

  • Control your ad efficiency

  • Decide if your acquisition strategy is sustainable

LTV:CAC Ratio

LTV : CAC Ratio shows how many times the revenue from a customer (LTV) covers the cost to acquire them (CAC).

LTV:CAC = LTV / CAC

Helps you:

  • Evaluate if your customer acquisition is profitable.

> 3:1 → Healthy

~1:1 → Break-even

< 1:1 → Losing money on each customer

2. General Overview

New Customers

New Customers is the total number of customers who placed their first-ever paid order within the selected date range.

Each customer is counted once, at the time of their first order.

Helps you:

  • See how many new buyers your store acquired during this period.

Repurchase Rate

Repurchase Rate is the percentage of new customers who have purchased more than once within the selected date range.

Repurchase Rate = (Repeat customers in period / Total new customers in period) × 100A repeat customer is someone with 2 or more paid orders.

Helps you:

  • Understand how loyal your customers are in this period.

  • A higher rate means customers come back and buy again

  • A lower rate means retention may need improvement

Revenue

Revenue is the total sales value generated from new customer orders within the selected date range.

Revenue = Sum of all order values within the selected date range

Helps you:

  • Understand how much money your customers generated during this period.

Use this to:

  • Track performance over time (day, week, month)

  • Compare revenue between different periods

LTV (Lifetime Value)

LTV (Customer Lifetime Value) is the average amount of revenue each new customer generates within the selected date range.

LTV = Revenue in period / Total Customers in period

Helps you:

  • Understand how much each customer is worth in this period.

Use this to:

  • Compare customer value across different periods

  • Evaluate the quality of customers you are acquiring

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) is the average cost to acquire one new customer within the selected date range.

CAC = Total Ad Spend in period / New Customers in period

Helps you:

  • Understand how much you pay, on average, to acquire a customer in this period.

Use this to:

  • Track whether acquisition is getting cheaper or more expensive

  • Identify changes in ad performance

LTV:CAC Ratio

LTV : CAC Ratio shows how many times the revenue from a new customer (LTV) covers the cost to acquire them (CAC), within the selected date range.

LTV:CAC = LTV / CAC (both measured in the selected period)

Helps you:

  • Evaluate if your customer acquisition is profitable in this period.

> 3:1 → Healthy

~1:1 → Break-even

< 1:1 → Losing money on each customer

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