Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
While knowing how much a customer spends on their first visit is nice, understanding Customer Lifetime Value (CLV or LTV) is the holy grail. It lets you confidently spend massive amounts of money on advertising on day one, fully knowing that the customer’s repeat purchases in Year 2 and Year 3 will yield staggering passive profitability.
LTV Components
Average Order Value (AOV)
The average cart size. Easily boosted via aggressive one-click upsells, free shipping thresholds, and bundled complementary products.
Purchase Frequency
How often the customer successfully checks out in a given time period. Increased heavily through email marketing flows and subscription models (Subscribe & Save).
Profit vs Revenue LTV
Novice businesses calculate LTV off gross revenue. Strategic businesses calculate LTV specifically using gross profit margin to ensure they have the real capital to pay off Customer Acquisition Costs.