These are guide ranges, not rules. Your category, stage, market and timing will move them, so use them to work out where to look, not to mark yourself pass or fail.
| Metric | Benchmark | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Repeat purchase rate (DTC) | 20-30% typical; 30-40% strong for non-consumables; 40%+ strong for consumables; 50%+ exceptional | The share of customers who buy again. Track it over 30, 90, 180 and 365-day windows, and by cohort: a blended repeat rate is a vanity number. |
| Electronics and accessories | 10-20% over 365 days; 12-36 month repurchase cycle | A long replacement cycle, so cross-selling accessories matters more than re-buying the product. |
| Home and lifestyle | 15-25% over 365 days; 6-12 month cycle | Grow the relationship sideways, into new product lines, because re-buying the same item is rare. |
| Apparel and fashion | 20-35% over 365 days; 60-180 day cycle | Repeat is about desire and seasonality, not replenishment. |
| Beauty and skincare | 30-45% over 365 days; 60-90 day cycle | Routine and replenishment drive it. |
| Baby and kids | 35-50% over 365 days; 30-90 days for consumables, 90-180 for apparel | Map products to developmental stages. |
| Supplements and wellness | 35-50% over 365 days; 30-60 day cycle | Habit and efficacy drive it, and subscription works well here. |
| Pet products | 35-55% over 365 days; 30-60 day cycle | Replenishment plus emotional loyalty. Consumables run higher, accessories lower. |
| Food and beverage | 40-60% over 365 days; 7-30 day cycle | Make reordering a habit. |
| 90-day repeat (consumables) | 30%+ | For consumables, a 90-day repeat rate north of roughly 30% can be a strong sign of product-market fit. |
| Subscription churn | Replenishment 5-8%, supplements 7-10%, curation boxes 10-15%+ a month | Treat 5-10% as a blended starting range, not a universal target. Top quartile runs a few points under typical: under 5% for replenishment, 7% for supplements and 10% for boxes. |
| Cancel save rate | 15-25% | Skip, swap and pause options convert 30-40% of would-be cancellations. Payment failures cause 20-40% of all subscription churn, so aim to recover 60%+ of failed payments. |
How to use these benchmarks
These ranges are guides, not guarantees or rules. They are drawn from The DTC Playbook and Rob Ward's experience taking Quad Lock from $0 to a $500M exit, cross-checked against widely cited DTC data. The point is not the exact number - it is whether you sit well above or below it, and what to do about the gap. Your category, stage, market and timing all move them, so judge yourself against your own trend as well.
Last reviewed: October 2026. Benchmarks are refreshed as the playbook is updated.
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