Cohort Retention
01 Definition
Cohort Retention meaning: Tracking how long groups of customers who started together keep using a product.
Cohort retention groups customers by when they joined, then follows each group's activity over time. Comparing cohorts shows whether newer customers stay longer than older ones and whether product changes helped. It separates real retention trends from the noise of overall growth.
Why it matters
How Cohort Retention fits the work
By isolating each start group, cohort retention reveals whether changes to the product or onboarding actually improve how long customers stick around.
In context
The January cohort retained 30% of users at month three, while the April cohort, after onboarding changes, held 38%.
Practical note
Small cohorts produce noisy, swingy numbers; make sure each group is large enough before drawing conclusions, and keep the active definition consistent across cohorts.