How to Increase Repeat Purchase Rate on Shopify
Increasing repeat purchase rate on Shopify comes down to making it easier for a customer who already bought once to buy again, faster, and with less friction than finding the store fresh through search or a paid ad the second time. The channels a store relies on for that second purchase matter more than most merchants initially assume.
Why the second purchase is different from the first
A first purchase usually comes through discovery, search, social, paid ads, referral. A repeat purchase comes through recall: the customer remembering the brand and having an easy way back in. That's a fundamentally different problem, and it's one email alone doesn't solve especially well, given open rates of only 15 to 20 percent (industry benchmarks) and the fact that a lot of marketing email gets filtered or ignored entirely.
Push notifications solve the recall problem more directly, running 20 to 26 percent open rates (industry benchmarks), landing on a locked screen rather than competing for inbox attention. But push only works if there's an app or PWA installed to send it through, which means repeat purchase rate is tied more closely to app and PWA adoption than most stores initially account for.
The mechanics that actually drive repeat purchases
Reorder speed matters more than most stores realize. A customer who has to search for a product again, re-add it to cart, and re-enter payment details faces real friction compared to one who can reorder in a couple of taps from order history. Native apps and PWAs, with saved payment methods and one-tap reorder flows, remove that friction directly.
Timing matters as much as mechanics. A reorder reminder sent when a supplement bottle or beauty product is actually running low converts far better than a generic monthly promotional email, because it matches an actual need rather than interrupting with an unrelated offer. Categories with genuine consumable or replenishment products, beauty, supplements, pet supplies, see this effect most clearly.
Subscription and recurring revenue setups formalize this further, turning an assumed reorder into a scheduled one, with churn recovery flows in place for failed payments so a lapsed subscription doesn't silently become a lost customer.
Where repeat purchase rate and retention overlap
Cart abandonment and repeat purchase rate are connected in a way that's easy to miss: a customer who abandons a cart mid-checkout on their first visit is less likely to return for a second attempt without a direct nudge. In-app cart abandonment runs around 20 percent, against roughly 85 percent on mobile web (Barilliance; Venn Apps), which means the environment the first purchase happens in affects whether there's a second purchase to increase at all.
Building this as one system, not separate tactics
Push strategy, install-to-purchase attribution, and subscription setup work better built together than as separate initiatives layered on over time. Bonsify is a Shopify services company by FetchSky that builds native iOS and Android apps, PWAs, new Shopify stores, platform migrations, custom apps, and more, and repeat purchase mechanics get built into the launch phase of every app engagement rather than treated as a follow-up project.
Ready to see what a done-for-you build looks like for your store? Start your free audit →
Reducing reorder friction, saved payment methods, one-tap reorder, and timing reminders to actual need rather than a generic schedule tend to produce the fastest gains.
It works, but at a lower open rate, 15 to 20 percent, than push notifications at 20 to 26 percent, which gives push a real edge for time-sensitive reorder reminders.
Categories with consumable or replenishment products, beauty, supplements, pet supplies, tend to see the clearest impact from reorder reminders and subscription setups.
It formalizes and protects repeat purchases that were already happening informally, and churn recovery flows prevent some of what would otherwise become lost repeat revenue.
Yes, a poor first-purchase checkout experience makes a customer less likely to return for a second attempt without a direct nudge like a push notification.
A free audit reviews the store's actual repeat purchase data and category to recommend the highest-impact fixes.
See what going native would change
Tell us about your Shopify store. We'll give you a straight answer.
Book a free audit