Measure retention at the moment users return

Retention

1First use2Value3Repeat use

Retention is a repeated product behavior measured over a defined period. The useful definition names the behavior, the people or records being counted and the time they had to return. Without those three decisions, two retention charts can show different answers to the same question.

A wallet connection is a starting event. A token balance is a state. Neither tells you that someone came back and used the product. Choose a return event that your team would recognize as value delivered again.

Pick the cadence before the chart

A daily game, a weekly reporting tool and an occasional payment service have different expected rhythms. Measuring all three on a daily return rate gives the number a consistency the products do not share.

For a weekly product, a practical definition could be: an activated account completes another qualifying action between days 7 and 13 after its first one. That is a specific interval. It is different from asking whether the account returned at any point on or after day 7.

Write the event definition with equal care. Opening the app, viewing a reward and completing the core workflow may all appear in the event stream. Decide which one represents continued use, and keep the others as supporting signals.

Keep the unit of identity stable

Count product accounts, linked participant records or wallets according to what your data can support. State the unit in the report. Several wallets can belong to one participant, and a participant may use more than one account.

If the identity model changes during the test, the denominator can change with it. Record how merged accounts and duplicate records are handled. Avoid presenting a wallet-based return rate as retention of unique people without the evidence needed to make that conversion.

User intelligence is useful here as context for the journey. It does not remove the need to define the reporting unit.

Build a cohort that had time to return

Group accounts by the date of their first qualifying action. Only evaluate a later window once the accounts have had enough time to reach its end.

An illustrative comparison for a weekly product looks like this. Both cohorts have completed their observation window and use the same return event and eligibility definition.

The second cohort is 10 percentage points higher, or 40% higher relative to the first rate. Both descriptions refer to the same arithmetic. Neither establishes that the milestone caused the difference.

Acquisition source, reward value, product changes and participant selection could explain part of the gap. Random assignment, adequate sample planning and consistent exposure help evaluate causality. Without those conditions, treat the comparison as a lead to investigate. These figures are an example, not a Claimr result or retention benchmark.

Measure the period after rewards end

Separate activity while a reward is available from activity after that offer closes. Define the later period before the campaign starts and record any other incentives that remain active.

If the campaign ends on a fixed calendar date, participants who joined late may have received less exposure than early arrivals. Compare groups with similar opportunity or report the difference. A single before-and-after total can hide that imbalance.

Read cost alongside the return rate. Suppose the illustrative milestone cohort required $700 in rewards and operating cost. Dividing by its 70 returning accounts gives $10 per observed returning account. Dividing by the 20 additional observed returns gives $35 per excess observed return, but calling that incremental acquisition cost would assume the entire difference was caused by the campaign. The arithmetic cannot establish that assumption.

Turn the result into a product decision

A retention review should end with a specific next move. If starts rise but first value does not, inspect onboarding. If activation holds and return use declines, examine the recurring use case. If activity depends on an expensive continuing reward, assess whether that subsidy fits the business.

Use quests to introduce a useful feature, achievements to recognize progress and challenges to support a cadence the product already serves. With Claimr, tracked activity can connect those mechanics to the participant journey through the Widget or API.

Keep the measurement definition with the campaign brief. The team should be able to explain what returned, when it returned and what the program cost before deciding to expand it.