# Ecommerce Retention Economics > Measure retention campaigns by incremental profit after discounts, rewards, returns and communication costs. - Type: Merchant guide - Level: Intermediate - Reading time: About 6 minutes - Audience: Written for store owners, builders, and designers refining high-performance ecommerce stores. - Last updated: 2026-11-04 - Canonical page: https://academy.getzenbasket.com/merchant-questions/ecommerce-retention-economics/ - Part of: [Merchant Questions](https://academy.getzenbasket.com/merchant-questions/) on ZenBasket Academy --- ## What you need to know ### How much should I spend to retain a customer? Set the retention budget from expected incremental contribution, not from total customer revenue. Include discounts, rewards, messaging, tools, service and return costs, and spend less when the estimate is uncertain. ### Should retention campaigns be measured by revenue or profit? Measure both revenue and profit but use incremental contribution profit to decide whether the campaign created financial value. Revenue can rise while a deep discount and free benefit make the result unprofitable. ### How do discounts affect retention profitability? Discounts reduce contribution on orders that use them and may shift purchases that would have happened at full price. Compare incremental orders and profit with a control or credible baseline, not coupon-attributed revenue alone. ### Can a repeat customer still be unprofitable? Yes. Frequent purchases can remain unprofitable when margins are low or discounts, returns, shipping benefits, rewards and support costs are high. Review contribution at customer or cohort level. ### How do returns affect customer lifetime value? Returns reduce realized revenue or margin and add processing, shipping, support and loss costs. Include both the refunded value and the net operational effect in the CLV model. ### How do loyalty rewards affect customer lifetime value? Rewards reduce contribution when earned or redeemed and can create an outstanding liability before redemption. Count their expected cost while also measuring whether they create additional profitable behavior. ### How should retention costs be included in customer profitability? Assign campaign, discount, reward, platform and service costs consistently to the customers or cohorts that generated them. Document shared-cost allocation so profitability does not change merely because reporting rules changed. ### A quick store check Recalculate one retention campaign from revenue to contribution profit, including returns, rewards, media and service cost. --- ## Frequently asked questions ### Does a retained customer always cost less than a new customer? No. Discounts, rewards, returns and service can make some retained customers expensive, so compare incremental contribution. ### Should staff time be included in retention cost? Include it when the work is material and can be allocated consistently, especially for manual campaigns or high-touch service. --- ## Related learning path - **Ecommerce Retention and Cohort Analysis** - **Ecommerce Retention Troubleshooting and Audit** - [ZenBasket Build Guide](https://help.getzenbasket.com/zenbasket-builder/)