The short answer: Treat customers from creators as their own group and plan their second order before the first one ships. Send them to the product most likely to bring them back, make sure creators describe the product the way it actually performs, use the first 30 days to help them get a result rather than to send more codes, and give them a reason to reorder at full price. Then add their repeat rate to the creator report, alongside the sales, reach and content the programme is there to deliver.
As of November 2026. A guest post by Tobi Chapman, founder of Everboost.
Do customers from influencers come back less often?
There's no single answer, and most brands don't know for their own business, because they've never split their repeat rate by where customers came from.
Two things usually decide it. First, whether the product lived up to what the creator said: a customer who was promised a result in a week and didn't get one is unlikely to buy again. Second, how much of the first order was bought on a discount: a customer who paid 30% less the first time is being asked to pay a lot more the second time. Both can be planned for before a campaign goes live.
What is a good repeat customer rate?
There isn't a reliable single benchmark, because the number moves so much with how it's measured. The most useful version is the 90-day first-to-second rate: of everyone who bought for the first time in a month, the share who placed a second order within 90 days. It varies widely by category and price point. A daily supplement that runs out in a month will usually repeat far more than a premium product that lasts a season.
So compare against yourself, not against a published average:
Your own cohorts over time. Is the rate for this quarter's new customers higher or lower than the same quarter last year?
Your own sources. Do customers from creators come back more or less than customers from paid social, search or your own site? A creator programme can bring in plenty of first orders and still be a weaker source of repeat customers, and a blended rate will hide it.
Matured cohorts only. Only count customers whose first order is at least 90 days old. Newer cohorts always look worse because they haven't had time.
How do you know which customers came from influencers?
Method | How it works | What it catches | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
Creator discount codes | A unique code per creator, shown on the order | Customers who used the code | Codes leak to voucher sites, so some code users never saw the creator |
Tracked links (affiliate links or UTMs) | A unique link per creator, read by your affiliate or analytics tool | Customers who clicked through from the creator's post or bio | Customers who saw the post and came back later another way |
Post-purchase survey | One question after checkout: "How did you hear about us?" | Customers who saw a creator and bought later | Not everyone answers, and memory is imperfect |
Use at least two. Codes and links show who clicked or used the code; a survey catches customers a creator influenced who arrived another way. Most email platforms can already see the discount code on an order, and many post-purchase survey tools can send their answers across, so creator customers can be put in their own segment.
Why don't creator customers come back?
Cause | What it looks like | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
The promise gap | The creator says it worked in a week; for most people it takes six | Brief creators on how long the product takes to work and what they can and can't say about it, and check scripts against that |
The code | 30% off the first order, full price on the second | Keep the first and second price closer together, or step the discount down over several orders |
The first product | The creator link goes to the cheapest single product | Send creator traffic to the product or bundle that brings people back most often, where it fits the creator's content |
Silence after the order | Order confirmation, shipping update, then a discount on day 30 | Fill the first 30 days with help: how to use it, when to expect a result, what other customers found |
No reason to reorder | The only reason offered to come back is another code | Bundles, refills, subscriptions or rewards: a reason that isn't only price |
How do you turn influencer customers into repeat customers?
Tag them at the source. Codes, tracked links and a post-purchase survey, so creator customers can be segmented and measured as a group.
Close the gap between the claim and the product. Brief creators on what the product does, how long it takes and what they can and can't say about it. A customer who expects a result in six weeks is far more likely to wait for it. One who was promised a week often gives up before the product has had a chance to work.
Send them to the product that repeats best. Rank your products by how often the customers who started on each one come back. The product with the best first-order conversion isn't always the one that brings people back. A two-product starter (a routine, or the hero product plus its refill) gives the customer a reason to continue. Test it, because a bundle can lower first-order conversion, and read the result on second orders as well as first.
Continue the creator's story in the first 30 days. Put most of the help in the first 14 days: how to use the product, when to expect a result, what the creator and other customers noticed. One job per message, across email, SMS and what goes in the box. A customer who came through a creator already trusts that voice, so use the creator's content where you have the rights to.
Give a reason to reorder at full price. If the first order was on a creator code, don't jump straight from 30% off to full price. Step the discount down, or move the value into a bundle, a larger size or a gift that helps the routine. The second order should feel like the easy choice, not the expensive one.
Offer the subscription twice. Once as an option on the first order, for customers who already know they'll use it every day. Then again as the first pack runs low, for customers who have now seen it work. Make it easy to stay: skip, pause and change frequency before cancel.
Add repeat to the creator report. Creator programmes do several jobs: sales, reach, awareness and content. Repeat rate isn't the measure of a creator, but it is worth one line in the report: how many of each creator's customers ordered again within 90 days. It shows which audiences stick around, and those creators are often worth a long-term partnership rather than a one-off post.
Who should own this: the influencer team or the retention team?
Both, planned together. The influencer side owns which creators, what they say and which product they lead with. The retention side owns what happens after the first order: the post-purchase journey, the offer, the subscription and the data. Second orders often get lost in the handover between the two, so agree three things before a campaign goes live:
The promise. What creators will say about the product and how long it takes, so the post-purchase journey can back it up.
The landing product and offer. Where creator traffic goes, and what the second-order offer will be.
The tag and the report. How creator customers are identified, and which repeat numbers both teams will look at.
Augmentum covers the creator side, building influencer engines from influencer seeding through affiliate and paid influencer to whitelisting, set out in the guide to building an influencer engine. Retention agencies such as Everboost cover what happens after the first order.
What results can a second-order programme deliver?
The programmes below weren't creator-only, but they work on the same problem: getting first-time buyers back for a second order.
Salt Grooming: 30-day repeat purchase rate up 24%, and returning customer sales up 58% in 12 months.
VEDIC LAB: 90-day second-order rate up 19%.
Discount Supplements: 60-day repeat rate up 12.2%, with a third less discount per order.
PhycoHealth: twice the share of first orders taken as a subscription.
The Discount Supplements result is worth noting for brands that lean on creator codes: more customers came back within 60 days while the discount per order went down.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get repeat customers?
Start new customers on the product most likely to bring them back, help them get a result in the first 30 days, and give them a reason to reorder that isn't just another discount. Then track how many first-time buyers order again within 90 days, and work on whatever is holding that number back.
What is a good repeat customer rate?
There's no reliable single benchmark, because it varies widely by category, price point and how it's measured. The most useful comparison is your own: this quarter's new customers against the same quarter last year, and customers from one source against another, on cohorts at least 90 days old.
Do influencer discount codes hurt retention?
They can. A deep code brings in customers who are partly buying the discount, and the jump to full price on the second order can lose many of them. Keeping the first and second price closer together, or stepping the discount down over several orders, keeps more of them.
Should influencer customers get a different welcome flow?
Usually yes, or at least their own branch of it. They arrived with expectations set by a creator, so the first messages should back up what the creator said, rather than introduce the brand from scratch.
When should you offer a subscription to a customer from an influencer?
Twice: as an option on the first order, and again as the first pack is running low, once they've had time to see it work. Customers who can skip, pause or change frequency tend to stay longer than those whose only option is to cancel.
How do you track which customers came from influencers?
Use creator codes or tracked links for customers who clicked or used a code, and a post-purchase survey for those who saw a creator and bought later. Most email platforms can see the discount code on an order, so creator customers can be put in their own segment.
What is the difference between a repeat customer and a returning customer?
The terms are often used for the same thing: a customer who has bought more than once. Some reports use "returning customer" for anyone who has bought before in any period, which includes long-standing customers, so check the definition before comparing numbers.
How long does it take to improve repeat purchase?
Changes to the first 30 days and the offer usually show within one or two purchase cycles. Read the result on matured cohorts, so a 90-day rate needs at least 90 days after the change before it means anything.
Acquisition is the half we run. If you want your creator programme planned with the second order in mind, let's talk. Augmentum Media builds influencer engines for health and wellness DTC brands, from seeding and affiliate to paid influencer and whitelisting.