Sales Forecasting

Retention Rate

2026-05-31 7 min read

Retention rate is the percentage of customers, users, or revenue retained over a defined period. For SaaS: typically reported as gross retention (excluding expansion) or net retention (including expansion). For DTC/ecommerce: typically reported as repeat purchase rate within 30/60/90 days. The metric is the inverse of churn rate. Retention rate benchmarks vary materially by business model — B2B SaaS retention is typically reported in dollars; DTC retention in customers.

TL;DR

<strong>Retention rate</strong> is the percentage of customers, users, or revenue retained over a defined period. For SaaS: typically reported as gross retention (excluding expansion) or net retention (including expansion). For DTC/ecommerce: typically reported as repeat purchase rate within 30/60/90 days. The metric is the inverse of churn rate. Retention rate benchmarks vary materially by business model — B2B SaaS retention is typically reported in dollars; DTC retention in customers.

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Sources

Definitions and benchmarks reference primary sources from the Sales Forecasting pillar. Verified at publication.

  1. 1 State of Sales Forecasting — Gartner, 2025. View source .
  2. 2 AI Revenue Forecasting Accuracy Study — Forrester, 2025. View source .
  3. 3 Pipeline Coverage Benchmarks B2B SaaS — Pavilion, 2025. View source .

Fairview cites primary sources only — government data, academic research, industry benchmarks from named publishers, and official vendor documentation. See our editorial standards.