Customer lifetime value calculator
Enter your revenue, orders and customers, or your subscription price and churn: you get the average order value, the purchase frequency, the lifetime value in revenue and in margin, and how it compares with your acquisition cost.
- Average selling price
- $67.50
- Items per order
- 1.33
- Orders per customer per year
- 1.32
- Lifetime value in margin
- $284
A customer brings you $356 on average over 3 years, and the margin they leave covers their acquisition cost 6.32 times.
The PDF adds what each lever adds to lifetime value: order value, frequency, loyalty, margin or churn.
Lifetime value formulas
Worked on the calculator’s default example: a course creator over twelve months.
- Average order value
Revenue / orders
$48,600 over 540 orders: $90. - Purchase frequency
Orders / unique customers
540 orders from 410 customers: 1.32 a year. - Lifetime value
AOV × orders per year × years
$90 × 1.32 × 3 years: $356 per customer. - Subscription LTV
Monthly price / monthly churn
$29 with 5% churn: 20 months, $580.
Raise the average order value at checkout
An order bump is a small offer ticked on the checkout page; an upsell is a bigger one offered right after payment. Neither needs a new customer: they raise what each buyer spends.
Switch them on and off on a $97 course: the take rates are examples.
Churn sets a subscription’s value
For a membership or a subscription, the average lifetime is 1 divided by the monthly churn. A small drop in churn adds months to every subscriber, and often weighs more than a price increase.
- Average lifetime
- 20 months
- Value of a subscriber
- $580
Going from 5% to 3% monthly churn takes a subscriber’s value from $580 to $967, without touching the price.
LTV in revenue or in margin?
In revenue, lifetime value tells you how much a customer spends with you. In margin, it tells you how much you can spend to win one. Compare acquisition costs with the margin version, never with revenue.
Measure on a full period
Use revenue and orders over the same months, ideally a full year, so that a launch or a quiet summer does not skew the frequency. The calculator brings the frequency back to a year whatever the period you enter.
Order bumps, upsells and customer value in one place
With Learnybox, an order bump or an upsell goes on your checkout in a few clicks, and each customer’s purchases show in your CRM, next to your courses and your emails.
- Urban sketching18 September$67
- One-to-one coaching2 September$47
- Watercolour course2 September$197
Frequently asked questions
Another question? Write to us.
How do I calculate customer lifetime value?
Multiply the average order value by the number of orders a customer places per year, then by the number of years they stay. For a subscription, divide the monthly price by the monthly churn rate. Multiply by your margin rate to get the value in profit.
How do you calculate average order value?
Divide your revenue by the number of orders over the same period. $48,600 over 540 orders gives an average order value of $90.
What is the difference between average order value and lifetime value?
Average order value measures one purchase; lifetime value adds up all the purchases of one customer over the time they stay. Two shops with the same order value can have very different lifetime values.
What is a good LTV to CAC ratio?
The ratio you can compare from one channel to another. A rule of thumb often quoted for SaaS, from David Skok, is 3 to 1: a customer brings back three times what it cost to acquire, in margin. Below 1, each new customer loses money.
Should LTV use revenue or margin?
Margin, to compare it with the acquisition cost: a customer who brings $500 in revenue at a 20% margin only leaves $100 to pay for their acquisition.
How does churn affect lifetime value?
Directly: the average lifetime is 1 divided by the monthly churn. Going from 5% to 3% monthly churn takes a subscriber from 20 to 33 months, a 67% higher lifetime value.
How can I increase average order value?
Add an order bump on the checkout, offer an upsell after payment, bundle courses. Each one raises the order value without finding a single new customer.
Is the calculator free?
Yes. The calculation is free with no account; the PDF with the levers asks for your email once.
Make each customer worth more
Checkout, upsells, emails and courses on one platform. Free to start.