RFM segmentation

Score every customer by value in one click

Pushwoosh scores your users 1 to 5 on how recently they bought, how often they buy, and how much they spend. One calculation returns the 10 standard RFM segments, from Champions to Hibernating, as tags and audiences you can send to. Use them to start a Customer Journey, or as conditions inside any other segment.

RFM results grid with named tiers such as Loyal customers, At risk, Hibernating, and Can't lose them, each block sized by how many users it holds

What the RFM tab gives you

One-click calculation

Pick the event, press Calculate.

Scores of 1 to 5

Every user ranked on each axis.

10 named segments

Champions, At risk, Hibernating, and 7 more.

3 reusable tags

Recency, Frequency, and Monetary on the user profile.

RF-only mode

Skip Monetary where there is no revenue event.

Per-segment stats

User count, share of your base, average spend.

How the scores are built

The wizard reads the history of one event you nominate as the valuable action, then turns it into 3 scores per user.

AxisWhat it measuresScore
RecencyTime since the user last fired the event1 to 5
FrequencyHow many times the user fired it1 to 5
MonetaryValue on the event's Integer or Price attribute1 to 5, optional
Axis
1 / 3
Recency
What it measures
Time since the user last fired the event
Score
1 to 5
Axis
2 / 3
Frequency
What it measures
How many times the user fired it
Score
1 to 5
Axis
3 / 3
Monetary
What it measures
Value on the event's Integer or Price attribute
Score
1 to 5, optional

Each score sits on the user profile as a custom tag, so the same numbers are available in the segment builder, in journey condition splits, and in message content.

Businesses without a revenue event to point at pick none for the monetary attribute and score on recency and frequency alone. That covers apps where the action worth scoring is a lesson completed, a workout logged, or an episode watched.

The 10 segments you get back

Every user with history on that event ends up in one of these tiers.

SegmentWho lands hereWhere to take them
ChampionsBought recently, buy often, spend the mostEarly access, loyalty tiers, referral asks
Loyal customersFrequent buyers with steady recent activityCross-sell, review requests, service messages
Potential loyalistsRecent buyers at an average frequencyEvent-based prompts to buy again
New customersBought once, very recentlyOnboarding and a reason to return
PromisingRecent, low frequency, clear intentFollow-ups on the category they browsed
Needing attentionAbove-average history, activity slippingOffers built on past purchases
About to sleepBelow-average recency and frequencyA reminder before they go quiet
At riskUsed to buy often, quiet for a whileWin-back with a personal discount
Cannot lose themFormer high spenders, now inactiveYour strongest win-back offer
HibernatingLast purchase long ago, low valueBatch win-back at minimal cost
Segment
1 / 10
Champions
Who lands here
Bought recently, buy often, spend the most
Where to take them
Early access, loyalty tiers, referral asks
Segment
2 / 10
Loyal customers
Who lands here
Frequent buyers with steady recent activity
Where to take them
Cross-sell, review requests, service messages
Segment
3 / 10
Potential loyalists
Who lands here
Recent buyers at an average frequency
Where to take them
Event-based prompts to buy again
Segment
4 / 10
New customers
Who lands here
Bought once, very recently
Where to take them
Onboarding and a reason to return
Segment
5 / 10
Promising
Who lands here
Recent, low frequency, clear intent
Where to take them
Follow-ups on the category they browsed
Segment
6 / 10
Needing attention
Who lands here
Above-average history, activity slipping
Where to take them
Offers built on past purchases
Segment
7 / 10
About to sleep
Who lands here
Below-average recency and frequency
Where to take them
A reminder before they go quiet
Segment
8 / 10
At risk
Who lands here
Used to buy often, quiet for a while
Where to take them
Win-back with a personal discount
Segment
9 / 10
Cannot lose them
Who lands here
Former high spenders, now inactive
Where to take them
Your strongest win-back offer
Segment
10 / 10
Hibernating
Who lands here
Last purchase long ago, low value
Where to take them
Batch win-back at minimal cost

Each tier is an ordinary saved segment. Membership comes from score ranges on the 3 RFM tags, so you can open any of the 10 in the segment builder, read its logic, and layer your own conditions on top.

What RFM segmentation is best for

VIP and loyalty programs

Champions and Loyal customers are your reward audience, ready on the day you calculate.

A graded win-back ladder

About to sleep, At risk, and Cannot lose them come out ordered by urgency, so the offer can grow with the risk.

New-customer nurture

Separate a first-time buyer from one who is already showing promise, and message each differently.

RFM pays off where a minority of customers drives most of the revenue, and where churn shows up as a drop in purchase frequency.

  • E-commerce
  • Mobile games
  • Marketplaces
  • Subscription apps
  • Food delivery
  • Fintech
  • Media
  • Travel

Take a tier straight into a journey

Any of the 10 segments can open a Customer Journey or sit inside a condition split. From there the audience reaches push, in-app, email, SMS, WhatsApp, and your other channels against a single profile, with fallback where a channel does not reach the user.

Reward Champions in one journey and win back At risk in another, both reading the same tag set.

The scores stay yours to reuse

Recency, Frequency, and Monetary behave like every other tag on the profile. Combine them with country, plan, app version, or any behavioral condition in marketing segmentation, and reference a score inside message content.

A frequency score of 5 plus a country filter plus a last-session condition is one segment, built in the same place as the rest of your behavioral segments.

See the size of every tier

Each calculation lists all 10 segments with the number of users in them, their share of your total base, and their average monetary value where you scored one.

Read the grid before you decide what to send. A base weighted toward Loyal customers calls for a different plan than one sitting mostly in Hibernating.

Purchase data stays on our own hardware

RFM scoring runs on purchase history and order value, inside the same platform that already holds your audience data. Pushwoosh runs on its own hardware in the US and Germany, under GDPR and BDSG. Full detail sits on the data safety page.

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How it works

  1. Pick your purchase event

    Open the RFM Segmentation tab and choose the event that stands for a valuable action. It has to carry an Integer or Price attribute the wizard can count.

  2. Choose a monetary attribute, or none

    Select the attribute holding the amount to score spend as well. Choose none to run recency and frequency only.

  3. Press Calculate

    Pushwoosh writes the 3 tags, builds the 10 segments, and shows the size of each. Target them from a campaign, or hand them to a journey.

Good to know: RFM is a snapshot.

  • RFM segments do not update on their own. Run the calculation again when you want current scores.
  • Every recalculation overwrites the 3 tags, so each run replaces the one before it.
  • The event you score on needs an Integer or Price attribute. String, boolean, date, and list attributes will not work as the basis.
  • Events arrive from your app or backend, so adding a purchase event with an amount attribute is a developer task.
  • The tab scores one purchase event at a time.

Score every customer by value

Run the calculation on your own data and see how your base splits across the 10 tiers. Our team can help you pick the right event and connect the segments to a journey. Plans are on the pricing page.