# Retention & Cohort

Retention & Cohort helps you understand whether users come back and what they do after a starting event. Use it when the key question is about repeat behavior over time.

### Understand the two analysis types

#### Retention

Retention measures how many users return to perform an event again after the starting date.

This is useful for tracking:

* app opens,
* repeat engagement,
* ongoing usage,
* or post-campaign return behavior.

#### Cohort

Cohort analysis groups users by a first event, then measures how many of them complete a second event over time.

This is useful for questions like:

* how many users purchase after sign-up,
* how many users revisit after first open,
* or how different acquisition days compare later.

{% @arcade/embed url="<https://app.arcade.software/share/kGDAOswEqn2azBGX1gln>" flowId="kGDAOswEqn2azBGX1gln" %}

### Start a retention chart

Retention includes separate **Mobile** and **Web** tabs.

Choose the event that represents the behavior you want to measure. A common example is **Open App**.

Then select the starting date or date range for the analysis.

<figure><img src="https://1642824329-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FX6uilbEAw42gqsudlclY%2Fuploads%2FfSmtw500oRK5ywFamKtK%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=80c26e5a-430a-447d-8b1d-053c021cdbae" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Read retention results

The retention table shows how engagement evolves after the first day.

Key fields:

1. **Day of Open App**
   * days since the initial event
2. **Users**
   * number of users who returned on that day
3. **% of Users Open App**
   * percentage of the starting cohort that returned

<figure><img src="https://1642824329-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FX6uilbEAw42gqsudlclY%2Fuploads%2F7bvUuBWkx33fqQBD5nDk%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=b3b92d31-0cd8-4577-8bb8-ac51cd3fa4d2" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Use this table to see how quickly users fall off or stabilize over time.

### Start a cohort analysis

Choose two events:

1. **Event 1** defines the starting cohort.
2. **Event 2** defines the later behavior you want to measure.

Example:

* **Event 1:** Open App
* **Event 2:** Purchase

Then choose the start date for the cohort.

<figure><img src="https://1642824329-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FX6uilbEAw42gqsudlclY%2Fuploads%2FbbUxthUlgndX6METhYSF%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=7aa64d7d-0956-47e1-a502-b2f6675cfa3b" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="https://1642824329-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FX6uilbEAw42gqsudlclY%2Fuploads%2FSJa0xh627bTWYnpg9gS2%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=57757bb6-0256-43df-ad1d-f8bdccb29079" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Read cohort results

The cohort table tracks how users from each starting day move toward Event 2.

#### Main columns

1. **Day of Event 1**
   * the day the starting cohort was created
2. **Users (+0, +1, +2, ...)**
   * how many users completed Event 2 on each later day
3. **% of Users (+0, +1, +2, ...)**
   * what share of the starting cohort completed Event 2 on each later day

<figure><img src="https://1642824329-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FX6uilbEAw42gqsudlclY%2Fuploads%2FocAGPOZ2XYrMqeuzxpm9%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=fc509895-2250-47e1-aa19-ea36f85056a3" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Export or tag users

Use **Export** when you need:

* offline analysis,
* reporting,
* or deeper comparison in Excel.

You can also reuse the result operationally by tagging users for later campaign targeting.

<figure><img src="https://1642824329-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FX6uilbEAw42gqsudlclY%2Fuploads%2F7OYMT1BfIpaMslwhiQ74%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=bb5e05b7-45bd-4a1b-8fe7-c9ea02b1d4f6" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

For tagging details, see [Tags](https://user.netmera.com/netmera-user-guide/targeting/tags).