What is RFM Segmentation?

RFM stands for Recency, Frequency, and Monetary — three dimensions that measure customer behavior:

Recency — How many days since the customer's last order
Frequency — How many total orders the customer has placed
Monetary — How much the customer has spent in total

Each customer is scored 1 to 5 on each dimension (5 being the best), and these scores are combined to place every customer into one of 10 segments. This gives you a clear, actionable picture of your customer base.

You will find the RFM Segmentation dashboard under Customers > RFM Analysis in the sidebar.

The 10 RFM Segments

Segment	Description	Recommended Action
Champions	Bought recently, buy often, and spend the most	Reward them with VIP perks, early access, and referral programs
Loyal	Buy regularly with above-average frequency and spend	Upsell premium products, invite to loyalty programs
Promising	Recent customers with moderate frequency — showing growth potential	Nurture with personalized recommendations to increase purchase frequency
New Customers	Made their first purchase recently	Onboard with welcome sequences, educate about your product range
Need Attention	Previously active customers whose recency and frequency are declining	Re-engage with targeted offers before they slip away
Should Not Lose	Were high-value customers but have not purchased recently	Win them back with personalized outreach and exclusive deals
Sleepers	Low recency and frequency — becoming disengaged	Send reactivation campaigns with strong incentives
Lost	Have not purchased in a long time and had low engagement	Consider sunset campaigns; focus budget on higher-value segments
Warm Leads	Moderate scores across all dimensions — could go either way	Increase touchpoints and provide social proof to encourage next purchase
Cold Leads	Low scores across all dimensions	Low-cost reactivation attempts; reallocate marketing spend to better segments

How to Read the Dashboard

The dashboard has two main views:

Summary View — Shows a treemap visualization of all 10 segments sized by customer count. Each segment displays the number of customers and their percentage of your total customer base. Below the treemap, you can connect Klaviyo to automatically sync segment tags.
Segment Details View — Click on any segment in the left sidebar to see a detailed customer table for that segment. Each row shows the customer's name, email, phone, RFM score, total spend, last order date, and total orders.

Dashboard Controls

Period — Choose between "All Time" or "Last 1 Year" to adjust the time window used for RFM scoring.
Segment Selector — Click any segment in the sidebar to drill into its customer list.
Klaviyo Integration — Connect your Klaviyo account to automatically tag customers with their RFM segment. Enable weekly sync to keep tags updated.
Export — Export the customer list for any segment as CSV or XLSX.

Key Insights to Look For

Champions + Loyal percentage — The combined percentage of Champions and Loyal customers tells you how strong your core customer base is. Aim for 15-25% or higher.
Need Attention + Should Not Lose — These are customers at risk of churning. A growing percentage here is a warning sign.
New Customers segment size — This reflects your acquisition velocity. If it is shrinking, you may need to invest more in top-of-funnel marketing.
Lost segment growth — If the Lost segment keeps growing, your retention strategy needs improvement.

Klaviyo Sync

When you connect Klaviyo, Datadrew can automatically tag each customer with their RFM segment in Klaviyo. This allows you to:

Build targeted email flows for each segment (e.g., win-back campaigns for "Should Not Lose")
Create segment-specific Klaviyo audiences
Schedule weekly automatic tag updates to keep segments current

Benchmarks

Navigate to the Benchmarks page to compare your RFM segment distribution against industry averages. This helps you understand if your Champions percentage is above or below similar Shopify stores.

Need help? Contact us at support@datadrew.io or use the in-app chat.