How to Use Cohort Analysis in AskBiz
AskBiz's cohort analysis tool shows how customer retention and revenue evolve over time. Learn how to read and act on cohort data.
Key Takeaways
- Access cohort analysis under Customer Intelligence > Cohort Analysis
- Choose between retention cohorts (who came back) and revenue cohorts (how much they spent)
- Hover any cell to see the raw customer count and value behind the percentage
- Use the Acquisition Channel filter to compare cohort quality across marketing channels
Accessing cohort analysis in AskBiz
From the main navigation, go to Customer Intelligence, then select Cohort Analysis. By default, AskBiz shows a monthly retention cohort grid for the past 12 months — rows are acquisition months, columns are months since first purchase, and each cell shows the retention rate for that cohort at that stage of their lifecycle.
Switching between cohort types
AskBiz offers three cohort views. Retention cohorts show what percentage of a cohort made a repeat purchase in each subsequent month. Revenue cohorts show how much each cohort has spent cumulatively over time — useful for comparing the revenue quality of different acquisition periods. Order frequency cohorts show how purchase frequency evolves over the cohort's lifetime. Toggle between these views using the Cohort Type selector at the top of the page.
Reading the cohort grid
Each row is an acquisition cohort (customers who made their first purchase in that month). Each column is a time period (Month 0 is the acquisition month, Month 1 is one month later, and so on). The cell at the intersection of January 2025 and Month 3 shows what percentage of customers acquired in January 2025 made a purchase in April 2025. Hover any cell to see the underlying customer count and absolute revenue, not just the percentage.
Spotting trends
Compare retention rates down a column to see whether recent cohorts are retaining better or worse than older ones at the same lifecycle stage. If Month 1 retention has gone from 22% for January cohorts to 31% for June cohorts, that is a meaningful retention improvement — likely driven by a product, onboarding, or marketing change in that period. Identify when that change was made and use it to explain the improvement.
Using the Acquisition Channel filter
One of the most powerful uses of cohort analysis in AskBiz is filtering by acquisition channel. Go to Filters > Acquisition Channel and select a channel (e.g. Paid Social, Organic Search, Referral). The cohort grid will update to show only customers acquired through that channel. Comparing retention cohort grids across channels tells you which channels are bringing in your highest-quality, most loyal customers — not just your highest-volume ones.