Just 32% of ecommerce customers purchase again within a year of their first purchase, according to research from ecommerce analytics platform RJMetrics.

RJMetrics analysed the data of 176 ecommerce retailers and 18m customers to understand how they behave. While the research painted a picture of a “cutthroat industry”, it also found that the most successful ecommerce retailers did succeed in building longer-term customer relationships. Top quartile companies (ranked by growth rate) have customer lifetime values that are 79% higher than their less successful peers.

The report suggested that companies focus retention efforts on high-value customers, as the research found that the top 1% of customers are 18 times more valuable than the average customer. It also advocated the use of data to predict who those high-value customers would be.

“While retailers love talking about building brands that customers love, there are very few companies doing that successfully,” said RJMetrics CEO, Robert J. Moore. “If you’re one of the few retailers who has figured out how to keep your customers coming back you’re on the path to something very big.”