How Do You Find Your Biggest Spenders?
- A biggest spender is defined by spending above your store's average consistently over time, not by one order that happened to be large.
- The Pareto principle suggests a minority of customers produces most of the revenue, but the real split is different for every store and must be checked in your own data.
- Revenue per customer is not profit per customer: subtract the cost of goods sold, the cost of serving the customer and their share of overhead.
- RFM segmentation scores customers on Recency, Frequency and Monetary value, which keeps the list of high-value customers current as behavior changes.
- Big spenders stay when they feel special: personalized marketing, priority service, early access, a higher status and loyalty rewards all send that signal.
Your biggest spenders are the customers who consistently spend above your store's average over time. To find them, you total what each customer spent over a fixed period, compare it with your average, and subtract what it cost to sell to and serve them. The customers left at the top are the group most worth keeping.
At every stage of a business's life, you deal with different types of customers. To be more successful, your eCommerce store has to group them by traits such as shopping habits and how they spend money. Some groups are much more profitable to target than others when you decide where to spend your budget on marketing emails, social ads and other campaigns. This article explains who your biggest spenders are, how to calculate and identify them, and 6 strategies to retain them.
Who are your biggest spenders?
This should be your most important target group, because these shoppers spend more than your typical customer again and again. Of course, a one-time purchase above your average does not automatically qualify someone. It could be a gift, a seasonal purchase, or a customer who never comes back. You also have to look at how much a customer spends over time and how recently they last bought.
That is why the most reliable way to describe this group uses three dimensions together: how recently a customer bought, how often they buy, and how much they spend. These are the three scores of RFM segmentation, and they come back later in this article.
Why should you find your biggest spenders?
To understand why this group deserves special attention, start with the Pareto principle, or the 80/20 rule. It states that roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. In online shopping it is usually applied as a rule of thumb: around 80% of a company's revenue comes from around 20% of its customers. The exact split is different in every store, so treat 80/20 as a reason to check your own data, not as a promise.
Identifying your biggest spenders and paying more attention to them improves the quality of your business. It also moves effort toward keeping them, rather than toward ever more expensive new customer acquisition. There are three more reasons this group matters:
- They create loyalty value. Big spenders often become advocates for your brand. They shop often and recommend your store to friends and family.
- They are a safe group for conversion tactics. Because they already trust you, they are a reliable audience for new offers and campaigns.
- They respond well to change. When your marketing team changes something, this group often reacts first, which tells you early whether the change works and how much you need to spend on advertising.
In eCommerce, not all customers are equal. Some spend more and some spend less, whatever you sell. Finding the ones who spend more, and keeping them, is often financially healthier than constantly trying to acquire new customers.
How do you calculate your biggest spenders?
Calculating this manually in a spreadsheet does not scale. You need accurate, up-to-date customer and sales data to analyze each shopper's habits and buying power, which is what a customer analytics platform such as Nexus by Omniconvert provides. Whatever tool you use, the logic is the same.
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Choose a periodWeekly, monthly or annual figures all work. Use the same period for every customer, and choose one long enough to include repeat purchases. Twelve months is a common choice.
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Total each customer's spendAdd up the value of every order each customer placed in that period.
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Compare it with your averageCompare each total with your average spend per customer and your average order value. Customers well above the average are your candidates.
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Subtract the costsSubtract the cost of goods, the cost of additional services and the customer's share of overhead, as described in the table below. This turns revenue per customer into profit per customer.
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Rank and repeat for every groupRank customers by profit and repeat the calculation for every customer group. The groups at the top are your biggest spenders.
To get a true picture of profitability, consider these three costs:
| Cost | What it includes | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of goods sold (COGS) | What you, as the store owner, paid for the items the customer bought | Treat it as a floor. Selling below your cost of goods is charity: you will never make money on those sales. |
| Cost of additional services | What it takes to serve the customer along the sales funnel, such as customer service time and advertising | A customer who spends a lot but needs constant support or heavy discounts may be less profitable than their revenue suggests. |
| Share of overhead | The part of rent, utilities and storage attributed to the customer | Include it for the most accurate number, especially when you compare customer groups of very different sizes. |
The formula is:
Profit per customer = Total spend − Cost of goods sold − Cost of additional services − Share of overhead
For example, take a hypothetical customer who spent $1,200 in the last 12 months. The goods they bought cost you $600, serving them cost $150 in support and advertising, and their share of overhead is $50. Their profit is $1,200 − $600 − $150 − $50 = $400. A second customer who also spent $1,200 but needed $400 of discounts and support would be worth only $150 to you, even though both look identical in a revenue report.
How do you identify and segment your biggest spenders?
You will soon see how closely the Pareto principle describes your own store: a relatively small group of customers produces much of your real income. That is why it is so important to identify your biggest spenders and take special care in retaining them. A one-off ranking goes stale quickly, so the segment should update itself as customers buy, stop buying or change how much they spend.
| RFM dimension | What it measures | What a biggest spender looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Recency | How long ago the customer last bought | Bought recently. A high spender whose recency is slipping is a churn risk, not a safe customer. |
| Frequency | How often the customer buys in the period | Buys repeatedly. This separates loyal big spenders from one-time large orders. |
| Monetary value | How much the customer spends in total | Spends consistently above your average. Check it against profit, not only revenue. |
Before you apply the retention strategies below, answer these four questions:
- Should I spend money to acquire new customers? If so, how much?
- How can I shape products to suit my biggest spenders best?
- Should I invest budget in customer retention? If so, how much?
- How will I focus my marketing team on my biggest spenders?
Knowing who your big spenders are lets you keep optimizing your sales funnel for their experience. Keeping an existing, spending customer generally costs your marketing budget less than acquiring new ones, so hold on to them. Nexus by Omniconvert builds RFM segments and calculates Customer Lifetime Value from your order data, and pushes RFM segments directly to Meta Ads, Google Ads and Klaviyo, so the segment you define is the audience your campaigns actually reach.
See which customers produce most of your revenue, in RFM segments that update as they buy.
See how Nexus segments customers →6 strategies to retain your biggest spenders
There are many ways to keep your biggest spenders and give them reasons to spend more. Mostly, you have to show them how special they are to your business, while using what you know about their habits to grow your store.
1. Personalize your marketing
Your biggest spenders are fundamentally different from your average shoppers, so your communication with them should be different too. Personalizing their marketing is a strong first step to show that you truly value their business. Use what you know about what they buy and how often, rather than sending them the same campaign as everyone else.
2. Make them a priority
Your big spenders should always get the attention they deserve. Ship their orders first, give them priority in customer service, and, if you can take the extra step, let them see new products first. Small signals of priority improve their shopping experience and keep their goodwill high.
3. Segment your big spenders
First and foremost, keep your biggest spenders in their own segment. This lets you send them emails and ads meant only for them, such as exclusive invitations or product previews. Segmenting your customer base is the core of email marketing automation, and with Nexus the segment can go straight to Klaviyo, Meta Ads or Google Ads.
4. Offer early access
When you launch a new product or service, the first instinct is to open the doors to all customers. Instead, give your big spenders the first chance at the new product or deal. You keep them satisfied, and you may secure the first orders for the launch at the same time.
5. Award a higher status
Biggest spenders like to stand out, including on social media. A distinction such as Gold status or a customized online badge can mean a lot to them. Add real benefits to the status, such as priority customer service or first access to new products, so it is more than a label.
6. Reward their loyalty
You can show your top customers that you appreciate them in many ways. For big spenders, a thank-you coupon for a percentage off their next purchase is a simple way to express sincere thanks. Telling them that they are among your most valued customers makes them feel trusted, and in turn they trust your business more. A yearly summary of how much they bought with you, compared with a typical customer, can also increase their loyalty to your store.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your biggest spenders are the customers who consistently spend above your store's average over time, not the ones who placed a single large order. If your average order value is $100, a customer who regularly spends more than that, order after order, belongs in this group. Because they buy often and spend more each time, they usually generate a large share of your revenue and profit.
Pick a fixed period, such as the last 12 months. Add up what each customer spent in that period, then compare each total with your average spend per customer. To see real profitability, subtract the cost of goods sold, the cost of serving the customer, and their share of overhead. The customers at the top of the profit ranking, not only the revenue ranking, are your biggest spenders.
The Pareto principle, or 80/20 rule, says that roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. In eCommerce it is usually applied as a rule of thumb: a minority of customers generates the majority of revenue. The exact split differs for every store, so treat 80/20 as a prompt to check your own data rather than as a fixed number.
No. A single order above your average can be a one-off gift or a seasonal purchase. A biggest spender is defined by behavior over time: how recently they bought, how often they buy, and how much they spend in total. That is why RFM segmentation, which scores all three, is a more reliable way to find them than looking at order size alone.
RFM segmentation scores every customer on Recency, Frequency and Monetary value, then groups customers with similar scores. Customers with high scores on all three are your most valuable group. Because the scores update as customers buy, the segment stays current, and you can see when a big spender starts to slip before they are gone.
Keeping an existing high-value customer is generally cheaper than acquiring a new one, and these customers often recommend your store to friends and family. They also tend to respond well to new products and changes, which makes them a reliable group for testing ideas. Losing one of them removes much more revenue than losing an average customer.
Six strategies work well together: personalize your marketing for them, give them priority in shipping and customer service, keep them in a dedicated segment, offer early access to new products, award them a higher status such as a Gold tier, and reward their loyalty with thank-you offers. The common thread is showing them that they are special to your business.
Nexus by Omniconvert calculates RFM segments and Customer Lifetime Value from your order data, so your high-value customers are identified automatically and kept up to date. Nexus also pushes RFM segments directly to Meta Ads, Google Ads and Klaviyo, so you can reach your biggest spenders with dedicated ads and emails without exporting spreadsheets.
Not all customers are equal, and the ones who matter most are rarely the ones your acquisition budget is aimed at. Start by pulling twelve months of orders and ranking customers by total spend, then by profit after cost of goods, service costs and overhead. Look at how much of your revenue the top group produces in your own store, rather than assuming 80/20. Then answer the four questions on acquisition, products, retention budget and marketing focus, and put the top group into a segment that updates itself. From there, the six strategies are simple to apply: personalize, prioritize, segment, give early access, award status and reward loyalty. Knowing who your biggest spenders are, how they think and how they react to your store is a crucial step toward higher sales and long-term success.
Find your biggest spenders automatically
Nexus by Omniconvert builds RFM segments and calculates Customer Lifetime Value from your order data, then pushes those segments directly to Meta Ads, Google Ads and Klaviyo, so your best customers get the attention they have earned.