What Is Cohort Analysis?
Cohort análisis groups clientes by shared characteristics or time periods to track how their behaviour changes over time. Learn how it reveals retention and crecimiento patterns.
Key Takeaways
- Cohort análisis groups clientes who share a common characteristic (usually acquisition date) and tracks their behaviour over subsequent periods.
- It reveals whether your business is genuinely improving — are newer cohorts retaining better than older ones?
- It separates crecimiento effects from retention effects, preventing misleading aggregate métricas.
What cohort análisis is
A cohort is a group of clientes who share a defining characteristic within a specific time period. The most common cohort type is acquisition-based: all clientes who made their first purchase in January 2025 form one cohort. Cohort análisis then tracks that group
Why aggregate métricas mislead
Overall métricas like total active clientes or average ingresos can mask serious problems. If you are acquiring 1,000 new clientes per month but losing 800 from previous months, aggregate active users still grow — but retention is terrible. Cohort análisis exposes this by tracking each month
Reading a cohort table
A cohort retention table has rows representing each cohort (usually by month) and columns representing time periods after acquisition. Each cell shows the percentage of the cohort still active in that period. If January
Applying cohort análisis
Compare retention curves across cohorts to evaluate the impact of product changes, pricing adjustments, or onboarding improvements. For African subscription businesses or ecommerce platforms, cohort análisis reveals whether investments in cliente experience are translating into better retention. Segment cohorts by acquisition channel to identify which channels bring the most durable clientes. Track ingresos per cohort to see whether clientes are spending more or less over time.