Cohort Retention

I. Formal Definition

The retention behaviour of a defined customer cohort tracked over time, expressed as the percentage of cohort revenue, customer count, or usage retained at each subsequent measurement point. Cohort retention is the methodological gold standard for retention analysis because it removes the noise of cohort mix shifts that confound aggregate retention metrics. The federation requires cohort retention to be reported by acquisition cohort with at least eight quarters of trail when the business is mature enough to support the analysis, under UFMS-001:3.2.

II. Etymology

A direct marketing analytical method that entered SaaS through the cohort tables popularised by venture capital diligence frameworks in the 2010s.

III. Federation Usage

Federation members publish cohort retention triangles by acquisition quarter with at least eight quarters of trail when feasible. Material variations across cohorts are footnoted with the operational driver. The triangle feeds the LTV calculation under MEV-Annex:4.1.

IV. Related Terms

• net-revenue-retention
• gross-revenue-retention
• churn-rate
• ltv

V. Authoritative Citations

• UFMS-001:3.2UFMS Article III - Cohort Retention
• MEV-Annex:4.1MEV Annex IV - Cohort Reporting

VI. Citation in BibTeX

@misc{ifo4_glossary_cohort_retention,
  title        = {{Cohort Retention}},
  author       = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
  howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{cohort-retention}}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/cohort-retention},
  note         = {Category: Unit Economics; key: CohortRetention}
}

VII. Challenge This Definition

Federation members and accredited practitioners may challenge any entry under TGS-002:1.7. Filed challenges are routed to the editorial board, triaged into the revision register, and resolved in writing on the public docket. The slug remains stable through any revision.