RFM analysis

RFM splits customers by purchases: how recently they bought, how often they buy, and how much they spend. Recency and frequency are written onto the card as two variables. Segments are built from those variables.

Technical support can turn the calculation on. Once it is on, the card stores:

• order_days — days since the last purchase;
• order_count — purchases inside the calculation window.

Spend is not part of those two variables. It comes from a separate field: average ticket, turnover, or the balance the CRM already writes to the card.

Why the minimum is nine segments

The basic grid is three recency bands by three frequency bands. That is 9 segments. A customer has one recency value and one frequency value, so they land in a single cell.

A third cut by spend — average ticket or turnover — multiplies the grid by three. That is 27 segments.

Recency \ Frequency	Often	Sometimes	Rarely
Recent	Champions	Loyal	Newcomers with potential
Mid recency	Frequent, cooling off	Middle	Recent but rare
Long ago	Lost champions	Rare and long gone	Lost

You set the band edges. For example, “recent” is up to 30 days, and “often” is 5 or more purchases in the window. Segment criteria are numeric comparisons on order_days and order_count.

Why each cell needs its own trigger

A segment only collects the group. A message, a pass template, or a bonus for that cell is a trigger, and a trigger is tied to one segment. Nine different offers are nine triggers on top of nine segments.

How to set criteria is in Working with segments. Ready-made setups are in Automation examples.