How to Calculate Customer Lifetime Value
How to calculate customer lifetime value: multiply your average purchase value by purchase frequency, then multiply by average customer lifespan — but getting an accurate LTV by segment requires your actual transaction data, not a back-of-envelope estimate.
Upload your customer transaction data and Datamimi calculates LTV by segment, acquisition channel, or product line — no formula building required.
Drop your file in and ask a question — no account needed.
Upload your spreadsheet.xlsx .xls .csv — free to try, no accountWhat this export contains
| CustomerID |
| AcquisitionChannel |
| FirstPurchaseDate |
| LastPurchaseDate |
| TotalRevenue |
| PurchaseCount |
| AveragOrderValue |
| CustomerSegment |
| ChurnDate |
| ProductCategory |
What usually goes wrong with it
The simple LTV formula is too blunt
Average order value × purchase frequency × lifespan gives a single number that hides massive variation between customer segments, acquisition channels, and product types.
Calculating LTV by cohort requires complex formulas
Getting accurate LTV by signup cohort requires tracking revenue per customer across multiple periods — a multi-step calculation most spreadsheet users avoid.
LTV and CAC comparison is a separate calculation
Knowing your LTV:CAC ratio by channel requires joining your acquisition cost data with your revenue data — two spreadsheets most businesses never combine.
LTV estimates go stale quickly
A static formula you built six months ago doesn't reflect recent changes in purchase behavior, churn rate, or product mix without being rebuilt from scratch.
Common questions
How to calculate customer lifetime value in Excel?
The basic formula is: LTV = (Average Order Value × Purchase Frequency) × Average Customer Lifespan. For more accuracy, use cohort analysis: group customers by acquisition date and sum their cumulative revenue per period. This requires SUMIF and date manipulation formulas that get complex quickly.
How to calculate customer lifetime value by segment with AI?
Upload your transaction data to Datamimi and ask 'what is the LTV by acquisition channel?' It groups customers, sums revenue per customer, and calculates average LTV by segment without requiring any formula work.
How much does Datamimi cost?
Free plan: $0/month, 40 credits, no credit card. Lite: $9/month, 400 credits. Starter: $24/month, 1,500 credits, up to 3 simultaneous files. Pro: $59/month, 5,000 credits with rollover. Team: $199/month, 20,000 credits, 5 users.
What data do I need to calculate LTV accurately?
Customer ID, purchase dates, purchase amounts, and acquisition source. If you have churn dates, that helps with lifespan calculation. Export this from your CRM, ecommerce platform, or billing system as CSV.
Try it with your own file
DataMimi reads the file you actually have — merged cells, headers below row one, totals pasted at the bottom — and shows which rows and columns every number came from.
Ask about your file