Recommerce KPIs: How to Measure Financial Performance, Customer Retention, and Sustainability Impact

To run a high-performing recommerce program, you need a KPI framework that balances business outcomes with customer experience and environmental impact. The most effective approach tracks three pillars.

Financial performance

• Revenue and volume from resale
• Gross margin and contribution margin (after logistics, refurbishment, and platform costs)
• Sell-through rate and days to sell

Customer retention and satisfaction

• Repeat purchase rate and time to next purchase
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT/NPS) across resale journeys
• Reduction in paid reacquisition (do customers return via your buyback or trade-in program instead of paid channels?)
• Share of customers moving from second-hand to first-hand purchases over time

Sustainability impact

• Resource efficiency compared to a linear model (materials, energy, logistics)
• Units kept in circulation and product lifespan extension
• Waste diverted and refurbishment yield
• Emissions per unit sold vs. new production

By measuring recommerce across these three dimensions, brands can prove profitability, strengthen loyalty, and demonstrate real sustainability gains. This holistic KPI approach helps teams prioritize initiatives—such as buyback and trade-in loops, refurbishment operations, and merchandising—that improve margin quality, boost retention, and reduce resource intensity, all while keeping more products in circulation and customers engaged with your brand over the long term.