Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric that measures how likely customers are to recommend a business to others. It is one of the most widely used customer experience metrics because it produces a single, easy-to-track number that correlates with customer satisfaction and business growth.
NPS was developed by Fred Reichheld and Bain & Company and introduced in the Harvard Business Review in 2003. It has since become a standard measurement tool across eCommerce, SaaS, and retail.
How NPS Is Calculated
NPS is based on a single survey question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [brand/product] to a friend or colleague?”
Respondents are grouped into three categories:
- Promoters (score 9–10). Loyal customers who are likely to recommend the brand and make repeat purchases.
- Passives (score 7–8). Satisfied but not enthusiastic customers. They are unlikely to actively recommend the brand but are also unlikely to leave negative reviews.
- Detractors (score 0–6). These are unhappy customers who may actively discourage others from buying. High detractor rates often signal product, shipping, or service problems.
NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. The result is a score ranging from -100 (all Detractors) to +100 (all Promoters). A positive NPS is generally considered good, and scores above 50 are considered excellent.
NPS vs. CSAT
NPS and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) are both customer experience metrics but measure different things.
NPS measures overall loyalty and willingness to recommend. It is a forward-looking metric that signals how a customer feels about the brand relationship overall.
CSAT measures satisfaction with a specific interaction or transaction. It is a more immediate, transactional metric that reflects how a customer felt about a particular experience, such as a recent purchase or a support conversation.
The two metrics complement each other. CSAT helps identify issues at specific touchpoints. NPS reveals whether those touchpoints, taken together, are building or eroding customer loyalty over time.
Why Is NPS Important for eCommerce Sellers?
NPS matters because word-of-mouth recommendations are among the most effective drivers of new customer acquisition. A customer who actively recommends a store to friends and family generates new buyers at zero acquisition cost. Conversely, a customer who actively warns others away causes real damage that paid advertising cannot easily overcome.
For dropshipping stores building a brand, tracking NPS over time reveals whether the customer experience is improving or declining. A falling NPS is an early warning signal for problems with product quality, shipping reliability, or customer support, before those problems appear as negative reviews or rising refund rates.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good Net Promoter Score for an eCommerce store?
A good Net Promoter Score for an eCommerce store is generally considered to be above 0, which means more Promoters than Detractors. Scores above 50 are considered excellent. The most useful benchmark is your own trend over time: a rising NPS indicates the customer experience is improving, while a falling NPS signals emerging problems worth investigating.
How do I collect NPS data for my store?
You can collect NPS data for your store by sending a post-purchase survey to customers a few days after delivery, once they have had time to receive and use the product. Several Shopify apps and email marketing tools include built-in NPS survey functionality. Timing the survey to arrive after product receipt (rather than at the point of order confirmation) produces more accurate scores because customers can evaluate the full experience, including shipping and product quality.
What should I do with low NPS scores?
When you receive low NPS scores, the first step is to look at the open-ended feedback that accompanies low scores, because respondents who score 0 to 6 often explain why. Common reasons include long shipping times, product quality that didn’t match the listing, or poor customer support experiences. Each of these has a specific fix. Tracking which issues appear most frequently helps prioritize improvements that will have the largest impact on customer loyalty.
