What Is the Cohort Analysis Report Used For?

In Customer Journey Analytics (CJA)—part of Adobe Experience Platform—a Cohort Analysis report is used to understand and analyze user behavior over time, focusing on groups (or "cohorts") of users who share a common characteristic or experience within a defined time frame.

🧠 What Is a Cohort?

A cohort is a group of users who performed a specific action or had a specific attribute during a defined start event window (e.g., users who signed up in January or made a first purchase on a specific day).

📊 What Is the Cohort Analysis Report Used For?

It helps you:

  • Track user retention or churn over time.
  • Compare how different cohorts behave (e.g., engagement, purchases) in the weeks or months after their initial action.
  • Measure customer loyalty or feature adoption post initial interaction.

🧩 Components of a Cohort Report in CJA:

  1. Cohort Inclusion Metric (Start Condition):
    Defines the action that places users in a cohort (e.g., first purchase, signup).

  2. Return Criteria (Return Condition):
    The action you’re tracking afterward (e.g., second purchase, login, content view).

  3. Return Interval:
    Time-based intervals (days, weeks, months) that track how users return.

  4. Retention Matrix Table:
    Displays data in a heatmap-like format showing how many users return in each time interval after the cohort start.

✅ Example Use Case:

"I want to see how many users who made their first purchase in March came back to make another purchase in the following weeks."

  • Inclusion Metric: First purchase
  • Return Criteria: Any purchase
  • Return Interval: Weekly

💡 Bonus Tip:

You can apply segmentation in CJA cohort reports—e.g., by device type, region, or campaign—to get even deeper insights into how different audiences behave over time.

Would you like an example of how to set one up step-by-step in Adobe CJA?

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