Acquiring a new customer costs 5–25x more than retaining one
Unsourced Confidence: high
No primary data found; the trail ends in a roundup, a disowned quote or a circular citation.
- Commonly cited as
- "HBR: acquisition costs 5–25x more than retention"
- True origin
- None — HBR (2014) cites no specific study — The Value of Keeping the Right Customers (HBR, Amy Gallo)
- Type
- Stat check: A widely repeated statistic traced back to its origin.
- Year
- 2014
- Data as of
- 2014
- Last checked
- What the source says
Depending on which study you believe, and what industry you’re in, acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive
- Method & sample
- None given; a range across unnamed studies.
- Drift between quote and source
- Attribution: an HBR blog line quoted as an HBR study
- Interest
- n/a
Safe rephrasing
Acquisition is often more expensive than retention, but the ratio depends on the industry; measure your own CAC against retention cost.
Sources we opened
- HBR — The Value of Keeping the Right Customers (2014) (primary)
- Coteria — trace (secondary)
Machine-readable: /api/claims/acquisition-costs-5-25x-retention.json · Last checked 2026-10-16