D30 Retention %, Amplitude

D30 Retention % for Amplitude stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it.

Metrics type: Supporting Metrics • Category: Analytics

At a glance

D30 Retention % is the share of a cohort that returns and performs the retention event on the thirtieth day after first activity in Amplitude. It is the long-run durability test: the point on the retention curve where casual users have churned and only genuinely habitual ones remain. The card pairs with sibling metrics in the Analytics category to build a complete diagnostic picture; cross-reference the related cards listed below for context.

What it counts	The percentage of users in a cohort who return and perform the retention event on day 30 after their first activity, using Amplitude’s N-day retention method.
Sample type	Backend API data from Amplitude, refreshed on the standard data refresh.
Why it matters	D30 reflects durable, long-term value. It is where the retention tail settles, so it is the clearest read on whether the product builds a lasting habit rather than a brief spike of interest.
Reading the value	Compare the current 90-day window against the prior period. Because D30 needs a full month to mature, read it as a slow-moving trend rather than a day-to-day signal.
Currency	percent
Time window	90D vsP
Alert trigger	<15%
Sentiment key	amp_retention_d30
Roles	owner, marketing

Calculation

Calculated automatically from your Amplitude data. Amplitude groups users into cohorts by their first event, then measures the percentage who returned and performed the retention event on day 30. This card reports that day-30 percentage over a 90-day window and compares it against the prior period. Because a cohort needs a full 30 days to be eligible, the metric trends slowly and reflects mature, long-run behaviour. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.

Worked example

A representative reading of D30 Retention % for a typical merchant on Amplitude. Suppose cohorts from the last quarter return at 11 percent on day 30, against an alert floor of 15 percent and a prior-period reading of 16 percent. The slip below the floor signals that long-term durability is eroding: users are trying the store but fewer are forming a lasting habit. Because D30 moves slowly, a confirmed decline here is meaningful and rarely noise. Use Vortex Mind to trace whether a product, pricing, or lifecycle-messaging change drove the erosion; for natural-language exploration, ask Ask Viq to compare D30 across acquisition cohorts.

Sibling cards merchants should reference together

Card	Why merchants reach for it
amp_retention_d1	The earliest signal; a weak D1 often foreshadows a weak D30.
amp_retention_d7	The mid-curve stickiness gauge that bridges D1 and D30.
amp_retention_curve	The full curve that shows where the tail D30 represents settles.
amp_stickiness_dau_mau	A complementary frequency view of how habitual active users are.
amp_returning_users	The absolute repeat-user count behind the long-run retention.

Reconciling against Amplitude

Where to look in Amplitude’s own dashboard:

Open the Retention chart, set the method to N-day, and read the day-30 column for your start and return events. Confirm the cohort range and segment filters match the Vortex IQ profile. Event Segmentation can verify the return-event volume, and the Dashboards section may pin a saved retention chart for reference.

Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:

Reason	Direction	What to do
Period boundary. Vortex IQ uses a 90-day window by default; an Amplitude retention chart may use a different cohort range.	Variable	Match the cohort date range in the Amplitude retention chart.
Time zone. Amplitude defines day boundaries by the project time zone; Vortex IQ aligns to the merchant reporting time zone.	Marginal	Confirm the project time zone matches your reporting time zone.
Filter or segment scope. Profile-level filters (platform, B2B, test users) change which cohorts feed the rate.	Variable	Apply the same segment to the Amplitude retention chart.

Cross-connector reconciliation: complement with sibling cards in the same category for the full diagnostic picture. For divergence investigations, use Vortex Mind.

Known limitations / merchant FAQs

Q: How often does D30 Retention % update? The card refreshes on the standard data refresh (typically every 30-60 minutes for live integrations). However, any given cohort’s D30 only finalises once a full 30 days have elapsed, so the metric inherently lags recent activity.

Q: Why does my Amplitude dashboard show a different number? The most common reasons are choosing day-range retention instead of N-day, different start and return event definitions, cohort-range differences (Vortex IQ uses a 90-day window), time-zone day boundaries, and segment scope. Match these settings before assuming a real divergence.

Q: How does D30 Retention % relate to other Amplitude metrics? D30 is the durable tail that D1 and D7 lead into. Read it with those earlier points and the full curve to judge whether early stickiness translates into long-term habit. Single-metric reads can mislead; the diagnostic value is in the cross-reference.

Q: Can I customise the alert threshold? Yes, alert thresholds are configurable per profile in the Alert Rules tab. The default trips below 15 percent; adjust it to match your business baseline rather than relying on the generic default.

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Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

D30 Retention % is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Amplitude and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English.

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