D1, D7 and D30 retention measures the share of a cohort still active 1, 7 and 30 days after entry. It is the most direct indicator of product health and the easiest to report misleadingly.
Three requirements for the number to mean something:
- Measure by cohort, not across the active base. Retention computed over all actives mixes yesterday's signups with two-year veterans.
- Split by channel. Cohorts from different channels have different curves; averaging them hides that one channel is carrying another.
- Define "active". Login, bet and deposit produce different numbers.
A sanity test that often reorganises the CRM roadmap: how much retention would survive if the entire promotional programme were switched off for thirty days? Retention bought with bonuses is rented activity, not equity, and the only way to know the difference is keeping a control group with no offer.
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