Churn rate (sometimes called attrition rate), in its broadest sense, is a measure of the number of individuals or items moving out of a collective over a specific period of time. It is one of two primary factors that determine the steady-state level of customers a business will support. The term is used in contexts, but is most widely applied in business with respect to a contractual customer base. For instance, it is an important factor for any business with a subscriber-based service model, including mobile telephone networks and pay TV operators. The term is also used to refer to participant turnover in peer-to-peer networks.
The phrase is based on the English verb churn, meaning "to agitate or produce violent motion".
Famous quotes containing the words churn and/or rate:
“The journalists think that they cannot say too much in favor of such “improvements” in husbandry; it is a safe theme, like piety; but as for the beauty of one of these “model farms,” I would as lief see a patent churn and a man turning it. They are, commonly, places merely where somebody is making money, it may be counterfeiting.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Put God in your debt. Every stroke shall be repaid. The longer the payment is withholden, the better for you; for compound interest on compound interest is the rate and usage of this exchequer.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)