> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.littledata.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.littledata.io/google-analytics/conversions/lifetime-value-in-ga4.md).
# Building a Lifetime Value report In GA4
Lifetime value (LTV) shows how much a group of customers is worth to your business over time.
## What is a Lifetime Value report?
The User Lifetime Value report lets you understand how valuable different users are to your business based on their lifetime spend. Every time a user buys something - their Lifetime value (LTV) increases by the amount of the purchase.
Littledata's GA4 integration helps Shopify store owners by attaching each purchase amount to the user and sending that piece of data to GA4 whenever a purchase happens.
This also happens with recurring orders: every time a user is charged for their subscription their LTV increases.
### Lifetime Revenue from Littledata
Every time a customer buys, their lifetime value goes up by the amount of the purchase. Subscription orders count too, so each recurring charge also adds to it.
Littledata sends each customer's lifetime value to GA4 as a user-scoped custom dimension called **Lifetime Revenue** (`lifetime_revenue_ld`). The value comes from the customer's total spend in Shopify. So it can include orders from before you installed Littledata, and orders imported from a previous e-commerce platform.
#### How to use it
Because Lifetime Revenue is a user dimension, you can build GA4 segments based on how much customers have spent. Then compare those segments by the campaign that first brought each customer to your store.
In this example, the segments are LTV $50 to $200, LTV under $50 and LTV over $200. The rows are YouTube and TikTok influencer campaigns (names are blurred for privacy):
Compare how each campaign's customers split across the segments. A campaign whose customers more often land in the higher LTV segments is worth more investment, even if it brings in fewer customers overall.
For more on Littledata's customer dimensions, see [custom dimensions for calculating customer lifetime value](https://help.littledata.io/google-analytics/conversions/customer-lifetime-value-google-analytics).
### How User lifetime in GA4 is different
GA4 has a built-in **User lifetime** exploration. It sounds similar to Lifetime Revenue, but there are two big differences:
| |
Lifetime Revenue (Littledata)
| **User lifetime (GA4)** |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| Who is counted | Customers who have bought | All users, including those who never bought |
| Time period | The customer's whole history on Shopify | Only the date range you pick in GA4 |
Because GA4 includes users who never buy, its average LTV is much lower than customer LTV. That wider view is still useful: it shows how much the non-buyers in a group pull down its value.
### Create a User lifetime exploration
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Open Explore
In GA4, click **Explore** in the left menu.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Pick the User lifetime template
Under **Start a new exploration**, scroll the templates to the right and click **User lifetime**.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Review the default setup
GA4 creates an exploration with a default setup:
* **Rows**: First user medium (how each group of users first came to your site)
* **Values**: Total users, LTV: Average, Lifetime engagement duration: Average, and Lifetime transactions: Average
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
In the exploration, the **Variables** column lists the segments, dimensions and metrics you can use. The **Settings** column shows what's in the current table. Scroll to the bottom of **Settings** to add filters.
### Use cases
#### Compare channels by first visit
From this table you can see that:
* Affiliate and CPM traffic isn't bringing in any revenue.
* Referral users are worth more than organic search users.
* Email users are by far the most valuable.
Notice that average lifetime transactions are below 1 for every group. That's because GA4 includes users who never bought.
#### Add first user source
\
To add more detail, double-click **First user source** under **Dimensions**. It's added as a second row dimension. This example uses the Google Merchandise Store demo property:
Here, visitors from analytics.google.com and youtube.com almost never buy. Visitors from art-analytics.appspot.com and perksatwork.com are among the most valuable.
The table also shows non-revenue metrics, like average engagement time, for each group.
#### Other groups to compare
These numbers show how a group of users performs over time. Other groups you could compare:
* People who first visited the day before Christmas
* People who first came from a specific source/medium
* People who belong to a GA4 audience
Choose the groups that make sense for your business.
### How GA4 calculates user LTV
GA4 uses two numbers:
* **Rt**: total revenue from a group of users
* **Ut**: total number of users in that group
**LTV = Rt / Ut**
{% hint style="info" %}
Despite the name, this "lifetime" value changes when you change the date range. It only covers the period you select.
{% endhint %}
Tips for reading LTV reports
* Periods with big sales events, like Black Friday, can skew your numbers. Revenue may spike, but what matters is how many of those users convert.
* Longer date ranges include more users. If most of them never buy, the average LTV drops. If you turn more of them into buyers, it goes up.
### Related articles
* [Custom dimensions for calculating customer lifetime value](https://help.littledata.io/google-analytics/conversions/customer-lifetime-value-google-analytics)
* [LTV from Google Analytics vs LTV provided by Littledata](https://help.littledata.io/google-analytics/conversions/ltv-from-google-analytics-vs-ltv-provided-by-littledata)
* [Building reports on customer lifetime value by marketing channel](https://help.littledata.io/google-analytics/acquisition/building-reports-on-customer-lifetime-value-by-marketing-channel)
* [Subscription lifetime revenue by channel in GA4](https://help.littledata.io/google-analytics/subscriptions/subscription-revenue-by-channel-in-google-analytics-4)
