> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.northbeam.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# First-Time and Returning Data

> Understand how Northbeam identifies first-time and returning visitors, customers, and subscriptions.

Northbeam is able to identify New and Returning visitors and orders. We offer three different kinds of New and Returning data:

* First-Time and Returning **Visitors**
* First-Time and Returning **Customers**
* First-Time and Recurring **Subscriptions**

| Type | How we define | Example Associated Metrics |
| :- | :- | :- |
| First-Time and Returning **Visitors** | Northbeam Pixel and Device Graph | New Visits, Visits |
| First-Time and Returning **Customers** | Customer ID | Transactions (1st Time), Transactions (Returning), Attributed Revenue (1st Time), Attributed Revenue (Returning) |
| First-Time and Recurring **Subscriptions** | Order Tags | Subscriptions (1st Time), Subscriptions (Recurring) |

## First-Time vs Returning Visitors

Our **Northbeam Pixel** uses a variety of inputs to create user profiles and track customer journeys across various devices and households. All of this information feeds into our backend device graph.

* **First-Time Visitor** - The Northbeam Pixel did not recognize any previous events from this user
* **Returning Visitor** - The Northbeam Pixel recognized previous event(s) from this user

## First-Time and Returning Customers

New and Returning Customers are based on **Customer IDs** and timestamps associated to each order.

* **First-Time Customer** - When an order has a Customer ID that doesn't exist on a historical order in Northbeam
* **Returning Customer** - When an order has a Customer ID that exists on a historical order in Northbeam

| Order Number | Date of Order | Customer ID | Customer Type | Reasoning for Customer Type |
| :- | :- | :- | :- | :- |
| 01 | Jan 1, 2024 | 1000 | First Time | ID doesn't exist on a previous order. |
| 02 | Jan 1, 2024 | 1001 | First Time | ID doesn't exist on a previous order. |
| 03 | Jan 2, 2024 | 1000 | Returning | ID exists on a previous order (Order 01). |
| 04 | Jan 3, 2024 | 1002 | First Time | ID doesn't exist on a previous order. |
| 05 | Jan 4, 2024 | 1001 | Returning | ID exists on a previous order (Order 02). |

<Note>
  For the most accurate New and Returning data...

  1. **Backfill Historical Order Data** - It's important to backfill as much order data as possible so we have your entire customer base, along with their IDs.
  2. *Note: This is primarily relevant for customers who are on a Custom setup (Shopify customers should already have historical data pulled in).*
  3. **Consistent Customer ID formats** - Ensure that all of your Customer IDs are in a consistent format. This way could properly identify New and Returning Customers, or IDs.
  4. *Note: Also primarily relevant for customers on a Custom setup (i.e. Shopify customers have Customer IDs automatically pulled in).*
</Note>

## First-Time and Recurring Subscriptions

These are based on Order Tags. To learn more, reference [Subscription Analytics](/docs/subscription-analytics).