Net Promoter Score, commonly abbreviated as NPS, is a customer experience metric used to measure how likely customers are to recommend a brand, product or service to others. NPS is not a complete measure of customer satisfaction on its own; it is more useful for understanding customer loyalty, overall brand perception and willingness to recommend. For this reason, it is widely used in marketing, customer experience, product development and executive reporting.
NPS measurement is usually based on one core question: “How likely are you to recommend our brand, product or service to a friend or colleague?” Respondents are asked to give a score between 0 and 10. This survey can be delivered through a website pop-up or banner, email, in-app message, call centre follow-up or post-purchase communication. For the result to be meaningful, the question should be asked at the right time, to the right customer group and with a sufficient sample size.
In the NPS system, customers are divided into three groups based on their scores. Customers who give 9 or 10 are called promoters. These are customers with a strong likelihood of recommending the brand and a higher potential for loyalty. Customers who give 7 or 8 are considered passives. They may be satisfied, but they are less likely to actively promote or defend the brand. Customers who give a score between 0 and 6 are classified as detractors. They may be dissatisfied with their experience and are more likely to share negative feedback.
Net Promoter Score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. The formula is: NPS = Percentage of Promoters – Percentage of Detractors. Passives are not directly included in the calculation, but they are part of the total respondent base, so they affect the proportions indirectly. For example, if 60 out of 100 respondents are promoters, 20 are passives and 20 are detractors, the NPS is 60 – 20 = 40. The NPS result is expressed as a score between -100 and +100, not as a percentage.
One of the main advantages of NPS is that it is easy to understand and track. A single score can be used to monitor changes in customer perception over time. For example, after a product update, delivery process change, customer service improvement or pricing revision, NPS can be measured to see how customer perception has been affected. However, looking only at the score is not enough; open-ended feedback should also be reviewed to understand why customers gave that score.
NPS can also be used to compare different customer segments. New customers, loyal customers, high-spending customers, buyers from specific product categories or users from different channels can be analysed separately. This makes it easier to see which segments have strong satisfaction and recommendation potential and which areas need improvement. The promoter, passive and detractor structure also provides a useful common language for discussing customers across the company.
NPS results can vary depending on industry, country, customer type, product category and measurement timing. For this reason, it is not accurate to evaluate a brand’s NPS using only a general threshold. In some industries, a score of 30 may be considered strong, while in others higher scores may be expected. If a comparison is made with competitors or industry averages, the measurement method, sample, channel and time period should be similar. Otherwise, the comparison may be misleading.
In summary, Net Promoter Score is a practical and strategic customer experience metric that measures customers’ willingness to recommend a brand. When used correctly, it helps track customer loyalty, identify problematic touchpoints, prioritise improvement areas and support customer-focused decisions. However, NPS is not sufficient on its own; it should be analysed together with customer satisfaction, complaint rate, repeat purchase, churn, customer lifetime value and open-ended feedback.
