SQL Quest › SQL Interview Questions › Aggregation & Grouping
Active Spender Cohort (HAVING)
Retention wants the customer cohort that placed at least 3 orders along with each one's total spend — the high-engagement segment worth a loyalty offer.
Group orders by customer_id. Show customer_id, order_count and total_spent (SUM of total). Filter with **HAVING COUNT(*) >= 3**. Order by total_spent descending.
WHERE filters rows before grouping, HAVING filters groups after aggregation. You can't put COUNT(*) >= 3 in WHERE because the aggregate doesn't exist until after GROUP BY — that's the rule HAVING was added to handle.
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Schema
orders
| order_id | customer_id | product | category | quantity | price | total | order_date | country | status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Laptop Pro | Electronics | 1 | 1299.99 | 1299.99 | 2024-01-15 | USA | completed |
| 2 | 2 | Wireless Mouse | Electronics | 2 | 49.99 | 99.98 | 2024-01-16 | Canada | completed |
| 3 | 3 | Office Chair | Furniture | 1 | 349.99 | 349.99 | 2024-01-17 | USA | completed |
Expected output: Only Cust 1 appears
Hint
SELECT, GROUP BY, HAVING, and open the hint there if you stall.Concepts
SELECT GROUP BY HAVING Aggregation
Practise the topic: SQL practice questions · GROUP BY exercises
Read the concept: WHERE vs HAVING
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