Millions of Consumers Have Already Begun Holiday Shopping; Millennials and Parents Drive Increase in Holiday Spending This Year
14 September 2016 - 11:00PM
Business Wire
New Consumer Survey From Rubicon Project
Indicates Continued Shift Towards Online and Mobile Shopping with
22% of Consumers Not Planning to Do Any Shopping In-Store
Summer is not officially over, but millions of shoppers have
already turned their attention to the holidays, and they plan to
spend even more this year than last with projections showing a
double digit increase across the board. According to new data from
Rubicon Project’s (NYSE: RUBI) second annual Holiday Consumer Pulse
Poll, nearly one third of consumers and nearly half of parents
began holiday shopping before Labor Day.
“This year’s survey shows that consumers are shopping earlier
than ever, taking control of when, where and how they plan to spend
billions of dollars on holiday gifts,” said Harry Patz, Chief
Revenue Officer, Rubicon Project. “With Americans shopping earlier
and spending considerably more this year than last, retailers have
a unique opportunity to target shoppers across a variety of media
and platforms. The research shows that parents and millennials in
particular will be two key drivers behind this year’s increase in
holiday spend.”
Americans plan to spend on average $1,175 this holiday season,
showcasing a 12 percent jump over last year. Technology ($378)
continues to be one of the largest spend areas and the biggest
purchase category (36 percent) for those buying a big-ticket item.
But, while overall spend and spend per child ($495) has gone up,
consumers are slightly more likely to say they prefer buying lots
of smaller items rather than one big-ticket item. Experiences, such
as travel, sports events and shows, are the top intended spend
areas with survey respondents indicating they will spend $440 on
experiential gifts this season.
When it comes to where and when they’ll spend, the survey found
that 73 percent of respondents plan to shop online this holiday
season, and more than 1 in 3 plan to shop on mobile. A surprising
22 percent of shoppers (and 28% of millennials) do not plan to shop
in-store at all this year. These online and mobile-only shoppers
tend to be millennial males, and are most likely to be shopping for
gift cards (64 percent), apparel/accessories (57 percent), toys (46
percent) and tech (37 percent).
As shoppers continue to do more of their shopping online, Cyber
Monday appears to be on track to outpace Black Friday in popularity
among consumers. Forty-seven percent of survey respondents say they
plan to shop on Cyber Monday, compared to just 42 percent for Black
Friday. Cyber Monday is especially popular among millennials and
parents with 74 percent of both groups saying they love the annual
online shopping event. Additionally, twenty-two percent of
Americans have already started researching Cyber Monday deals as of
August, up 10 percentage points from this time last year.
Millennials Are Entering Consumer MaturityAs millennials
begin entering financial independence, their spending habits are
also maturing. Millennial holiday shoppers plan to spend an average
of $1,427 this year, up 33 percent from $1,072 in 2015, making them
a driving force for the overall year-over-year increase in
spending. Over half of millennials (54 percent) plan to spend more
this year than last year, focusing their spending on
apparel/accessories (74 percent), videogames (66 percent) and gift
cards (65 percent).
US millennials are already ahead of the curve when it comes to
holiday shopping as 39 percent have already started making
purchases. Millennials also increasingly prefer Amazon (67 percent)
to Walmart (60 percent) for holiday shopping needs, with 76 percent
saying they will shop online and 58 percent saying they will
conduct holiday shopping on their mobile device. Twenty-one percent
of millennials will make at least half of their holiday purchases
on a mobile device.
Parents Embrace Mobile Merriment During the Holiday
SeasonParents once again topped planned spending on this year’s
survey, reporting they expect to spend an average of $1,711 this
year (vs. $1,383 in 2015) and are also more likely to make
purchasing decisions online (76 percent) and on their mobile
devices (56 percent) than general consumers. US parents plan to
spend $495 per child this holiday season, up 25 percent from $397
in 2015.
Nearly half of parents (47 percent) have already begun their
holiday shopping, as Amazon and Walmart (66 percent) tied for the
top holiday shopping location. 17 percent of parents said they will
make at least half of their holiday purchases on a mobile
device.
Treat Yourself This Holiday SeasonWhile many see this
time of year as an opportunity to give gifts to their loved ones,
43 percent of the survey respondents admitted they’ll be treating
themselves to $322 worth of gifts this holiday season. Sixty-four
percent of millennials said they plan to buy a gift for themselves,
as did 55 percent of parents. Additionally, parents ($431) are
outspending non-parents ($238) on personal gifts, while men ($407)
plan to nearly double the spending of their female counterparts
($242) on personal gifts.
Additional Findings Include:
- Men are bigger spenders:
- They plan to spend $1,360 on average,
compared to $1,028 for women
- Male parents plan to spend more per
child ($568 vs. $429).
- Sixty-six percent of parents say they
plan on buying a big ticket item this year, as do 68 percent of
Millennials.
- Women are more likely to look for deals
(73 percent) or compare prices (84%) than consumers in general
- Men (48 percent) and parents (51
percent) are more likely to make a purchase in store using their
phone.
For further information on this study or insight into additional
data please visit www.rubiconproject.com/consumerinsights. To
contact our sales team please visit
www.rubiconproject.com/contact-us.
Survey MethodologyRubicon Project engaged global polling
firm Penn Schoen Berland to conduct 1,003 interviews among holiday
shoppers in the US. The survey has a margin of error of 3.09%. The
interviews were conducted from August 23rd to August 25th,
2016.
About Rubicon ProjectFounded in 2007, Rubicon Project’s
mission is to keep the Internet free and open and fuel its growth
by making it easy and safe to buy and sell advertising. Rubicon
Project pioneered advertising automation technology to enable the
world’s leading brands, content creators and application developers
to trade and protect trillions of advertising requests each month
and to improve the advertising experiences of consumers. Rubicon
Project is a publicly traded company (NYSE: RUBI) headquartered in
Los Angeles, California.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160914005336/en/
Rubicon ProjectEric Bonach,
310-207-0272press@rubiconproject.com
The Rubicon Project (NYSE:RUBI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
The Rubicon Project (NYSE:RUBI)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024