Millennials Start Early -Christmas Shopping And Spending More!

Last night on Survivor, Yakima’s own millennial, Michelle Schubert and her fellow Millennials won the first team challenge over the Gen-exers .  Looks like a fun season ahead but it was taped earlier and the participants are all home now and watching along with the rest of us.    If the online advertising technology firm Rubicon Project is correct, the millennials  from the show and millions more are not only shopping for the holidays already, but they plan to splash out.

According to the poll, 54 percent of Millennials –those born from the early 80’sto the late 1990’s  -plan to spend a lot more this year than last --33 percent more to be exact. Last year, Millennials spent, on average, $1,072. This year their spend is expected to average $1,427.

Local retailers will benefit from those intentions but not as much as they might hope.  More than a quarter of Millennials (28 percent) don't plan to visit a physical store during the holiday season, relying instead on online and mobile shopping. Online-only shoppers say they'll shop for gift cards (64 percent), apparel and accessories (57 percent), toys (46 percent) and technology (37 percent).