Consumer Behavior

Millennials are the biggest spenders

Photo: Adobe Stock

May 23, 2024

Millennials outspend Gen Z, Gen X and Baby Boomers by more than 30%, according to a Global Voices survey from ESW, a DTC e-commerce company.

The survey, which polled 19,000 consumers worldwide, revealed omnichannel shopping saw a double-digit increase in luxury, consumer electronics, cosmetics, footwear and apparel, according to a press release on the survey's findings.

"While multi-channel shopping behavior increased across most generations globally, millennials — who are at their peak spending power — significantly outpaced the other cohorts," Martim Avillez Oliveira, chief revenue officer, ESW, said in the release. "This generation made the most purchases, had the highest spend, and dramatically increased their use of multi-channel shopping."

The study found more than half (52%) of consumers are omnichannel shoppers and exhibit any combination of the following behaviors: browse in-store, purchase online; research online and buy in-store; buy online, collect in-store; order online and return in-store.

Additional findings include:

• North American millennials outspent all other generations on average annually.
• Nearly 60% of millennials use multiple channels to make purchases as opposed to 53% of Gen Z, 51% of Gen X, and 46% of Baby Boomers.
• On average, millennials who shop multi-channel made 43 purchases online per year — the highest compared to other generations.
• Hybrid workers are more likely to be global omnichannel shoppers at more than 60% compared to half of people working either full-time in office or full-time at home.
• Countries with the highest penetration of omnichannel shoppers include UAE (65%); South Africa (65%), and India (65%). Countries with the lowest penetration of omnichannel shoppers include Italy (43%), Japan (40%), and Germany (33%).