Millions of Consumers Have Already Begun Holiday Shopping; Millennials and Parents Drive Increase in Holiday Spending This Year

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

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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 Maturity
As 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 Season
Parents
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 Season
While 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).

  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 Methodology
  Rubicon 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 Project
  Founded 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.

  Contacts

  Rubicon Project
  Eric Bonach, 310-207-0272
  press@rubiconproject.com