Latest research from CommBank forecasts Aussies to spend $10.7 billion on Christmas shopping this year, with 85 per cent of millennials spending up to $1000 on gifts alone.
Commbank claims the remaining 15 per cent of millennials will spend over $1000 on gifts — approximately $400 above the national average.
ChannelNews previously reported that Australians are projected to spend up to $51.8 billion this Christmas — a 2.9% lift versus last year — according to figures from Roy Morgan.
However, Roy Morgan’s figures encompassed the entire expenditure this season, whereas Commbank has focused on presents alone.
According to Commbank’s research, 39 per cent of millennials are only starting to save a saving about a month in advance of the holiday and about 31 per cent only finish their shopping less than a week before Christmas day.
The average spending for Australians nationally overall, according to Commbank, is $573. NSW and the ACT are the biggest spenders at $637, while VIC/TAS will spend the least, at $519.
As a nation, it appears we like the leave things a little late, with 2 million Aussies leaving their festive purchases until Christmas Eve, and Commbanks’s expected busiest days will be 15th, 18th, and 22nd December.
According to the research, over half (56 per cent) of Australians begin their shopping in-store or online without a budget and almost 1 in 4 do not keep track of their spending — WA is the worst culprit with 61 per cent of WA shoppers admitting to having no budget plan.
Apparently, men are the most likely to blow their budgets, with 62 per cent of all men “buying gifts without a plan.”
For information on Commonwealth’s budgeting and saving tips click here.
