Millennials tend to shop the holiday season earlier than their boomer counterparts, and more than half are shopping from mobile devices.

According to a study conducted by Horizon Media’s Finger on the Pulse Survey, conducted in October/November 2013, Millennials, or roughly the Generation Y group of 18- to 34-year-olds, are not only shopping earlier in the season than 50- to 65-year olds, but are the driving force behind purchases made on mobile devices.

Last year, 52 percent of millennials had already begun their holiday shopping in October/November, while only 37 percent of boomers had done so.

The imbalance lent itself to the fact that Gen Y respondents are doing more shopping and researching online—61 percent of millennials vs. 43 percent of boomers had gone online to find gifts, and 37 percent of millennials vs. 29 percent of Boomers had completed 20 to 80 percent of their holiday purchases online at the time of the survey. Other standout statistics included:

  • 92 percent of survey respondents planned to do some amount of holiday shopping online
  • 40 percent of respondents claimed they would do up to 80 percent of their shopping online.
  • Those who had already started shopping for the holidays completed approximately 40 percent of their purchases online.
  • More than 80 percent of Millennials responded that they do all of their research online.
  • 58 percent of Millennials said they walk around stores to look for inspiration.

“Millennials’ comfort level with virtual exploration is quite apparent,” said Sheri D. Roder, chief of the WHY Group at Horizon Media. “Those under 35 were nearly one and a half times more likely to choose any online source as their go-to spot for the two ‘I’s’—inspiration and information.”

For many—nearly 70 percent of Millennials—Amazon.com was the number one source for gift buying and research. However, six in 10 utilize search engines and are twice as likely to consider Facebook, blogs, Pinterest or Twitter for purchases, according to Horizon.

“The implication is clear: If you haven’t planned some sort of mobile effort this holiday season, you may be missing a big piece of the shopping action,” said Roder. “The ability to influence Millennials’ purchase decision at the ‘I’s’ is crucial, and mobile could be where the battle is won or lost.”

Finger on the Pulse is comprised of 3,000 people reflective of the general U.S. population. This research was conducted as the second in a series of studies during the 2013 holiday shopping season. For more information, visit “Horizon Media Study Reveals Generational and Gender Differences in Holiday Shopping Tactics” on horizonmedia.com.