COLUMBUS – Shoppers in Columbus will spend more than those in any of Ohio’s other large cities this Christmas season, according to a personal finance website.
Families in Columbus have budgeted $851 apiece for holiday shopping, a far cry from Palo Alto, Calif.’s, $2,886, but a lot more than the $68 the average family in Albany, Ga., is planning.
The website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis to calculate the maximum holiday budgets for consumers in each of 563 U.S. cities.
Columbus ranks No. 244 on the list, ahead of No. 501 Cincinnati ($489), No. 530 Dayton ($391) and No. 542 Cleveland ($361).
A report done by the University of Cincinnati Economics Center projected Ohioans would spend a total of $15.8 billion in November and December, $600 billion more in than last year.
The center predicted consumers in central Ohio will spend 4.6 percent more during that period than in 2014.
Black Friday sales last week totaled $10.4 billion in 2015, the website said.
Research firm comScore said shopping by phone, laptop or tablet jumped 21 percent to $3.11 billion Monday, fueled by a 53 percent surge in spending via mobile devices.
It’s the sixth year in a row that Cyber Monday has been top online sales day on record.