Checkout.com has released a new study that highlights the customer buying behavior that powers the current digital economy, conducted across the UK, the US, UAE, and China. The global study released by Checkout.com highlights the customer buying behavior that is powering the current digital economy.

The research was conducted across the regions of the UK, the US, UAE, and China, and it revealed a number of trends, including the growing spending power of Generation Alpha. According to the study, children aged 8-15 are driving over a quarter (27%) of their household’s monthly spending, a percentage which is rising to nearly a third of monthly spending for digital purchases, as 29% of Millennial parents also take responsibility for purchasing digital tools each month for their children. This comes as digital services make up a fifth (21%) of the overage worldwide household appendages.

More insights on the Checkout.com study Generation Alpha’s purchase influence is greatest in online educational resources, which nearly half of parents (representing 47%) purchase for their children. This is followed by entertainment streaming, purchased by a third of parents around the world (30%). At the same time, the study also highlights several regional trends in parents purchasing digital goods and solutions for their children.

Over a quarter (28%) of Millennials worldwide pay for monthly e-gaming services for their children, rising to half (47%) of parents in the region of the UAE. Parental spending on e-gaming is lowest in the US, but this is offset by a third (33%) of children in the US making e-gaming purchases independently each month. Chinese children benefit most from educational purchases, with 59% of Millennial parents buying monthly digital educational resources for children under 12, as well as over 22% purchasing news media subscriptions for them.

Meanwhile, parents in the region of the UK spend significantly on online education for their children (39%), while being the most likely to continue the process of buying monthly online education for their teenagers as well. Children are also spending independently in their digital economy, with a third (33%) of them in the US (aged 8-15 years) commonly making in-app purchases with their pocket money, while in the UK, 71% of children make their own purchases for non-essential items by the time they are 15, with cards cited as their preferred payment method. At the same time, 75% of 8-year-olds and 92% of 15-year-olds in the UAE make payments themselves, rather than via a grown-up, with a growing trend of children over 13 using Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) as a payment method in the US (7%), UAE (11%), and China (19%).

This figure is less than 1% in the UK, however. Furthermore, in China, 65% of 15-year-olds are taking their purchases into their own hands, as social commerce represents their most frequent shopping channel (51%), with QR codes (39%) and digital wallets (39%) being their preferred payment methods. According to the study, social commerce also represents a major shopping channel in China, with nearly half (46%) of all adult Chinese consumers purchasing via social channels.

In the UK (24%), the US (17%), and UAE (23%) this is currently a less common channel among adults. However, children around the world use social media as the go-to source for finding out about deals on products, with very little regional variation (UK: 48%, US: 57%, China: 56%, UAE: 41%). Furthermore, social commerce is the most common shopping channel, globally, for Gen Zs in all countries, with only just over one-third (35%) of Gen Zs regularly shopping in physical stores.

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