The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated online engagement by Gen X and Baby Boomers, making those cohorts more valuable than ever for digital marketers, according to recent research from GlobalWebIndex.

The report was based on data from GlobalWebIndex's running online survey of thousands of Internet users around the world.

Gen X and Baby Boomer consumers rapidly embraced a wide range of digital behaviors in 2020, the researchers found.

For example, the proportion of people around the world in both generations using finance apps, contactless payments, and online grocery services increased significantly last year.

Mobile Has Been Key to Digital Adoption

A key driver in the adoption of digital platforms and services by Gen X and Boomers has been mobile: The average time spent on mobile devices per day among these consumers globally jumped from 2 hours and 29 minutes in 3Q19 to 2 hours and 52 minutes in 2Q20.

Gen Xers and Baby Boomers Tend to Be Wealthier

Digitally savvy Gen Xers and Baby Boomers can be especially valuable to businesses because they tend to be wealthier: They are more likely to have higher incomes and greater savings compared with Millennials, and they are also more likely to outright own their homes.

About the research: The report was based on data from GlobalWebIndex's running online survey of thousands of Internet users around the world.