Small Business Saturday is a marketing initiative created and promoted by credit card brand American Express to encourage holiday shopping on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in the United States, during one of the busiest shopping seasons of the year. This Saturday is always the last in November, so it falls between November 24 and 30.
History
First observed in the United States on November 27, 2010, Small Business Saturday is the counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, featuring big-box retail and eCommerce stores. In contrast, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to patronize small, local brick-and-mortar businesses. American Express has a registered trademark for Small Business Saturday.
The first event was organized by American Express in collaboration with the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and Roslindale Village Main Street. American Express promoted the holiday in 2010 with a nationwide radio and television advertising campaign.
That year Amex purchased advertising supplies on Facebook, which in turn passed on to holders of its small merchant accounts, and also provided discounts to new customers to promote the event.
American Express promotes the initiative through advertising, social media, and public relations. Many local politicians and small business groups in the United States issued proclamations about the campaign, which generated more than one million Facebook "likes" and nearly 30,000 tweets under the Twitter hashtags #smallbusinesssaturday and #smallbizsaturday
Hashtags
The Twitter hashtag #SmallBusinessSaturday has been around since early 2010 and is used to promote small businesses every Saturday (not just the Saturdays between Black Friday and Cyber Monday). Hashtags are used in a similar way to #FollowFriday to highlight favorite local businesses.
Additionally, some small business owners have run special November Small Business Saturday marketing to help take advantage of increased foot or online traffic, as most customers are actively shopping for the holidays during this period.
Small Business Saturday in UK
Small Business Saturday in UK is a campaign to support small businesses, taking place on the first Saturday in December every year. The campaign encourages businesses to promote themselves and work with other small businesses and consumers to 'shop local' and support independent small businesses in their communities.
The first Small Business Saturday took place on December 7, 2013, with subsequent celebrations taking place on December 6, 2014, December 5, 2015, December 3, 2016, and December 2, 2017. In 2018, the event was held on December 1.
In 2016, after-day research showed that consumers spent £717 million with small businesses on Small Business Saturday, a 15% increase over 2015.
Small Business Saturday 2017 was the most successful campaign, with an estimated £748 million spent on the day.
Every year in the UK, independent small businesses are encouraged to apply for #SmallBiz100, 100 businesses nationally profiled the day before Small Business Saturday.
The Small Business Saturday UK initiative has been supported by business organizations, including the Small Business Federation, Town and City Management Association, Convenience Stores Association and the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association. He has the support of all political parties and several major corporations.
American Express founded the successful Small Business Saturday initiative in the US in 2010 and remained a major supporter of the campaign in the UK as part of its ongoing commitment to encouraging consumers to shop small.
Small Business Saturday is designed to support all small businesses online and offline, not just those that accept American Express as a payment method.
Who Participates in Small Business Saturday?
First and foremost, the event is meant to encourage consumers to shop at small and locally owned businesses. Retail stores and restaurants are included, as are other small businesses such as salons, grocery stores, and service-based businesses. This also applies to small businesses that operate online.
The US Small Business Administration (SBA) offers a broad definition of what constitutes a small business: any business with fewer than 500 employees. Following these guidelines, Small Business Saturday can include businesses operating as sole proprietorships and partnerships, as well as small companies and/or limited liability companies (LLCs).
American Express offers an online search tool to help consumers find small businesses in their area they can support Small Business Saturdays and year-round. The small shop map includes the various businesses that are participating in the event both in-person and online.
How Small Business Saturday Benefits Small Business
The main goal of this event is to increase small business revenue during the holiday shopping season. According to the numbers reported by American Express, the event appears to be meeting that goal.
For example, it is estimated that in 2021, consumers will spend $23.3 billion on Small Business Saturday to support local businesses, up 18% from $19.8 billion in 2020.
While the amount spent on Small Business Saturday is a small portion of the over $800 billion in retail sales that occur during the holiday season, one statistic stands out American Express estimates that for every dollar spent on small businesses in the United States, 67 cents live in local communities. .
By shopping small, consumers can help boost business in their own backyard and promote a healthier local economy.
How to Participate in Small Business Saturday
The Best Way to Help Small Businesses Saturday is a great day to shop locally and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
This includes shopping at both local brick-and-mortar stores and small businesses that operate online. For example, you can choose to support online boutiques or digital service-based businesses. To promote the event on social media, use the hashtag #ShopSmall.
If you want to participate in the event as a small business owner, American Express has a number of resources to assist you. That includes promotional materials, such as posters and signs that you can use in your store if you operate a business with a physical location, as well as digital marketing materials. It is provided free of charge to American Express merchants.
Small business owners can also prepare for the event by doing the following:
- Create special sales events to encourage spending on Small Business Saturdays
- Conducting email marketing campaigns to inform customers about the Small Business Saturday sales event
- Offer special promotions or discounts as an incentive to get customers to shop
- Partner with other small businesses to raise awareness around Small Business Saturday
In addition to assisting small business owners in marketing themselves for this annual event, American Express offers special discounts and promotions to help businesses save money. The company also assists small business owners in identifying shopping trends to take advantage of their Small Business Saturday sale events.
The event also received assistance from Neighborhood Champions, an organization that promotes Small Business Saturdays locally. Local libraries, visitor centers, chambers of commerce, and other local business associations are examples of these organizations.
Neighborhood Champions can sponsor their own event to market the event and encourage people in the area to get out there and do some small business shopping. As a consumer, you can support the Environmental Champion in your area by volunteering at one of these organizations when available.