Small Business Saturday Facts
Everyone knows about Thanksgiving, and most are aware of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and even Giving Tuesday. But what about Small Business Saturday? If you’re not sure about its origins or future, there’s no time like the present to get a crash course on the American Express-created holiday. Yeah, that’s the first fact right there!
AmEx gives birth
1) As mentioned, American Express created Small Business Saturday five years ago in an effort to motivate shoppers to endorse mom and pop shops that often become overshadowed by big retailers during the holiday season.
Copy Mates
2) Since establishing Small Business Saturday in the US in 2010, the UK came up with its own version in 2013. But because the Brits do not celebrate Thanksgiving as we in the states do, their Small Business Saturday falls on the first Saturday in December.
Survey Says…
3) A recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express says consumers plan to devote 35% of their holiday funds to small business purchases. In fact, American Express reports that consumers said they’re willing to spend a little more to support their local retailers.
Brick & Mortar vs Small & Local
4) While Cyber Monday and, to a great extent, Black Friday promote virtual shopping via e-commerce, Small Business Saturday is designed to get holiday shoppers out of the house and into the physical spaces of their local mom and pop shops and other small businesses within the community.
A Little Bird Told Me…
5) While Small Business Saturday encourages face-to-face patronage, it doesn’t exclude online excitement. Forbes reports there were 174k Small Business Saturday tweets during 2014’s official Small Business Saturday and 356k total tweets in the month of November in 2014—that’s up from related social media activity in 2013.
There’s no doubt, Small Business Saturday is on the rise. The proof is in the pudding—or numbers—since more than 95 million consumers supported the holiday this year. According to the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express, 2015’s Small Business Saturday reached $16.2 billion at small businesses across the country opposed to $14.3 billion in 2014. The report also said more than 425 organizations joined the Small Business Saturday Coalition just this year. Certainly that’s more successful than Grandparents Day and International Talk Like A Pirate Day put together.
