Black Friday? Forget it. Crowds, traffic, common merchandise on sale for a few hours so everyone can fight over it. It’s just too crazy and overboard…and not the value you once thought. It starts earlier each year, even running into traditional Thanksgiving time with your family. Why stress about it? Definitely out.
On the other hand, Small Business Saturday is much more appealing – and a great way to kickoff your holiday season shopping.
Going strong more than a decade, Small Business Saturday was introduced by American Express in 2010 as a contrast to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which feature big box retail and e-commerce stores. Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and locally owned during one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year.
The 2010 event was so successful that the Senate unanimously passed a resolution in support of the day in 2011. Local officials in all 50 states promoted and participated in the day. Around the country, local organizations, businesses and more began signing up as Neighborhood Champions, and business associations, officials, municipalities, and nonprofit groups joined to create the Small Business Saturday Coalition. Greene County’s 2020 Neighborhood Champions were Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful.
And according to American Express, “In 2019, shoppers came together to support their local communities more than ever. The 10th Annual Small Business Saturday hit a record high with an estimated $19.6 billion in reported spending.” The 11th annual event was even more successful and reached a record high with an estimated $19.8 billion in reported spending. Of those surveyed, 97% of shoppers recognized the positive impact they were making by shopping small. Of those, 85% encouraged others to do the same.
In 2020, social media and online shopping played a key part in supporting small businesses. With the pandemic still running rampant, many people chose to shop from home as opposed to facing crowds and the possibility of illness. Small businesses adapted to selling online or through social media during the pandemic and have continued to offer these services to customers. Approximately 56% of Small Business Saturday shoppers shopped online with a small business on the day, an increase from 43% in 2019.
Social media recommendations were more important than ever, and research found that social media endorsements of businesses may be worth an estimated $197 billion for the U.S. small business economy. Recommending your favorite business through your social media is a way to help the small businesses you love—even if you can’t shop from them. Over half of the Americans that shopped on Small Business Saturday said they supported a small business through their social media, either by a recommendation on their feed or shopping at a business that had seen featured on social media.
Want to support your favorite business on social media? Give them a shout out, share their promotions, and encourage others to shop there. Consider including hashtags like #ShopSmall, #SmallBusinessSaturday, #SmallBizSat, #ShopLocal, and other similar tags to promote conversation.
Make Small Business Saturday a part of your annual holiday shopping tradition and be a part of the Shop Small Movement supporting business all year around. “The Small Business Saturday movement has evolved into a year-round global campaign to support small merchants,” shares American Express.
We’ve got plenty of awesome small businesses in Greene County and its neighboring communities, and if you haven’t been shopping small recently, you will be pleasantly surprised at the variety and affordability you’re going to find. Make that discovery on Saturday, November 27 by checking out the unique shops all over our little corner of Pennsylvania. You’ll find better stuff, better deals, and MUCH better service… Try it and see!
