Small Business Saturday® Gives Small Businesses Big Boost to Kick-Off Holiday Season

According to NFIB and American Express Research, Consumers Aware of Small Business Saturday Reported Spending $5.7 billion at Small Businesses on Nov 30 as the Holiday Shopping Season Officially Begins

In spite of a shorter shopping season and challenging economic environment, Small Business Saturday helped jump start the holiday shopping season for small businesses across the country.

According to the second installment of the 2013 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, released today by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and American Express, consumer awareness of Small Business Saturday across the U.S. jumped to 71 percent from 67 percent during the same period a year ago. Of those aware, 46% said they shopped on Small Business Saturday.

With awareness up, the end result was increased spending at small businesses. This year, consumers who were aware of Small Business Saturday reported spending $5.7 billion with independent merchants on the day, an increase of 3.6% from a strong $5.5 billion in 2012.

“In an uncertain economy, America’s small businesses have remained a beacon — creating good jobs and supporting the families they employ and the communities around them,” said NFIB CEO Dan Danner. “We are very pleased that so many Americans sought to give back by shopping small this Small Business Saturday. We hope that support of small firms, retailers, restaurants and other independent businesses continues throughout the holiday season and all year round. Continued support of this vital sector is one important way to ensure our economy fully recovers and a healthy private sector is restored.”

“In just four years, the nation has adopted Small Business Saturday and made it part of the holiday shopping tradition,” said Susan Sobbott, president of American Express OPEN. “On November 30, we saw a continuation of this growing trend as communities around the country came together to celebrate local businesses and helped drive consumers to Shop Small on the day.”

From Washington D.C. to Washington State, Support Comes From Across the U.S.

• Elected officials in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. – including President Obama and many senior government officials – championed Small Business Saturday. 
• 294 city proclamations in support of Small Business Saturday were issued by mayors and other elected officials in all 50 states and Washington D.C.
• 41 governors issued state proclamations in support of Small Business Saturday.
• 43 U.S. Senators endorsed a resolution recognizing November 30, 2013 as Small Business Saturday and supporting efforts to encourage consumers to shop locally and increase awareness of the value of locally owned small businesses and the impact of locally owned small businesses on the economy of the United States.

Communities and Supporters Make Small Business Saturday Even Bigger

• More than 1,400 Neighborhood Champions rallied local businesses and created events and activities to drive shopping around the country.
• Premier partners, FedEx, Foursquare, Twitter and the United States Postal Service, banded together with American Express to promote shopping at small businesses for Small Business Saturday.
• In addition, 166 companies signed up to support the day.
• Nearly 370 advocacy organizations signed up to support the nationwide initiative.
• More than 346,000 free online tools and materials were accessed by small business owners to help get the word out about Small Business Saturday.
• In November alone, more than 352,000 tweets were sent in support of Small Business Saturday, many using the hashtags #SmallBizSat and #ShopSmall, a 65% increase from the previous year; those Tweets ranged from consumers spreading the word about the national initiative to business owners promoting offers that they created specifically for the day.
• To date, more than 3.3 million Facebook users have “liked” the official Small Business Saturday Facebook page.

The Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 1000 males and females 18 years of age or older. The sample was collected using an email invitation and an online survey. The study was conducted anonymously by Redshift Research between November 30th and December 1st, 2013. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 5.47%, at the 95% level of confidence.

November 30 marked the fourth annual Small Business Saturday, a day to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small Business Saturday was created in 2010 in response to small business owners’ most pressing need: more customers. Since its inception, Small Business Saturday has been become a global phenomenon, spreading to the UK, Australia, Israel, Canada, South Africa and Asia.