Small Business Saturday
| Small Business Saturday | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Observed by | United States |
| Celebrations | Shopping |
| Date | Saturday after U.S. Thanksgiving |
| 2015 date | November 28 |
| 2016 date | November 26 |
| 2017 date | November 25 |
| 2018 date | November 24 |
| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, and Economics of Christmas |
Small Business Saturday is an American shopping holiday held on the Saturday after US Thanksgiving during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.
History
First observed in the United States on November 27, 2010, it is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which feature big box retail and e-commerce stores respectively. By contrast, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Small Business Saturday is a registered trademark of American Express corporation.
The first event was sponsored by American Express, in partnership with the non-profit National Trust for Historic Preservation, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and Roslindale Village Main Street. In 2010, the holiday was promoted by American Express via a nationwide radio and television advertising campaign. That year Amex bought advertising inventory on Facebook, which it in turn gave to its small merchant account holders,[1] and also gave rebates to new customers to promote the event.[2][3]
American Express publicized the initiative using social media, advertising, and public relations. Many local politicians and small business groups in the United States issued proclamations concerning the campaign,[4][5][6] which generated more than one million Facebook "like" registrations and nearly 30,000 tweets under the Twitter hashtags #smallbusinesssaturday and #smallbizsaturday.[7]
Hashtag
The Twitter hashtag #SmallBusinessSaturday has existed since early 2010 and was used to promote small businesses on any Saturday (not solely that Saturday between Black Friday and Cyber Monday). The hashtag is used in a manner similar to #FollowFriday to highlight favorite local businesses. Additionally, some small business owners have run marketing specials on the November Small Business Saturday to help capitalize on the boost in foot or online traffic, as most customers in this time period are actively shopping for the holidays.
Around the world
Small Business Saturday UK began in the United Kingdom in 2013 after the success of Small Business Saturday in the United States of America.[8]
References
- ↑ ""Small Business Saturday" Campaign Boosts City Merchants". NY1 News. November 27, 2010. Archived from the original on November 30, 2010.
- ↑ Mastrull, Diane (November 21, 2010). "In holiday shopping, Small Business Saturday is small business' rebuttal to Black Friday".
- ↑ Pena, Michel (November 27, 2010). "'Small Business Saturday'". StockBriefings.com.
- ↑ "North Carolina's small businesses noted as Gov. Perdue proclaims 'Small Business Saturday'". Associated Press. November 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Bloomberg promotes 'Small Business Saturday'". Associated Press. November 8, 2010.
- ↑ Dolak, Kevin (November 27, 2010). "Local Retailers Hope for Big Returns on Small Business Saturday". ABC News.
- ↑ "AmEx touts success of 'Small Business Saturday'". U-T San Diego. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ↑ "Small Business Saturday Hailed as Success. The Telegraph. 8 December 2013". Telegraph.co.uk. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2014.