News
December 8, 2014
Small Business Saturday sees 14.9 percent increase in shopper traffic
From the main streets in towns like Galesburg, Illinois, to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, there was strong support for local independent businesses on Small Business Saturday. Shoppers across the nation made a powerful statement with 88 million consumers “Shopping Small” on the day, up 14.9 percent from just a year ago, according to the results from the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, released today by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and American Express.
According to the survey, the average person who shopped on Small Business Saturday spent $162, down 11.5 percent from the previous year. Although average spending was down, strong awareness and the sheer volume of shoppers supporting their local businesses on the day boosted overall spending.
With more than two-thirds (67 percent) of the U.S. population aware of Small Business Saturday and more people shopping, U.S. consumers who were aware of Small Business Saturday reported spending $14.3 billion* with independent retailers and restaurants on the day, an increase of 2.1 percent from $14 billion in 2013. “More Americans recognize the direct link between shopping locally and stronger communities and that’s an extremely positive result,” said NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner. “We’re delighted by the success of Small Business Saturday but we’re even more excited by the growing commitment among Americans to give small businesses a chance to compete all year round.”
“Once again, Small Business Saturday proved to be a bright spot over the first official holiday shopping weekend,” said Denise Pickett, president of American Express OPEN. “Small businesses are critical to the stability of our local communities and growth of our national economy. We are confident that the broad national support for these businesses will continue well beyond November 29th.”
Elected Officials Across the U.S. Pledge Their Support
- Elected officials in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. –– including President Obama and many senior government officials — championed Small Business Saturday.
- The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution, cosponsored by the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Senators Maria Cantwell and James Risch, designating Nov. 29 as Small Business Saturday.
- 40 state governments issued state proclamations in support of Small Business Saturday.
- 450 city proclamations in support of Small Business Saturday were issued by mayors and other elected officials in 50 states and Washington D.C.
- PSAs encouraging the public to “Shop Small” were recorded by Senator Maria Cantwell (Washington); Senator James Risch (Idaho); Rep. Maxine Waters (California); and SBA Administrator Maria Conteras-Sweet.
Communities and Supporters Make Year Five Bigger than Ever
- Nearly 3,000 Neighborhood Champions around the country rallied local businesses and created events and activities in their communities.
- Premier partners, FedEx, Eventbrite, Microsoft and Yelp worked with American Express to promote shopping at small businesses for Small Business Saturday.
- In addition, 446 companies signed up to become official supporters of the day.
- 386 advocacy organizations signed up to support the nationwide initiative.
- More than 610,000 free online tools and materials were accessed by small business owners on www.shopsmall.com to help get the word out about Small Business Saturday.
- On Nov. 29 alone, more than 126,000 tweets were sent in support of the initiative, many using the hashtags #SmallBizSat and #ShopSmall, a 10 percent 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.
The Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 2,682 males and females 18 years of age or older. The sample was collected using an email invitation and an online survey. Independent marketing performance specialist Ebiquity conducted the study anonymously on Nov. 30, 2014. The survey has an overall margin of error of +/- 1.9 percent, at the 95 percent level of confidence.
