Small Business Saturday (SBS) is a
shop local initiative that is done in many cities to promote the local
businesses in the area. SBS was created by American Express in 2010 to help
local shops get more customers. Targeting the Saturday after Thanksgiving, it
serves as a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday feature big box retail and e-commerce stores respectively. By contrast, SBS encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Shopping small and local leads to a number of benefits for the community, as depicted in the graphic below.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday feature big box retail and e-commerce stores respectively. By contrast, SBS encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Shopping small and local leads to a number of benefits for the community, as depicted in the graphic below.
For example, many small businesses experience an
increase in their sales and customer base through the yearly SBS initiative.
BeBodySmart.com, an eCommerce retailer that sells
athletic apparel and fitness equipment, reported an increase of 900 customers
due to Small Business Saturday. Other stores such as Kidz Enterprise Toys
increased their sales by 126% due to the initiative.
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Source:CapeGazzette.com
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However, SBS does have its
limitations. First, SBS only takes place once a
year. While traditionally Black Friday was when many businesses finally turned a profit, businesses would like to spread sales out year-round. Second, the initiative exclusively features
only small businesses that accept American Express. Many small businesses do not carry American
Express due to higher transaction fees or
can’t afford to give rebates to new customers to promote the event. Finally, for those who participate, much of
the sales activity and interest disappear once the SBS promotion ends. It would be nice to have customers think about local stores all around the calendar.
So what is next?
Is the SBS initiative alone really is enough to continuously support small businesses?
If so, how can this initiative be expanded to include more small businesses?
Is the SBS initiative alone really is enough to continuously support small businesses?
If so, how can this initiative be expanded to include more small businesses?
To answer those
questions, we must understanding the factors currently at play. Small
businesses face tough challenges today due to
competition from large retailers that have expanding in major cities and
towns and online retailers that are open 24x7. These
"mom-and-pop shops" depend mostly on word of mouth and actual store visitation in order
to make profits, which is different compared to other major retailers who use
online ads and personalized websites to promote their products successfully
online.
Small businesses need to have the tools to fight back. To expand participation and frequency of the SBS initiative the following steps must be taken:
- Offer cost-effective, online marketing capabilities that enable small businesses to promote their brand/products to compete with online retailers
- Democratize and simplify the ability to create online storefronts enabling all small businesses to have a web/mobile presence
- Create a new medium that make it easy for consumers to find small businesses in each market regarding of which channel they use
- Create a transactional platform that allow small businesses to participate regardless of what credit cards they accept
- Expand/create a new small business initiative to encourage local purchase on monthly or weekly basis
Small Business Saturday
and other similar campaigns are great initiatives that bring meaningful
impact to small, local businesses. But they are only a start. These initiatives must be
improved upon and expanded in order to compete with the aggressive advertising
tactics of large retailers and the encroachment of online retailers.
By expanding the SBS initiative and helping small businesses create an affordable, seamless, cross-channel presence as suggested above, businesses can ensure that they reach potential customers who can only be tapped online or start their shopping experience on the internet. In doing so, small businesses can create a sustainable customer base which will allow them to operate and help their communities for the years to come.
By expanding the SBS initiative and helping small businesses create an affordable, seamless, cross-channel presence as suggested above, businesses can ensure that they reach potential customers who can only be tapped online or start their shopping experience on the internet. In doing so, small businesses can create a sustainable customer base which will allow them to operate and help their communities for the years to come.
So in the spirit of Small Business
Saturday, go out there and support your local businesses today!
Sources:
http://grasshopper.com/resources/articles/small-business-saturday-statistics/
http://www.statista.com/
Sean Brown is the Founder of Pixiboard and an advocate for making local commerce safe, easy and seamless for buyers and sellers alike.
Barisa Abidin is a marketing intern at Pixiboard and a senior at University of San Francisco.
http://www.statista.com/
#shoplocal #smallbusinesssaturday #pixiboard
About the Authors
Sean Brown is the Founder of Pixiboard and an advocate for making local commerce safe, easy and seamless for buyers and sellers alike.Barisa Abidin is a marketing intern at Pixiboard and a senior at University of San Francisco.
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