Have you heard of Small Business Saturday? If you know about
Black Friday and Cyber Monday then you’re almost there; it’s the Saturday in
between the two. Black Friday is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the
year in the United States coming immediately after Thanksgiving at the end of November. This has led many large
retailers to extend their opening hours and offer fantastic promotions in order
to attract shoppers. Cyber Monday is online retail’s chance to shine, and it
occurs the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Realising that local independent business were struggling to
compete on these shopping holidays, the concept of Small Business Saturday was
created. It happens on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it’s a day when
shoppers are encouraged to support small local independent businesses rather
than using larger national chain.
Small Business Saturday began in 2010 and was sponsored by
American Express who provided coverage and advertising for the event. It has
widespread support from celebrities and politicians alike. On Small Business
Saturday 2012 even President Obama and his daughters were seen shopping at
their local book store. On that day it is reported that Americans spent around
$5.5 billion at local independent shops and restaurants
.
Social media has played a large role in spreading the word
about Small Business Saturday, but this has extended beyond that one specific
day of the year. The Twitter hashtag #smallbusinesssaturday is now used on any
Saturday in the year to promote independent businesses in much the same way as #followfriday
is used to promote Twitter users or businesses on a Friday.
Could Small Business
Saturday Work in the UK?
It seems that the idea of launching Small Business Saturday
in the UK has been discussed by the government and that American Express has
even been asked to consider sponsoring the event in the same way they have in
the US. The suggested date for the first Small Business Saturday is 30 November 2013 as this would encourage shoppers to consider visiting and buying
from smaller local retailers during one of the busiest shopping weekends of the
year.
In the UK there are already a number of campaigns underway
to boost local retail and reverse the decline in local high streets and
independent retailers that we have seen in recent years. The Federation of Small Businesses has a Keep Trade Local campaign which aims to encourage local
authorities to spend locally, to improve parking for local shops, and to speed
up the planning process for local businesses. Mary Portas’ well-known review of
UK High Streets recommended a number of ways we can reinvigorate our local
retail areas making them social hubs for the community.
We’d love to hear your views on introducing Small Business
Saturday to the UK. In the West Malling area we have a superb number of
independent shops and businesses. Would Small Business Saturday inspire you to
use a local independent retailer, do you already support your local shops and businesses, or
do you think there are other ways we can encourage the use of local businesses?
