Retailers Expect Boost From Small Business Saturday

Forty-six percent of independent merchants plan to incorporate Small Business Saturday [1] in their holiday strategies, and a majority (67 percent) said they will offer discounts on November 24, according to the Small Business Saturday Insights Survey, released last week by the National Federation of Independent Businesses [2] (NFIB) and American Express. 

In addition, 80 percent of small business owners who are promoting Small Business Saturday expect a year-over-year boost in sales for the day, and discounts and special offers for consumers will be key incentives to drive consumers to ‘shop small.’ Eighty-seven percent of merchants are using social media channels to promote their participation: 96 percent of them will be using Facebook; 33 percent will use Twitter; 15 percent will use Google+; and 15 percent will use Pinterest.

“Research has shown that American consumers have a deep trust in, and admiration for, the small business community,” said NFIB CEO Dan Danner. “Small Business Saturday gives them a chance to show their appreciation – and help America’s essential job creators in a very real way – by patronizing small shops, restaurants and service providers.”

Though discounting will be a big part of many merchants’ strategies, they’re also be employing other incentives to drive consumers to “shop small.”  The Small Business Saturday Insights Survey found:

• 46 percent will create coupons for future offers or discounts;
• 25 percent will offer free gift wrapping;
• 23 percent will giveaway prizes or hosts contests; and,
• 20 percent will give away free items with purchase.

To handle the anticipated increase in business on November 24, 28 percent of survey respondents said they intend to increase the number of employees who will work on Small Business Saturday.

For the third year in a row, American Express is offering a merchant toolkit on ShopSmall.com [3] that includes:

• Free Downloadable Marketing Materials – Turnkey assets that they can customize to better promote their businesses.  These tools (available at ShopSmall.com/marketing-resources [4]) include:

Online banners and logos – Digital offerings to promote small businesses on their blogs, websites or anywhere else online;

Signage – Two 11"x17" pieces of signage (which can be professionally printed for free at FedEx Office® if they choose to take advantage of FedEx’s offer) to help attract customers in-store or around town.  Small business owners can visit shopsmall.com/fedexoffice to access the Small Business Saturday posters and see the FedEx Offer Terms. FedEx Office will also provide additional discount printing offers to small business owners when they pick up their posters;

Social media and email templates – Preloaded posts, blog examples, tweets and emails to help drive traffic;

• Free Geo-Targeted Online Advertising – Qualifying small business owners can personalize an online geo-targeted ad – to appear on a number of online advertising platforms– to reach consumers in their area. Small business owners can find out if they qualify and learn more at ShopSmall.com/business-advertising [5]. Free Ads are available through November 19, 2012 or while supplies last. Media Inventory is limited.  Terms of Participation apply to small business participation;
   
• Success Stories – Small business owners can get inspired by what other entrepreneurs did last year to make Small Business Saturday a success.  Success stories include a “What We Did” and “The Results” section and are available here: ShopSmall.com/success-stories [6];
   
• “Rally Your Community” – A new section of the site (shopsmall.com/#involve_community [7]) designed to connect consumers and small businesses as well as inspire local events on Small Business Saturday.

In addition, American Express is providing small businesses access to free tools and offers to attract customers beyond Small Business Saturday.  A small business can use these tools and offers to:

• Create a Facebook [8] business page;
• Enhance its Facebook business page with customizable professional templates by Pagemodo [9];
• Create a customized website through Yola [10];
• Create a YouTube video to market its business with My Business Story [11] by Google and American Express;
• Get a Twitter “Follow” button [12] for its website;

More information can be found at the “Free Biz Tools” tab on facebook.com/ShopSmall [13].