Small Business News

Small Business Saturday 2022 Drives Projected $17.9 Billion in Sales

This past weekend saw the kick-off to the holiday shopping season with Black Friday followed by Small Business Saturday. Now in its 13th year, the latter is a promotion meant to raise awareness for small local businesses and encourage consumers to support them. Now, the initial figures from this year’s event have arrived.

According to American Express (which actually invented the retail holiday in 2010), an estimated $17.9 billion were driven by Small Business Saturday 2022. Unfortunately, that’s down from the record $23.3 billion seen during 2021’s event. It’s also off from 2020’s $19.8 billion total and even the pre-pandemic 2019 tally of $19.6 billion.

This dip comes amid inflation that, while potentially boosting the dollar figure of sales made, does require consumers to think more carefully about their purchases as the money they’ve made likely won’t go as far this year as last year. In more positive news, Amex’s 2022 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey did find that nearly three-quarters (72%) of shoppers intended to continue shopping at smaller retailers throughout the rest of the holiday season, noting the impact this would have on their local community.

As revealed earlier this month, part of Amex’s Small Business Saturday promotion this year involved reaching younger consumers via TikTok. In fact, the company rolled out its #ShopSmall Accelerator, which aims to help entrepreneurs and small business owners use the short video platform more effectively for marketing. In addition to providing tips and tutorials, American Express is also offering a $100 TikTok advertising credit to eligible small businesses that are new to the platform, register for the offer, and purchase at least $50 in TikTok ads within 28 days of receiving the offer email. Small businesses have until December 24th to enroll for this deal.

Although the initial results of this year’s Small Business Saturday may be disappointing, the nearly-$18 billion total is still nothing to sneeze at. What’s more, there’s still plenty of time left in the holiday shopping season, allowing shoppers to catch up and continue supporting their local retailers. Also notable is that Amex’s push to reach younger shoppers only began a few weeks ago and could still have an impact later in the season. In fact, Amex’s research suggests that, if every Gen Zer and Millennial spent just $10 at a small business this holiday season, it would support $2 billion in local economic activity. Therefore, small business owners shouldn’t give up on this holiday season nor fear that the Small Business Saturday event is losing steam.