Small Business Saturday (SBS)

Table of Contents

  1. Definition
  2. Why Small Business Saturday matters for marketing
  3. How it works
    1. The Amex program
    2. How to calculate Small Business Saturday performance
  4. How to utilize Small Business Saturday
  5. Small Business Saturday compared with other shopping days
  6. Best practices
  7. Future trends
  8. FAQs
  9. Related Terms
  10. Listen: The Agile Brand podcast
  11. Sources

Definition

Small Business Saturday is an annual U.S. shopping day held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving that encourages consumers to buy from small, independent businesses. It sits between Black Friday and Cyber Monday on the retail calendar. American Express created it in 2010, and the first one took place on November 27 of that year. The name is a registered trademark of American Express.

In 2026, Small Business Saturday falls on November 28.

The event started as a marketing campaign, not a civic holiday. Amex ran national radio and TV ads for the first one, bought advertising for its small-merchant cardholders, and offered rebates to new customers, with early support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Boston’s then-mayor, Thomas Menino. It picked up official backing quickly. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has co-sponsored the day since 2011, and the U.S. Senate passed a supporting resolution unanimously that same year. A UK version, run as a non-commercial campaign, launched in 2013 and is held on the first Saturday in December.

The program’s consumer-facing tagline is “Shop Small,” which Amex also uses for its year-round small-merchant marketing.

See also: Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) · Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOM) · Foot Traffic Attribution (FTA) · Customer Retention

Back to Top

Why Small Business Saturday matters for marketing

For independent retailers, restaurants, and service businesses, Small Business Saturday is often the busiest day of the year. Owners surveyed for the 2025 Amex Shop Small Impact Study said they expect nearly 20% of their annual revenue, on average, to come from Small Business Saturday sales. One day. A fifth of the year. That’s an owner expectation, not measured sales, but it shows how much weight the day carries for the businesses that participate.

Consumer intent is high too. In the same study, 86% of consumers said they were likely to shop small during the 2025 holiday season, in person or online, including 89% of Millennials and Gen Z.

Amex reports more than $241 billion in spending at small businesses on Small Business Saturday since it began tracking. The SBA cited around $22 billion for 2024 alone. Both figures come with an important caveat: they’re built from consumer survey averages, not actual receipts or card transaction data. Treat them as directional.

For marketers, the day matters in a few distinct ways:

  • For small businesses, it’s a free co-marketing platform. Amex supplies signage, social assets, and map listings, and national media coverage drives awareness the business couldn’t buy on its own.
  • For brands that sell to small businesses (payment processors, POS vendors, email platforms, shipping carriers, website builders), it’s a natural campaign moment for B2B marketing to small-business owners.
  • For large retailers and CPG brands, it’s a reputational consideration. Some run “shop small” sections featuring smaller suppliers or marketplace sellers.
  • For local economic development groups and Main Street organizations, it anchors downtown events and district-wide promotions.
Back to Top

How it works

Back to Top

The Amex program

American Express runs the core program, with support from the SBA and community partners. Components in the 2025–2026 cycle include:

ComponentWhat it does
Shop Small MapLists qualifying small businesses that accept Amex. Card Members can search it, and Amex recommends listed businesses in emails and online accounts.
Online DirectoryA section of the map for online-only small businesses.
Free marketing materialsStorefront signage, printable posters, social media assets, and an annual Small Business Saturday marketing kit. Businesses don’t need to accept Amex to download them.
Neighborhood ChampionsCommunity groups (chambers, Main Street programs, business associations) apply to host local events and receive event kits.
Shop Small GrantsLaunched in 2025 with Main Street America: a $5 million program offering $20,000 grants to eligible small businesses, funded partly by a $1 donation per qualifying card purchase on Small Business Saturday.

Who qualifies as “small” for Amex’s map: U.S.-based merchants with up to $7 million in annual Amex charge volume and up to 25 locations, plus franchises with up to 100 total stores or up to 25 corporate-owned stores (2026 criteria). Amex doesn’t guarantee that every eligible business will appear on the map.

That definition is Amex’s own. The SBA uses separate size standards that vary by industry.

Back to Top

How to calculate Small Business Saturday performance

There’s no single Small Business Saturday metric. Participating businesses typically track a few:

1. Sales lift over a normal Saturday

SBS lift (%) = (SBS revenue − Average Saturday revenue) ÷ Average Saturday revenue × 100

Use the average of comparable Saturdays from the prior six to eight weeks as the baseline. Year-over-year comparisons to last year’s Small Business Saturday are also useful, though the date shifts each year.

2. Share of annual revenue

SBS share of annual revenue (%) = SBS revenue ÷ Total annual revenue × 100

This is the figure Amex’s owner survey asks about. Tracking it year over year shows whether a business is becoming more or less dependent on the day.

3. New-customer rate

New-customer rate (%) = First-time customers on SBS ÷ Total customers on SBS × 100

Capturing an email address or phone number at checkout (via a receipt, a loyalty sign-up, or a raffle entry) is what makes this measurable for a store without an ecommerce platform.

4. Return rate within 90 days

90-day return rate (%) = SBS first-time customers who buy again within 90 days ÷ SBS first-time customers × 100

A worked example (illustrative, not benchmark data): a bookstore averages $3,000 on a typical Saturday and takes in $9,600 on Small Business Saturday. That’s a 220% lift. If 140 of its 400 transactions that day came from first-time customers, its new-customer rate is 35%. If 42 of those 140 come back by the end of February, the 90-day return rate is 30%.

Back to Top

How to utilize Small Business Saturday

Common use cases for small businesses:

  • Foot traffic and in-store events. Live music, author signings, tastings, or maker demos give shoppers a reason to come in rather than buy online.
  • District-wide promotions. Neighboring shops run passport or punch-card programs where customers collect stamps from several stores for a prize. Main Street organizations often coordinate these.
  • List building. Collecting emails and SMS opt-ins on the busiest day of the year feeds post-holiday marketing. That data is zero-party data the business owns.
  • Creator and influencer content. In the 2025 Amex study, 82% of owners said they’d seen sales spike when content creators posted about them. Local food and lifestyle creators are the usual partners. See Influencer Marketing.
  • Gift cards. Selling gift cards, sometimes with a bonus (buy $50, get $10), brings revenue in on Saturday and a second visit in January.
  • Online sales. Small ecommerce brands can list in Amex’s Online Directory and run their own promotions alongside Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers.

Common use cases for larger companies:

  • B2B campaigns. Square, Shopify, Mailchimp, FedEx, and similar vendors use the day for content, toolkits, and promotions aimed at small-business owners.
  • Supplier spotlights. Retailers and marketplaces feature small and independent sellers on their sites.
  • Community sponsorship. Banks, utilities, and regional brands sponsor local Small Business Saturday events.
Back to Top

Small Business Saturday compared with other shopping days

EventTiming (U.S.)Created byPrimary focusDiscount-driven?
Small Business SaturdaySaturday after ThanksgivingAmerican Express, 2010Independent and local businesses, in store and onlineNot necessarily. Positioning is about where you shop
Black FridayFriday after ThanksgivingPhiladelphia police slang, adopted by retailersLarge retailers, in store and onlineYes. Deep, broad discounts
Cyber MondayMonday after ThanksgivingNRF / Shop.org, 2005Online retailYes
GivingTuesdayTuesday after Thanksgiving92nd Street Y, 2012Nonprofit donationsNo
Small Business Saturday UKFirst Saturday in DecemberUK campaign launched 2013UK small businessesNo
Year-round “shop local” campaignsOngoingLocal chambers, Main Street programs, independent business alliancesLocal economic developmentRarely

The key difference: Black Friday and Cyber Monday compete mostly on price. Small Business Saturday asks shoppers to choose a type of business, and many participating shops don’t discount at all.

Back to Top

Best practices

  1. Register early. Confirm your Shop Small Map listing in the fall and order free signage well ahead of the date. Map updates can take a few days to appear.
  2. Coordinate with neighbors. A downtown or district event draws more traffic than any single store can. Check whether a local chamber or Main Street group is a Neighborhood Champion.
  3. Don’t feel obligated to discount. Value-adds (gift wrapping, a free sample, a gift with purchase, an event) protect margin better than a percentage off, and shoppers on this day are often choosing the business, not the deal.
  4. Capture contact information. Every first-time customer who leaves without giving an email or phone number is hard to reach again.
  5. Update your Google Business Profile and social channels. Post holiday hours, parking information, and event details at least a week ahead. Shoppers search “near me” on the day itself.
  6. Staff and stock for the spike. Owners expect a large share of annual revenue on this one day, so running out of a bestseller or running a single register costs more than usual.
  7. Run a follow-up sequence. A thank-you email, a January offer, or a loyalty invitation turns a holiday visit into a repeat customer.
  8. Measure against a baseline. Compare against average Saturdays and last year’s event, not just against the day before.
Back to Top

Creators as the main channel. Amex partnered with food creator Keith Lee, who has nearly 20 million followers, for its 2025 campaign, and its owner survey points to creator posts as a reliable sales driver. Small businesses increasingly plan around local creators rather than paid media.

More direct funding. The 2025 Shop Small Grants Program tied Amex’s support to transaction volume for the first time at this scale, with a $1 donation per qualifying purchase. That moves the program from awareness toward direct financial support.

Online and omnichannel small businesses. The Online Directory and online-merchant eligibility reflect a shift. Many small businesses now sell through their own Shopify or Square sites, marketplaces, and social shops, not just storefronts.

AI-assisted discovery. As shoppers use AI assistants to find gifts and local stores, small businesses with complete, accurate listings (hours, inventory, product descriptions) are easier for those assistants to surface. See Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

Longer “Shop Small” season. Amex and partners already frame Shop Small as year-round. Expect more of the activity to spread across the holiday season rather than concentrating on one Saturday, mirroring what’s happened to Black Friday.

Back to Top

FAQs

When is Small Business Saturday 2026? Saturday, November 28, 2026. It’s always the Saturday after U.S. Thanksgiving.

Who started Small Business Saturday? American Express created it in 2010. The SBA has co-sponsored it since 2011.

Does a business have to accept American Express to participate? No. Any business can promote Small Business Saturday and download the free marketing materials. Accepting Amex is required to appear on the Shop Small Map and to qualify for Card Member offers.

What counts as a small business for Small Business Saturday? For the Amex map in 2026: U.S. merchants with up to $7 million in annual Amex charge volume and up to 25 locations, with separate rules for franchises. The SBA’s own size standards are different and vary by industry.

How much do people spend on Small Business Saturday? Amex reports more than $241 billion in cumulative spending since tracking began, and the SBA cited about $22 billion for 2024. Both are estimates built from consumer surveys, not actual sales data.

Is Small Business Saturday only for brick-and-mortar stores? No. Online small businesses are eligible for Amex’s Online Directory, and many small ecommerce brands run Small Business Saturday promotions.

Can I use the name “Small Business Saturday” in my marketing? Small Business Saturday is a registered trademark of American Express. Businesses routinely use it to promote their participation, and Amex supplies official materials for that purpose. Using the official assets is the safest approach.

Is there a Small Business Saturday outside the U.S.? Yes. Small Business Saturday UK began in 2013 and runs on the first Saturday in December. In 2026, that’s December 5.

How is Small Business Saturday different from Black Friday? Black Friday is mainly about discounts at large retailers. Small Business Saturday is about which businesses shoppers support, and participating shops often don’t discount.

Back to Top
  1. Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM)
  2. Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOM)
  3. Influencer Marketing
  4. Creator Economy
  5. User-Generated Content (UGC)
  6. Foot Traffic Attribution (FTA)
  7. Point of Sale (POS)
  8. Zero-Party Data
  9. Customer Retention
  10. Short Message Service (SMS)
Back to Top

Listen: The Agile Brand podcast

Program details and statistics reflect information published by American Express and the SBA as of October 2026. Program terms change each year.

Back to Top

Sources

Back to Top

Was this helpful?

Previous

Ship from Store (SFS)

Next

Stock Keeping Unit (SKU)