Small Biz Saturday sees 3.6% increase in spending to $5.7B

CONSUMER SPENDING on Small Business Saturday -- a national small-business campaign conceived by American Express in 2010 and held every year since on the day after Black Friday -- rose 3.6 percent his year to $5.7 billion from $5.5 billion last year. Above, a screenshot of American Express' promotional page for Small Business Saturday. / COURTESY AMERICAN EXPRESS
CONSUMER SPENDING on Small Business Saturday -- a national small-business campaign conceived by American Express in 2010 and held every year since on the day after Black Friday -- rose 3.6 percent his year to $5.7 billion from $5.5 billion last year. Above, a screenshot of American Express' promotional page for Small Business Saturday. / COURTESY AMERICAN EXPRESS

NEW YORK – Consumer spending on Small Business Saturday had cash registers ringing across the United States – up to a total of $5.7 billion, a 3.6 percent increase over the $5.5 billion in 2012, according to the results of a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express released Monday.

Consumer awareness of Small Business Saturday across the U.S. jumped to 71 percent this year, compared with the 67 percent awareness level in 2012, according to the 2013 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey.

Small Business Saturday, on Nov. 30 this year, is intended to be an impetus to shop local and support small merchants during the holiday season.

“In an uncertain economy, America’s small businesses have remained a beacon — creating good jobs and supporting the families they employ and the communities around them,” said NFIB CEO Dan Danner. “We hope that support of small firms, retailers, restaurants and other independent businesses continues throughout the holiday season and all year round. Continued support of this vital sector is one important way to ensure our economy fully recovers and a healthy private sector is restored.”

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Social media is increasingly used to get the “shop small” message out. During November, more than 352,000 tweets were sent in support of Small Business Saturday, many using the hashtags #SmallBizSat and #ShopSmall, a 65 increase increase from the previous year, according to NFIB. Those Tweets ranged from consumers spreading the word about the national initiative to business owners promoting offers that they created specifically for the day.

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