Consumers Spent $5.5 Billion on Small Business Saturday

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up chartAccording to the second part of the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and American Express, U.S. consumers spent $5.5 billion “shopping small” on Small Business Saturday. Awareness of the day, which was Nov. 24, increased to 67 percent from 34 percent only two weeks ago. Of the people aware of the date, almost half (47%) shopped on Small Business Saturday.

“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 are very pleased that so many Americans sought to give back by shopping small this Small Business Saturday. 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.”

Elected officials in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. promoted Small Business Saturday – including President Obama and a number of senior government officials. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a Small Business Saturday Resolution supporting efforts to encourage consumers to not only shop locally but raise awareness on the value of locally owned small businesses.

Other statistics include:

  • More than 350 small business organizations supported the nationwide initiative with more than 50 Chambers of Commerce and 60 groups organizing events and activities in support of the day.
  • 155 corporations, such as FedEx, Twitter, AOL/Patch and Clear Channel, partnered to promote shopping at small businesses
  • More than 3.2 million Facebook users “liked” the Small Business Saturday Facebook page.
  •  Over 213,000 tweets supported Small Business Saturday in November, with hashtags including #smallbizsat and #shopsmall.
  • 40,000 people received $25 Shop Small American Express gift cards courtesy of FedEx for use at small merchants on November 24th.

By Shala Marks