By: Taylor Bauer
Small Business Saturday was on track to set a new record of $3 billion in online sales as of 10 Sunday, November 25, according to Adobe Analytics. The day, which American Express Co. launched in 2010, saw online spend increase 24.3% year-over-year during the early hours, reaching $400 million. Small businesses weren’t left out of the Black Friday shopping spree either. Shopify Inc. says its small-to-medium sized businesses and direct-to-customer merchants, which totals more than 600,000, tallied $573 million in sales. The company’s merchants were ringing up more than $870,000 in sales per minute during the Black Friday peak. Overall, online sales on Black Friday totaled $6.22 billion, up 23.6% from last year, according to Adobe. And this was the first Black Friday ever to see $2 billion in sales from smartphones.
Small Business Saturday spent its eighth official year hyping local businesses to counter the corporate culture of big-box retail spending of Black Friday. Of the 67 million people expected to have done holiday shopping on Small Business Saturday this year, the National Retail Federation estimates the vast majority — 78 percent — did so intentionally to support independent businesses. It's still not the busiest 24 hours between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, the official start of the holiday shopping season. Black Friday wears that crown, with 116 million consumers, or 71 percent of all shoppers over the five days this year, according to the federation.
Small business owners surveyed said they count on an average of 29 percent of annual sales to happen during the holiday season. Fifty-nine percent of those SMB owners said Small Business Saturday is a boon to their business. They also expressed optimism about the upcoming holiday shopping season – 8 out of 10 surveyed said they feel good about this year’s sales, and over two-thirds said they expect sales to be stronger than last year. Half of the small business owners asked about the holiday shopping season said they would keep their stores open longer, and about a third said they plan on hiring more workers to keep up with demand. These stats come from American Express-proctored surveys.
“Millions of shoppers came together to show their support for small, independently owned businesses this Small Business Saturday,” said Elizabeth Rutledge, chief marketing officer at American Express. “The ‘shop small’ movement has become a national celebration – people all around the country are turning out to back the small businesses that make our neighborhoods and communities thrive.” There are 30.2 million small businesses in the United States, according to the U.S. government Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy report published in August 2018. (The federal government's U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy generally defines a small business as having fewer than 500 employees. The report uses the most recent governmental data available, collected in 2015 and released in 2016-2017.)
Like many lower middle market small businesses, it’s likely that local support is crucial, which makes Small Business Saturday a huge asset to profit margins. If the numbers are getting tougher and tougher to manage, a possible route to go is some financial counselling from SA Capital Partners. Experts in the lower middle market, SA Capital Partners is a team of experienced individuals that know the market well, and use their experience and expertise to grow or start your small business. Get in on the booming small business support that revs up this season, and maximize your successes with the experts at SA Capital Partners.
About SA Capital Partners:
SA Capital Partners is an innovative financial services firm that specializes in mergers & acquisitions advisory and capital raising for lower middle market businesses. We aspire to give all the tools necessary to complete any transaction. SA Capital Partner’s financial services industry specialists provide comprehensive, integrated solutions to banking transactions. Our breadth of services and industry knowledge allow us to understand each client’s unique business needs. Our goal is to make all financial services available to every small business.
Website: www.sacapitalpartnersllc.com
Phone: (212)-235-2761
Email: info@sacapitalpartnersllc.com