Get the most out of Small Business Saturday

Ever since the unofficial commercial holiday was first observed in 2010, Small Business Saturday has been a common response to Black Friday by those committed to supporting independent local businesses. Although Black Friday, the traditional shopping day after Thanksgiving, remains relevant to most consumers seeking first-of-the-season bargains, its smaller-scale counterpart is also gaining recognition.

Credit card company American Express is known for the early conception and promotion of Small Business Saturday, which encourages shoppers to patronize small brick-and-mortar businesses in their communities on the Saturday following Black Friday. This year, American Express is not offering credits or incentives to card holders but is providing free marketing materials that can help small businesses, including IGCs, make the most of the day.

Promotional materials are just the tip of the iceberg for IGC owners hoping to capitalize on the potential of Shop Small Saturday. Consultant Bob Phibbs, known as The Retail Doctor, says welcoming décor and special events can go a long way toward bringing people through the door.

“Why not create something really great? Get a catering company or somebody with a restaurant and light it up pretty at night,” Phibbs says. “Have some kind of special reception or something. You could become a focal point to bring several people together and make it look magical and that would be great. The more you can bring people together, the more you can leverage your email lists and your social media.”

Some IGC retailers have been actively putting these ideas into practice for years. Kensington Garden Center in Berlin, Conn., has hosted a holiday open house event for every Small Business Saturday since opening in 2012. The event includes raffles, door prizes, refreshments, pictures with Santa Claus and community outreach efforts such as toy drives and food collections for the local animal shelter.

Kensington Garden Center in Berlin, Conn., welcomes seasonal shoppers with themed displays to celebrate Small Business Saturday.

Phibbs says that public service work, especially by several local businesses combining their resources, helps to elevate the concept of Small Business Saturday beyond a simple marketing push against big box stores.

“It should be the time that the smaller retailers band together and work to promote their unique advantages instead of trying to guilt people into shopping local,” Phibbs says. “You actually show a community working together and raising money for the trees, the schools or something outside of ‘we want your money’ so people can see value to having a thriving, independent shopping area. It’s work, there’s no two ways about it.”

Tracy Shipman, gift shop manager at Kensington, says the “shop small” holiday gives her business the opportunity to educate its community on the strengths of local merchants – strengths including individual attention to customers, knowledgeable staff and overall product quality.

“It opens people up to small business in general,” Shipman says of the holiday. “A lot of people have gotten used to shopping at big box stores and yes, their prices are obviously going to be cheaper than ours … but we do a lot of stuff ourselves. We try to get high quality [products] and things are taken better care of.”

Phibbs says that marketing these strengths during Small Business Saturday is the best change small, local retailers have to compete with the massive spending spree of Black Friday. He adds that it’s crucial for independent retailers to make connections with shoppers to expand mailing lists and consumer networks.

“The big boys have Friday and the shoppers looking for that stuff are looking for 30 or 40 percent off [sales] to start with,” Phibbs says. “An independent can’t do that. The only thing you can do is make an experience when they do shop with you on that Saturday. It’s creating an advantage for that day, not just a sale.”

Sarah Beach, general manager of Sunshine Garden Center in Diamond, Ill., says the biggest advantage of Small Business Saturday for her company is the groundswell it creates in a local area, which keeps the business in the minds of shoppers.

“It’s probably getting people that see us as a seasonal business back in the door,” Beach says. “We’re becoming more of a year-round business and a lot of people, when it’s not gardening season, they don’t come to the garden center. Small Business Saturday gives us an excuse to make sure people know that we’re still open just so they know we’re more than just a garden center.”

Follow this link for access to American Express’s free promotional assistance.