Small Business Saturday, a movement promoted by American Express via social media on Nov. 27, was deemed a success by some retailers, while others remain skeptical.
The observance, sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday (when online sales spike), was dedicated to local, independent retailers. The movement was spearheaded by American Express. The company plans to give the first 100,000 registered cardholders a $25 statement credit for making a purchase from a small business on Saturday.
NBC4i in Columbus, Ohio, reported that retailers were pleased with the Small Business Saturday promotion.
“I think it was great. It woke everybody up and realized they needed to support their locally owned businesses,” said Katie Palmer, owner of Sobo Style, a furniture and home décor business.
She said that people knew about the event and she felt that the national exposure was the key.
“I think it was promoted very well. It was on the news, on the national news. You heard about it in a lot of different areas, and I think people did know about it and they made an effort to come out and support local businesses,” explained Palmer.
Consumer Reports’ Home & Garden blogger, Kimberly Janeway, noted that the event’s sponsor, American Express, isn’t always viewed as small-business friendly:
Amex describes these mom-and-pops as the heartbeat of our communities, but also mentions that Amex is the leading payment card issuer for small businesses. But Ad Age reports that Amex typically charges businesses higher fees than Visa and MasterCard, making it difficult for some small businesses to accept the card.
On The Blogging Nurseryman, a popular green-industry forum, the mood was decidedly skeptical.
“So now we have Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, followed by Cyber Monday,” quipped blog author Trey Pitsenberger. “How exciting! Special days to tell us where to shop. Big stores for Black Friday, small stores for Small Biz Saturday, and online merchants Monday. Thank you Santa!”
Most comments on Pitsenberger’s blog post echoed his sentiments. This from commenter Don Shor:
“While it is nice of American Express to promote this, it would be even nicer if they would just drop their credit card processing rate to the level charged by MasterCard, Visa and Discover. That would help small businesses year-round.”