Small Business Saturday (SBS) is one of the busiest holiday shopping days of the year, alongside Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Thus, as a small business it is critical that you have the right marketing plan in place to help bring people to your store and/or your website, both on SBS and throughout the remainder of the holiday shopping season. Here are some interesting facts and statistics about holiday shopping that small business owners need to know so they can plan accordingly.

  • According to the National Retail Federation, 20 to 40 percent of yearly sales for small and mid-sized retailers take place within the last two months of the year. Additionally, 40 percent of consumers begin shopping before Halloween.
  • In 2012, consumers spent an estimated $5.5 billion at locally owned stores and restaurants on SBS (American Express).
  • This year, local shopping is expected to have an especially large draw, with 65 percent of consumers planning to browse online and then go into a store to buy (Accenture) and 90 percent of all retail sales projected to occur in brick and mortar stores (ShopperTrak).
  • This holiday season, 1 in 5 holiday shoppers plan to spend more (Accenture), with holiday spending expected to increase by 11 percent overall in 2013 (Experian).
  • Online holiday sales are expected to increase this year as well, as much as 15.1 percent in 2013 (eMarketer), with nearly half of consumers planning to buy holiday gifts online this year. Email is the top holiday marketing channel for 55 percent of brands (Experian), while mobile marketing is expected to have an impact on 87 percent of all holiday purchases (Mobile marketing Association).
  • Social media is also expected to have an impact on holiday sales trends as well. In fact, in 2012 66 percent of Black Friday purchases were the result of social media interaction (Mr. Youth). According to a Crowdtap survey, 39.3 percent of consumers say that Facebook has influenced them to buy a gift and 47.7 percent of shoppers say that Pinterest content has inspired holiday gift purchases. In another survey conducted by Twitter, 64 percent of respondents said they have bought a product because of something they saw on Twitter.
  • Finally, for small businesses this holiday season, marketing matters. In 2012, one-fourth of consumers purchased gifts from a retailer they had never shopped with before (Google).

References

Pinkham, Ryan. “30 Holiday Shopping Stats That Every Small Business Owner Needs to See.” Constant Contact Blogs. 10/23/13.