News

Small Business Saturday no small revenue booster for local retailers

Small Business Saturday a lucrative success even without the usual consumer incentive.

December 7, 2015

It rarely gets as much, or even half the play, of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but Small Business Saturday was a successful one for retailers taking advantage of the American Express sales event.

Consumers spent just a little over $16 billion during the shopping day, a 14 percent jump compared to a year ago, according to a Washington Post report.

Of the $16.2 billion about $14.3 billion was spent at restaurants and independent retailers, according to a survey released by the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express, with 95 million shoppers hitting small businesses — an 8 percent jump over 2014.

The five-year-old sales promotion driven by the credit card conglomerate is focused on helping small businesses reap rewards during the most lucrative sales season of the year. In past years, American Express provided an incentive that offered consumers using the card to shop locally a $10 to $30 credit for purchase made on the day. That incentive was not offered this year.