Historical & Current Events dictionary
Small Business Saturday
or Small Biz Saturday [ smawl biz-nis sat-er-dey ]
What is Small Business Saturday?
Small Business Saturday is an annual event during the holiday shopping season to encourage people to shop at small businesses, as opposed to corporate chain stores.
In the US, Small Business Saturday is part of a series of unofficial holidays focused on shopping opportunities at what’s considered the beginning of the holiday season. This period begins with Black Friday, the oldest and most established of such days. Small Business Saturday is a more recent addition, along with Cyber Monday (the day for online shopping deals).
In the UK, Small Business Saturday is held on a different day, but has the same focus.
The term Small Business Saturday is also used in a less specific way on social media as part of a campaign in which small business owners or customers use the hashtag #SmallBusinessSaturday to promote small businesses on any given Saturday, not just during the holiday season.
⚡️When is Small Business Saturday?
In the US, Small Business Saturday takes place on the day after Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving (which is the fourth Thursday in November). In 2023, Small Business Saturday is November 25. In 2024, Small Business Saturday will be November 30.
In the UK, Small Business Saturday takes place on the first Saturday in December. In 2023, it falls on December 2. In 2024, it will fall on December 7.
Where does Small Business Saturday come from?
Small Business Saturday was created in 2010 by credit card company American Express as an attempt to promote economic recovery (and consumer spending) in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, which hurt many small retailers. Eventually, the Small Business Administration began to cosponsor the event.
In the UK, Small Business Saturday has been held since 2012.
Examples of Small Business Saturday
Who uses Small Business Saturday?
Did you know … ?
- Free marketing materials and other resources are available for small businesses to promote themselves on Small Business Saturday.
What are other words used in discussion of Small Business Saturday?
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of Small Business Saturday like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of Small Business Saturday that will help our users expand their word mastery.