Each year, millions of shoppers and small businesses across the United States celebrate Small Business Saturday. The national shopping holiday happens two days after Thanksgiving. Founded by American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday is a way for consumers to start the holiday shopping season while supporting their community’s independently-owned businesses.

Shoppers help businesses generate billions of dollars in revenue on Small Business Saturday each year. That’s a lot of spending. 

Will you be a part of this year’s Small Business Saturday?

Perhaps you’re starting your business, and this is all new to you. Or maybe you’re busy and feel you can’t find the time or resources to get involved. Keep reading—this article is written just for you.

With the holiday shopping season beginning soon, small businesses are busy gearing up to increase customers and sales. And you, too, can be part of a community of entrepreneurs promoting each other and engaging with local shoppers in fun and unique ways through Small Business Saturday.

By participating, you’re not only creating brand awareness, but you’re also exploring new and exciting ways to find and keep loyal customers. That’s a big win in our book!

Here are ten tips to prepare your business for Small Business Saturday.

1. Hire enough staff.

With the increase in online and foot traffic, you should have enough staff to accommodate the boost in sales on your website and (or) physical location. Plan to hire seasonal workers and have your team on payroll before the holiday shopping season kicks off.

Featured resource: 5 Tips for Retaining Seasonal Hires >>

2. Prepare marketing materials.

Create and distribute Small Business Saturday-themed emails, social media posts, flyers or mailers, and ads. American Express has made sharing your participation in Small Business Saturday easy. Customize marketing materials to promote your business here. Or, flex those creative muscles and design your own materials using Canva (it's free!).

3. Create an enticing offer.

Invite shoppers to benefit from a unique promo, such as a flash sale. Or offer a free event that includes food trucks and a local band. You could also donate a percentage of sales to a local charity. Just remember to include details about your offer in your marketing material!

4. Check your inventory.

Are popular items in stock? Prepare a few months ahead of time by reviewing past years’ sales. You can make this process way easier with a POS system that includes inventory management like Hike for retail, or CrunchTime for restaurants.

5. Double-check your website.

Check in with your web developer to review your website for tech issues that could crash your site and prevent sales on Small Business Saturday. 

You can also use various free tools to test your website speed and scan for broken links. This article by Geekflare lists 8 different link checking tools, and you can try Pingdom to test your page loading speed for free.

6. Clear out old products.

Declutter products that haven’t brought in the sales you hoped for and have new products displayed, so customers easily find and purchase those items.

7. Offer complimentary gift wrapping.

Customers remember when their shopping experience is special. When you offer gift wrapping for their purchases, you add a moment of delight to their experience in your store.

8. Keep community in mind.

At the heart of Small Business Saturday is the spirit of supporting communities. Offer to host a local artist’s paintings or invite hometown musicians to perform exclusively for your customers. 

Most cities have a local art council you can connect with to find local artists looking to display their work, or you can use an online service like GigSalad to hire a local musician.

9. Thank your customers.

Share a one-of-a-kind item or discount to say thanks. And stay in touch with shoppers by inviting them to share their contact information, such as an email, with you.

10. Track sales.

When the holiday shopping season ends, schedule time to track sales and review which marketing strategies worked best this year.

Small Business Saturday is a great way to attract new and loyal customers to your store. How will your business celebrate the big day this year?

Share this article on social media and let your followers know what you’re doing now to prepare your store for Small Business Saturday. And share these tips with fellow small business owners taking part with you. Find a map of local businesses participating in Small Business Saturday here.

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