Regular Counter Culture contributor, Gene Marks has posted an interesting piece on Forbes discussing how you can get the most out of Small Business Saturday. You can find an excerpt below and check out the full post here.

From Forbes Article on 15th December:

‘Is Small Business Saturday just a bunch of hype?

According to a study done by The National Federation of Independent Business and American Express, 88 million consumers were “Shopping Small” on November 29th, up 14.9 percent from just a year ago. U.S. consumers who were aware of Small Business Saturday spent $14.3 billion with independent retailers and restaurants on the day, an increase of 2.1 percent from $14 billion in 2013. That’s good. Unfortunately, the average person who shopped on Small Business Saturday spent $162, down 11.5 percent from the previous year. Though average spending was down, the study concluded “overall spending was boosted by strong awareness and the sheer volume of shoppers supporting their local businesses on the day.”

And let’s face it: awareness was strong. Politicians were everywhere showing their love of the small business voter. President Obama shopped for books at a local retailer. The U .S. Senate, 40 state governments and 450 cities passed resolutions and proclamations celebrating the merchant. Thousands of neighborhood communities championed the cause. Hundreds of larger companies were official supporters and the bigger ones, like American Express (the event’s main sponsor), FedEx and Microsoft fashioned marketing campaigns directed at their small business customers.  Everyone seemingly jumped on the train.’ Read the rest.

Paul Nugent

Paul Nugent

Paul Nugent is a small business advocate who uses his background in the startup space, along with his POS system expertise, to allow small business owners to make informed decisions within their specific budgets.