A record 95 million people shopped at small businesses this past Saturday

By Keith Nelson Jr. December 1, 2015

small business saturday 2015 obama — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Black Friday is the king of the retail holiday season, but the following day is proving to be just as compelling. This past Saturday, a record 95 million people shopped at a small business in the United States, according to a survey from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and American Express.

Those 95 million shoppers are an 8 percent increase from the number of consumers from last year. This past Saturday was not some sort of random pilgrimage to everyone’s favorite mom and pop shops, just the forgotten holiday of Small Business Saturday (SBS). The holiday was created by American Express in 2010 to get people to spend more money at small businesses. Those 95 million shoppers spent $16.2 billion, up 14 percent from the $14.3 billion that was spent last year.

As impressive as these numbers are, Small Business Saturday is easily defeated by another shopping holiday. Black Friday attracted 151 million shoppers, according to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation. But, Small Business Saturday had a special endorser that Black Friday didn’t: the Obama family. President Barack Obama and his daughters Malia and Sasha visited Upshur Street Books and Pleasant Pops cafe in Washington. The family purchased nine books at Upshur, but the President claimed his “highlight of my Small Business Saturday” was buying three ice pops from thePleasant Pops cafe for $9.

Small Business Saturday has helped numerous continue to see revenue growth. Since 2010, SBS’ first year, small business owners have reported at least a 245 percent increase in revenue compared to the previous year. Small businesses have also helped lower the unemployment rate. This past January, small businesses added 81 percent of new private-sector jobs. With major corporations such as AT&T, Eventbrite, Square, Sam’s Club, and dozens others helping to promote Small Business Saturday this year, the little holiday that could … actually did.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Keith Nelson Jr.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…

Business

Best Salesforce alternatives 2023: 7 other CRM tools worth trying

A customer relationship management diagram.

In the realm of sales management, finding the right customer relationship management software (or CRM) is crucial for streamlining your sales funnel, nurturing customer relationships, and boosting your conversion rate. While Salesforce has long been a dominant player in the CRM market, there are a number of compelling alternatives that offer comparable functionalities and features.

This roundup explores seven powerful Salesforce alternatives, analyzing their unique strengths, customizable interfaces, and integration capabilities. Whether you're a small startup, a growing medium-sized business, or an established enterprise, these CRM systems provide diverse solutions to your specific sales management needs. From advanced AI-driven lead prioritization to intuitive visual pipelines, each alternative offers its own benefits that can transform how you approach sales. Ready to level up your sales game? Let's dive in:
Freshsales

Business

Squarespace Courses: Empowering the next-generation of creative entrepreneurs

Squarespace Courses will allow entrepreneurs to create online learning solutions

This content was produced in partnership with Squarespace.
It's been clear from the very start that Squarespace was building and planning something truly special. If you don't already know, you can build professional-quality and beautiful websites through the platform with a remarkably easy tool set. You don't need any knowledge of web design or programming to get started, and you can have a site up in minutes. But thanks to how convenient it all is, it's become something of a go-to platform for digital and online creation. Now, Squarespace is elevating its all-in-one platform even more, offering something new to the next generation of entrepreneurs and creatives, who want to build their brands and monetize their audience. It's called Squarespace Courses, and like its website builder, the tool will allow customers to design and sell beautiful, multimedia courses to their customers.

Course designers will be able to create expansive programs across sequential lessons, using videos, and chapters, all while also offering progress tracking. As is customary for online courses, entrepreneurs can then create an overview of each course, set the prices for admission, and then allow potential students to preview content before making a purchase. Launching August 21st, 2023 this feature is simply not available through other easy-website-building platforms -- it's exclusive to Squarespace.

Deals

Semrush Free Trial: Try the advanced online marketing tool

Marketing will make or break your new venture. A lot more goes into running a traditional or ecommerce business than just registering a new domain, making a website -- even with a Wix free trial -- and calling it a day. Potential customers must be made aware that your business exists, and for that to happen in the digital age, you need to make use of modern online marketing tools. That's a broad field, though, encompassing keyword research, search engine optimization, data analytics, and other elements that can be pretty technical (not to mention intimidating) to the uninitiated. Enter Semrush, one of the best online marketing suites that makes all that stuff easy -- but it's not free. Maybe you want to give it a try before signing up for a premium subscription? If that's the case and you are looking for a Semrush free trial, then you're in luck. Read on. We have all the details for you, below.

Is there a Semrush free trial?