Small Business Saturday falls on 28 November 2026, four weeks from today. SBA reported nearly 63 million in-store shoppers in 2025, up 2.6%. Pick one offer you can afford, partner with neighbors, announce by 16 November, run a written day-of plan and judge the day on incremental gross profit, not on the headline spending estimates.
Small Business Saturday falls on Saturday 28 November 2026, and the best time to plan it is today. The SBA page for the day confirms the date, notes that American Express founded the day in 2010 and that the SBA has cosponsored it since 2011, and says the country has more than 36.2 million independent businesses. That last number is the real challenge: shoppers have a lot of local choices, so you need a clear reason for them to pick yours.
62.7M Americans who shopped in-store on Small Business Saturday 2025, up from 61.1 million in 2024 (+2.6%), as reported by the SBA
This plan gives you a dated four-week timeline, an offer ranked by margin risk, a way to partner with neighbors and a written run sheet for the day. It is built for a shop, studio or restaurant with one to ten staff. If you sell mostly online, use the same steps with pickup and shipping cutoffs in place of foot traffic. Our BFCM 2026 playbook covers the larger weekend.
Two kinds of numbers circulate about the day, and they behave very differently. Headcounts come from retail surveys and government releases. Dollar figures come from consumer surveys and swing from year to year. The SBA release of 25 November 2025 notes that the spending figure is based on consumer self-report and does not reflect actual receipts or American Express card data.
| Measure | Figure | Source and status | How to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-store shoppers, 2025 | 62.7 million (2024: 61.1 million) | SBA release, reprinted; secondary | The steadiest signal: foot traffic grew 2.6% |
| Shoppers, Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday 2025 | Nearly 203 million | NRF data cited by SBA; secondary | Shows the whole weekend is crowded |
| Consumer-reported spend, 2021 | $23.3 billion | American Express release; self-reported | Survey estimate, not receipts |
| Consumer-reported spend, 2023 | About $17 billion | American Express release headline; self-reported | Shows how much the estimate can swing |
| Consumer-reported spend, 2024 | About $22 billion | Amex survey of 2,601 adults, cited by SBA; self-reported | Use for sizing only |
The dollar estimates moved from about $17 billion to about $22 billion in a year, which tells you they are survey noise, not a trend. We found a 2025 estimate of $18 billion on one aggregator site but could not confirm it, so we leave it out. Size your plan on your own sales history: what you sell on a normal late-November Saturday, and what you would need to earn to make an event worthwhile.
A discount costs more than it looks, because it cuts profit on every sale. Illustrative example: at a 40% gross margin, 20% off needs twice the units to earn the same gross profit. The ideas below are ordered from lowest to highest margin risk, and most cost less than a percentage cut.
| Idea | Margin risk | Best for | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meet the maker, demo or tasting | Low | Food, craft, beauty, wellness | Staff it properly; capture emails at the table |
| Extended hours with a clear welcome | Low | Shops near other events | Check staffing cost against expected foot traffic |
| Neighbor passport or cross-promotion | Low | Walkable streets | Agree who prints, who stamps and who gives the prize |
| Free gift with purchase over a threshold | Low | Stores with cheap add-ons | Choose a gift that costs far less than it feels; cap stock |
| Loyalty or email sign-up bonus | Low to medium | Repeat-purchase businesses | Define the bonus in dollars before you promise it |
| Pre-order with pickup slot | Low | Bakeries, florists, gift shops | Limit slots to what you can fill |
| Bundles at a set price | Low to medium | Gift sets and consumables | Keep the bundle margin above your target |
| Storewide percentage off | High | Clearance and overstock only | Needs a large volume lift to pay back |
Pick one lead offer and one supporting one. If you need help with the math, our holiday promotion guide includes a break-even table for common discount levels.
Count back from Saturday 28 November and work in this order. Each step takes a few hours at most.
A group of small shops can do together what none can afford alone: a reason to visit the whole street. A simple passport works well and costs little.
Most local decisions start on a phone, so make your basics easy to find before you spend on ads.
Busy days go wrong in small ways, so write the run sheet the week before and give each person one job.
A busy shop is not the same as a profitable one. Compare the day with a normal Saturday, then subtract what the event cost.
Illustrative example: a normal late-November Saturday brings $2,400 of sales, and Small Business Saturday brings $4,100. At a 45% gross margin, the extra $1,700 of sales adds $765 of gross profit. The event cost $240 of extra staff time, $180 of gifts and $100 of promotion, so the day adds about $245 of profit, plus 62 new email addresses that you can use all season. Replace these numbers with yours before you decide what to repeat.
Follow up within two days with a thank-you note and a simple reason to come back in December. Our last-minute Christmas ideas give you the next steps, and our hospitality team works with cafes and restaurants on days like this.
The SBA page and the NRF release are primary sources read in October 2026; the SBA 2025 results come from a reprint of an SBA release, and the 2023 and 2024 survey figures were read through a release headline and a search excerpt. American Express figures are consumer-reported estimates, not receipts. We left out an unconfirmed 2025 dollar estimate. The offer ranking, the timeline and the run sheet are our judgment, and the margin and profit examples use hypothetical numbers.
Data last verified 28 October 2026. Researched with AI assistance from the primary sources linked here, then edited by the Eonixmedia team; figures are linked to their source.
Want a Small Business Saturday plan sized to your shop? Talk to us and we will map the offer, the emails and the day.
Small Business Saturday is Saturday 28 November 2026, the Saturday after Thanksgiving on 26 November. American Express founded the day in 2010 and the SBA has cosponsored it since 2011. Black Friday is 27 November and Cyber Monday is 30 November, so plan the three days as one weekend.
The safest ideas protect margin: a free gift above a spend threshold, a meet-the-maker or demo event, extended hours, a neighbor cross-promotion, bundles and a loyalty sign-up bonus. Avoid deep storewide percentage discounts unless you can double volume, because they cut profit on every sale.
Nobody has a receipts-based total. American Express publishes consumer-reported estimates from a survey, about $22 billion for 2024, and the SBA notes these are self-reported rather than sales or card data. The most solid recent count is in-store shoppers: the SBA reported nearly 63 million in 2025.
Start planning four weeks ahead and announce by Monday 16 November. That gives you time to line up neighbors, order materials, tell your email list and update your Business Profile before shoppers start choosing where to go. Send a reminder in Thanksgiving week and a short note on the morning of the day.
Yes. The SBA page says small business owners can get free marketing materials from American Express, including sample posters and social media resources, and shoppers can find participating businesses in a directory on American Express's site. Check both pages for the current 2026 materials before you print anything.
Compare gross profit, not sales, with a normal Saturday, then subtract the extra costs of staff, gifts and promotion. Also count new email sign-ups, new customers and redemptions of your offer. A day that lifts sales but loses money on discounts has not worked, however busy it felt.