The Best Reason To Shop On Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday was created as a way to help those stores generate holiday sales, and this year it comes with free cookies!

By Ryan Clancy | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

This small business Saturday maybe not be full of incredible discounts or bargains, but we know what it will be full of; free cookies and the holiday spirit.

For all businesses since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a hard time with many ups and downs, but for small businesses, it has been even harder. Larger multinational companies have the luxury of spreading their collective losses over a number of stores, but this is not the case for a small businesses. If a small business loses sales consecutively for a long time, they close its doors, and that’s it.

Now for small businesses to survive the past few years just to be hit with another obstacle: inflation. The primary costs of running a business have increased at an alarming rate.

The sector of small businesses with the most significant price increase is their payroll. The business’s inventory sector will be a close second, with the prices set to rise significantly. On top of business expenses increasing, small business sales have dropped compared to last year. Sales like black Friday and small business Saturday, along with the upcoming holiday season, might be these businesses’ lifeline.

Small business Saturday was invented in 2010 to promote small businesses after the 2008 recession. Over two-thirds of every dollar spent in these businesses stay in the local economy. After the first year’s success, the Senate passed a resolution recognizing the day to encourage people to buy locally.

free cookies

Due to the rising expenses and reduced profits, many small businesses just cannot afford to put on a sale, so they are using other incentives to get customers into the stores. Refreshments like free coffee and free cookies will be available in some stores. Restaurants are offering discounted meals for those in need and giving the unused food to charity.

Other businesses are offering double loyalty points to those customers who regularly frequent their stores.

Also, owners are using these incentives to gauge how busy the holiday period will be for them and if they need to change something to entice customers to spend their hard-earned money.

For small business owners, what makes the weekend special is not the discounts but the atmosphere of the holiday season approaching. Everyone is in a great mood, and joy is being spread around.

The holiday season seems to bring out the best in everyone with decorations, music, and more people out and about it. Incentives like free cookies and coffee will definitely help bring customers into their local stores. These businesses fund people’s homes, their kid’s college, and the food they have on the table. They are not like the faceless multinational businesses we see every day.

If you can afford to buy your last-minute thanksgiving gifts, Christmas presents, or something for yourself in a local store, then please do it. You will never know how much it will mean to someone to have that sale. After these last number of years, it is time to start spreading the joy around.