The day for shoppers to celebrate buying from small businesses takes place on Small Business Saturday. This sales event has been around for about a decade and takes place every year right after Black Friday.
The purpose of this day is to help bring the crowds in to small businesses, especially those which are often overshadowed by the holiday sales offered through retail giants. Since its inception, this Saturday shopping event has seen large crowds gathering in order to find deals at their local shops.
This year, the number of people shopping for deals on this sales day is going to grow. More people than last year will be shopping at their local stores for Small Business Saturday.
However, there have been some changes in how the shopping is being done this year due to the widespread effect of Covid. These changes will see some small businesses that may not have previously offered curbside pickup now doing so.
Most of these businesses now have an online presence where shoppers can find what they want to purchase and either pick it up curbside or have it shipped to their home. This way, they can get the great deals without ever having to enter the store.
These changes will still allow shoppers to continue to support local buying from smaller businesses, yet adhere to social distancing and safety guidelines. Just like the bigger retail stores, these small businesses will be advertising their sales.
There may be group marketing efforts done among businesses that are similar. Some stores may have a specific theme or target items for sale that are alike, such as all sports gear, or beauty supplies.
Small Business Saturday may also notify shoppers by mailing out postcards or by having posters in the front windows of the shop advertising the sales. Many of these businesses will link to their shops using their social media platforms and will share the special deals, coupon offers and more.
Some of these stores may create specific group targets on social media using themes, hashtags or special GIFs. For small businesses that are in the food industry, instead of offering goods, they may offer free items from the menu, a kids-eat-free offer or BOGO deals.
Other stores will be taking advantage of online marketing strategies using popular social media platforms. Many of these platforms allow for consumer targeted ads as well as allowing a place where local businesses can connect with both loyal and potential customers.
Some of the ways these businesses may advertise will include gift items offered by the store for customers to have a chance to win. If you have a favorite local business, you’ll want to go to their website to sign up for their newsletter or get on their mailing list so that you don?t miss out on any of the holiday deals that will be offered. Make sure you call, too, since some won?t have a website to notify customers from.
