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Electronic PaymentsBlog
November 1, 2024
Small Business Tips
Saturday, November 29, is this year’s post-Thanksgiving kickoff to the holiday season for small business owners (and consumers looking to Shop Small®): Small Business Saturday®.
To help you get ready, we’ve rounded up 13 ideas you can use to promote your business and boost sales this November and all season long.
As the creator of Small Business Saturday®, American Express releases resources every year so small business owners can make the most of the holiday season shopping rush. 2025 marks the 16th annual event, and we’re excited to help connect you with this year’s new batch of digital resources, including social assets, banners, and language to use in your blogs and emails—all available for free from American Express!
Visit https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/benefits/shop-small/ to find resources like:
These resources are a great way to get the word out to existing and new customers and let them know you’re open and ready to help them get started on their holiday shopping!
Many businesses encourage customers to come out for Small Business Saturday by offering:
These offers create excitement and help attract more foot traffic from both new and returning customers.
Inventory is an all-important consideration when it comes to increasing holiday sales.
If you’re in the market for a new POS, check out our guide on what your POS should include for the holidays and 2026.
Teaming up with nearby businesses can create a larger event and draw more customers into your area. Cross-promotions—such as offering discounts when customers show receipts from another local shop—or co-hosting an event like a holiday market will encourage shoppers to stay and explore more businesses.
A “shop crawl” could be another collaborative Small Business Saturday idea where you encourage customers to collect stamps at participating stores for a chance to win a prize.
With more customers filling up your store, you’ll need extra employees to answer questions and ring up sales. View staffing reports from prior Small Business Saturdays (or similar holidays) to help reduce your chances of labor shortages. Did you have enough team members on your busiest sales days? Or were you overstaffed on slower days? Make the most of your resources by understanding the times you need to staff up and when you can get by with a leaner team. You may need to onboard fewer seasonal employees than you think, which is a significant benefit in a tight labor market.
And remember, there are plenty of services now that can connect you with gig workers if you only need more staff for a limited time.
While you have extra hands on deck, be sure to track the productivity of your seasonal staff. With POS data, you can see which team members have the highest sales. Consider offering holiday contests to employees as a fun way to encourage sales and reward top performers with gift cards at the end of the season. If you want to transition some of your seasonal staff to permanent positions in the New Year, employee productivity data can assist with your decision-making process.
The great advantage of POS is its ability to accommodate the needs of your business. For example, with quick ring-up features and a row of customizable buttons right on your register screen, Exatouch® POS streamlines transactions, enabling you to get last-minute shoppers in and out quickly. Label one of your buttons as a gift wrapping fee you can quickly add to transactions for those who want to take advantage of the service. Set another button to make gift card sales simple.
Exatouch also offers the ability to print gift receipts without prices, making customers and their gift recipients happy while streamlining the inevitable exchange process for your staff. You can even include your store’s return policy on the receipt to remain transparent and keep customers informed.
With the gift-giving season kicking off, make sure your gift card offering is ready to go on Small Businesses Saturday! You can promote gift cards in-store or promote e-gift cards on your website or through email campaigns through eGiftSolutions®.
Looking for a way to make a special gift card offer for Small Business Saturday? Try offering gift cards with a bonus—for example: “Buy a $50 gift card, get a $10 gift card.” This gives your customers an easy way to give a gift while also encouraging them to return and spend on themselves.
If your POS has robust reporting capabilities, you can retrieve invaluable insights from your sales reports to help you prep for the coming holiday season. It might make sense to offer special Small Business Saturday hours to capture the right ROI—see what the data tells you! Look back at past Small Business Saturday sales to gauge the right times, and check industry forecasting to spot expected peak shopping windows.
Post-Small Business Saturday, you can continue to optimize for the rest of the holiday season. For example, if you typically close at 6:00 in the evening, but a majority of your sales occur after 5:30 PM, consider extending your hours for the holidays to accommodate more shoppers.
Knowing which days and times it makes sense to stay open longer can lift your sales significantly—either by accommodating your regular customers’ preferences to shop later or by attracting new customers who couldn’t visit your store when it closed earlier.
Learn more about the reporting features Exatouch offers to help you make informed decisions.
Consider handing out free samples of products or small gifts with purchases—if you make sure you’re promoting the offer correctly, this can be a great way to entice customers into your store. Seasonal giveaways, like a free ornament or tote bag with each purchase, are especially popular for Small Business Saturday. Even a simple “first 50 customers get a free gift” offer can create excitement and encourage early visits.
Use every platform you have to promote your Small Business Saturday presence! Use email campaigns, social media, and your website to alert your subscriber base about special offers you’re running for Small Business Saturday so you can get on your customers’ radars early.
Don’t forget the little things, too! Consider:
If you have an e-commerce component on your website and don’t already offer these features, consider getting them set up before the holidays: buy now, pick up later options and wishlist functionality to encourage browsing online.
Get more tips on extending your reach in our small business guide to omnichannel strategy.
Giving back during Small Business Saturday can encourage shoppers to spend while supporting a good cause. Some charitable promotions that other SMBs have run include:
Your POS has valuable information, but it’s a good idea to supplement your data with larger studies and check out what analysts are expecting for the 2025 holidays. Every year offers unique challenges, and this year is no exception! Take a look at our 2025 holiday consumer insights guide for more data to help you strategize for the season.
As we state in our company story, Electronic Payments exists “to help small to midsize businesses (SMBs) prosper.” We’re proud to be helping American Express promote SMBs this season and all year long! Take the right first step to boost sales this holiday season and encourage customers to Shop Small®—find Amex resources at AmericanExpress.com/SBS.
Small Business Saturday 2025 is Saturday, November 29, the day after Black Friday (and two days after Thanksgiving).
Small Business Saturday is a nationwide movement that encourages consumers to do holiday shopping at local businesses in their own communities.
American Express originally founded Small Business Saturday in 2010. Amex promotes it each year with free Shop Small® resources for eligible small businesses.
Shop Small® is an Amex campaign aimed at inspiring shoppers to support small, locally owned businesses. While especially associated with Small Business Saturday, Shop Small® is a sentiment many stores and communities promote year round.
Small business owners can boost sales by offering special promotions, updating their Google Business Profile, collaborating with other local shops, and using social media and email marketing to highlight special deals.
Popular Small Business Saturday deals include limited-time discounts, bundle offers, BOGO promotions, free gifts with purchase, and bonus gift card incentives to encourage both new and repeat sales.
Electronic Payments, Inc. (EPI) is a privately-held payment processor, acquirer, and financial technology company that delivers innovative POS systems, merchant services, and integrated payment solutions to businesses nationwide. Backed by over 25 years of industry experience, EPI is known for its transparent partnerships, proprietary technologies—including Exatouch® POS, ProCharge®, and Cygma®—and exceptional 24/7 in-house U.S.-based support. EPI serves a wide range of industries, from retail and restaurants to service-based businesses and professional offices, and acquires new merchants through a national network of POS value-added resellers (VARs), agent banks, independent sales agents, and ISOs.
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