On Small Business Saturday, establishments with a digital presence may have an edge

PeopleImages.com – Yuri A // Shutterstock The holiday shopping season can be the most wonderful time of year for consumers–but it’s the most important time of year for small business owners. Yet many small business owners find themselves in a tight spot, as the growth of online shopping transforms major retailers into the go-to for shoppers seeking both convenience and good deals. While e-commerce platforms take precedence, many small businesses don’t even have a website–and those that do may lack digital accessibility. This puts them at a disadvantage during the biggest shopping days of the year. Holiday sales account for about a third, on average, of small businesses’ annual revenue, according to Intuit’s 2024 Holiday Shopping Report, with about 3 in 5 small business owners saying the holiday season is critical to the longevity of their business. When the holiday shopping season is short–2024 has five fewer shopping days–business owners have to make the most of promotions, both for brick-and-mortar and digital presences. Business owners often use Small Business Saturday, which falls on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, to gauge how well their stores will do during the holiday season. In 2023, consumers spent $17 billion on Small Business Saturday, a show of appreciation for the vitality that small businesses contribute to local economies. Deloitte found that 1 in 5 holiday shoppers plan to participate in Small Business Saturday in 2024, up from 14% in 2023. However, while shoppers may want to support small businesses, they also want convenience and good deals. With increasingly high consumer expectations around an efficient shopping experience, nearly 2 in 5 shoppers plan to spend most of their holiday budgets at online retailers, and 1 in 5 plan to buy from big box stores where they can find multiple gifts in one place. In a Wells Fargo and Small Business Majority survey, 3 in 10 small business owners said they didn’t have a website for their business, even though the COVID-19 pandemic prompted many business owners to establish their digital presence. About 4 in 10 small businesses without a website still rely on social media to showcase themselves online. Lacking a digital presence, small businesses are leaving much-needed revenue on the table. For those without a website, 2 in 3 businesses have less than $100,000 in revenue. For those with a website, less than half bring in under $100,000. Analyzing survey data from Deloitte and from Wells Fargo and Small Business Majority, accessiBe illustrates the opportunities for small businesses to attract a broader range of customers by boosting their digital presence. 2024 holiday shoppers prefer online shopping by wide margin