We made it through Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and right there in between was Small Business Saturday. While it’s hard to escape the ads and hype about the two major shopping events, it turns out two-thirds (66%) of Americans don’t even know about Small Business Saturday, according to new research. And that number jumps to 76% for Gen Z.
The 2025 Holiday Shopping Survey from AT&T Business has just come out, revealing that even though some people haven’t even heard of the day promoted to shop at local, small shops, many would prefer to spend their money there anyway. The poll of 22-hundred adults across the country finds that the majority of U.S. consumers would complete all their holiday shopping at small businesses if they could.
- The thing that’s stopping them? Prices. If the pricing was the same, 77% would prefer to buy from small businesses over large retailers.
- Not only do people like supporting small businesses in their community, 73% say they find better, more unique holiday gifts there.
- Nearly three-quarters (72%) say in-person shopping inspires more gift ideas, while just 28% turn to social media for gift inspo.
- Two-thirds of shoppers say they buy from small businesses to support their local economy.
- But a lot of folks also trust small businesses for help more than large retailers. In fact, Americans are almost twice as likely to call a small business over a large retailer when they have a question (65% versus 35%).
- While more people turn to AI for help with all kinds of things these days, holiday shopping isn’t high on that list. Only 9% of Americans say they’re likely to use AI for holiday gift ideas, compared to 58% who plan to use traditional online search methods.
Source: Loyalty 360
Scott's Thoughts:
- How do so many people not know about Small Business Saturday?!
- I try to shop local but I admit I am addicted to Amazon Prime!
- Since my kids are grown, I try to downsize my gift giving.