Small Business Saturday 2026: A 6-Week Plan for Local Businesses
Small Business Saturday 2026 is Saturday, November 28, the day after Black Friday and two days after Thanksgiving. If you run a local business, that gives you about six weeks to get ready. The plan below breaks those six weeks into one or two jobs a week.
American Express started Small Business Saturday in 2010, and the U.S. Small Business Administration cosponsors it. American Express estimated that shoppers spent $22 billion at small businesses on Small Business Saturday in 2024, based on its consumer survey. You do not need to run a retail shop to take part. Restaurants, salons, gyms, contractors, and other service businesses join in too, usually with a gift card or a booking offer in place of a sale.
Your Week-by-Week Small Business Saturday Plan
Six Weeks Out (October 17 to 23): Pick One Goal and One Offer
Start by deciding what you want the day to do for your business. More new customers? More gift card sales? A full calendar for January? Pick one, because the goal decides the offer.
Then pick one offer that fits it. A few that work well for local businesses:
- A gift card bonus. Buy a $50 gift card and get a $10 bonus card to use in January, when business is usually slower.
- A free add-on. Gift wrapping, a sample, or an extra service with any purchase.
- Something only available that day. A limited product, a seasonal menu item, or a holiday package.
- Early access for your regulars. Open an hour early for people on your email or text list.
You do not have to discount. A bonus or an experience often brings people in as well as a price cut does, and it protects your margin. For more offers that keep your prices where they are, see these Black Friday marketing ideas for businesses that don’t want to discount.
Five Weeks Out (October 24 to 30): Make Sure People Can Find You
Your Google Business Profile is the first thing many shoppers will check, so look at it with fresh eyes. Confirm your regular hours, then add special hours for Thanksgiving week and for November 28 if they will be different. Add a few recent photos. If your business does not show up on the map at all, our guide to why a business is not showing up on Google Maps walks through what to check.
If you accept American Express cards, sign up for the free Shop Small Map on the American Express Shop Small site, which lists participating businesses for shoppers. The same site offers free marketing materials, including social media graphics, printable signs, and email templates. Card acceptance is required for the map listing, so check the site for what your business qualifies for.
Four Weeks Out (October 31 to November 6): Team Up With Your Neighbors
Talk to two or three nearby businesses about promoting the day together. You could share each other’s posts, hand out a stamp card that earns a prize after visits to every shop, or split the cost of a flyer. A coffee shop, a boutique, and a bakery on the same block can send customers to each other all day. Check with your chamber of commerce or downtown association too, since many of them organize something for the day. For more ideas, see how to become the go-to business in your neighborhood.
Three Weeks Out (November 7 to 13): Plan Your Social Media Posts
Plan six to eight posts and write them all at once, so you are not making them up at the last minute. Here is a simple order:
- Announce that you are taking part, and share the offer.
- Show the prep: new stock arriving, the team decorating, the kitchen testing a holiday special.
- Introduce a person on your team and what they love about the season.
- Spotlight the business you are partnering with.
- Post a reminder the Friday before, after the Thanksgiving rush.
- Post live on the day, then thank everyone who came.
Short videos shot on your phone work well for the prep and behind-the-scenes posts. If you need a starting point, we put together 30 Reel ideas you can film on a phone. Create a Facebook event from your business page so people can mark themselves as interested, and share your announcement in local Facebook Groups and on Nextdoor where the group rules allow it.
Two Weeks Out (November 14 to 20): Tell Your Customers Directly
Social media reaches some of your followers. Email and text reach the people who already said yes to hearing from you. Plan three short messages: an announcement two weeks out, a reminder the week of, and a quick note the morning of November 28. Give your list a perk nobody else gets, such as the early hour. For wording ideas, see these 20 texts customers actually welcome. Put a small sign at your counter too, since November customers are the easiest people to bring back on the 28th.
The Week Of (November 21 to 27): Get Your Team and Your Space Ready
Confirm your staff schedule, stock up on gift cards, and test your card reader. Put your signs up in the window. Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, so schedule your reminder post and email for Friday the 27th, when people are planning their weekend.
Decide now how you will collect contact information on the day. A sign-up sheet at the register or a drawing for a gift card turns one visit into a customer you can reach again in December.
The Day (November 28): Show People What Is Happening
Post photos and stories during the day so people who have not come in yet can see the crowd. Tag your partner businesses. Answer comments and messages quickly, because someone asking “are you open until 6?” is deciding whether to come in. When a customer tells you they had a great visit, ask them to leave a Google review. Asking is fine; offering something in exchange for a review is against Google’s rules. When they come in, here is how to respond to Google reviews.
After the Day: Follow Up While People Remember You
Post a thank-you with photos from the day. Within a few days, email everyone who signed up with a welcome note and a reason to come back, such as a reminder that their bonus card is good in January. Giving Tuesday is December 1, so if your business supports a local cause, that is a natural next post. Then write down what worked while it is fresh, because next year’s plan starts there.
Small Business Saturday Ideas for Service Businesses
If you sell a service, you can still take part. Gift cards are the easiest fit, since a massage, a haircut, or a tune-up makes a good holiday gift. You can also sell prepaid packages at a small bonus, open a limited number of January appointments to people who book that weekend, or offer a holiday-ready service, such as a handyman hanging lights or a cleaner doing a pre-party clean.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Small Business Saturday 2026?
Small Business Saturday 2026 is Saturday, November 28. It always falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Do I have to accept American Express to take part?
No. Any small business can promote Small Business Saturday. Card acceptance matters only for the Shop Small Map listing and the recommendations American Express sends to its card members.
Is it too late to start?
Even with one week left, you can update your Google hours, post your offer, and send one email to your customers. Those three steps cover most of what matters.
Get Help With Your Holiday Posts
November is a busy month to also be writing social media posts. If you would like someone to plan and post your Small Business Saturday content for you, that is what Social Maestro does, and we are happy to talk through what would work for your business.
These are great ideas! I wish there was something those of us who work online could do, to help support each other’s businesses. I like the idea of releasing something new on that day.
Jeanine, online business owners can do that too. Pick three or four other online owners you trust and agree to share each other’s Small Business Saturday offers that week. Each of you reaches the others’ followers, and it costs nothing.
I like how you’ve broken everything down into steps. It makes it very doable.
Barbara, thank you! Most owners wait until Thanksgiving week to start, and that is when it gets stressful. One or two small jobs a week now makes the day itself much easier.