What should a restaurant do on Small Business Saturday?

Small Business Saturday is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. American Express founded it in 2010, and the U.S. Small Business Administration has co-sponsored it since 2011. This year it falls on November 28.

The day is built around shopping, but shoppers get hungry. A National Retail Federation survey estimated that 62.7 million people shopped in stores on that Saturday in 2025. In its survey before the weekend, 80% of potential Saturday shoppers said they were thinking about shopping to support local businesses.

Both spending figures are survey estimates, not receipts. In 2025, American Express estimated $18 billion in consumer-reported spending at small businesses. The SBA cited about $22 billion in 2024. Read them as a sign of interest, not a forecast for your stores.

The Shop Small Map is the American Express listing that points card members to qualifying small businesses. Being on it is free. The rules are strict about size, and they count your brand, not just your group.

Read the Shop Small Map FAQs before you plan around the map. A store that qualifies may not show up on its own, and you may have to opt in. If your brand is too large, skip the map and keep the rest of this plan. The free materials below have no size rule.

American Express gives away the signs and the digital files. Its FAQ says the map, the signs and the social posts are free, and owners pay only to print what they download. You do not need to accept the card to download the materials.

Order the physical signs as soon as you can, so they arrive in time. If they will not make it, print the free downloads instead. The Shop Small materials page says the assets must not be altered. Post them as they are, and put your offer in your own caption.

Shoppers on a main street want a break, a warm drink and a quick bite. They have bags in their hands and more stops ahead. Build one offer for that guest, for that Saturday only.

Pick one, not all four. Keep it simple enough that a new cashier can explain it in one line. Price it so the add-on costs you a little, not the meal. Then print the date it ends, so it does not drift into December.

Many towns already rally their shops for the day. Main Street America members can sign up as Neighborhood Champions and get free merchandise kits. In 2025, Main Street America said the application would open in early October. It was to stay open until mid-November, or until the spaces filled.

Ask your local organizer whether there is a food walk or a shop map for the day, and put your stores on it. A restaurant is the natural rest stop on a shopping route. Organizers usually want one on the map.

Yes. The shopper is out buying presents, and your card is one. In the National Retail Federation holiday survey, restaurant cards were the gift card type named most often, at 27%. Shoppers were expected to spend $29.1 billion on gift cards that season.

Keep the cards in a holder by each register, not in a drawer. A buyer who sees them while paying for lunch can add one in seconds. Ring every card sale at the counter, so the cashier can mention the same-day extra. For amounts, bonus cards and selling to local employers, see how to sell more restaurant gift cards for the holidays.

Shoppers move in daytime waves. On a busy street, expect lunch and mid-afternoon to run heavier than a normal Saturday. Pull last year’s sales by hour for that Saturday before you write the schedule.

Start a week out. Post the Shop Small social post on each store page with your own caption, the offer and the date. If you have not set your holiday calendar yet, start with when restaurants should start holiday marketing.

On each Google Business Profile, add an Offer post. If a store has no profile yet, set one up first. Google requires a title, dates and a time for an offer, and it adds a View Offer button. An event post with no start or end time shows as lasting 24 hours on its date.

A small paid push helps when the street is crowded with offers. Target a few miles around each store and run it from Wednesday to Saturday. Our walk-throughs cover Facebook ads for a restaurant and Google Ads for a single store.

Small Business Saturday puts two brands in your window: yours and Shop Small. Your franchise agreement and brand standards decide what goes on your doors, menu boards and store pages. Ask early, and get the answers in writing.

If co-op money might help, read how a franchise advertising co-op works first. For the rest of the year, see how franchisees market their location locally.

Count the day while it is fresh. Compare each store with the same Saturday last year, not with the Saturday before it.

Keep the notes with next year’s calendar. If one neighbor sent most of the guests, start with that shop next year.

Next year, start the push before the street fills. A short video of a creator stopping at your counter with shopping bags can run on your store pages the week before. CreatoRain, the publisher of this guide, is a done-for-you creator video service for franchise groups. Its in-house team invites creators from its food-creator network to visit your stores. It pays them and follows up until each video is posted. Creators book their own visit. Each video is $300, creator pay included.