About Shop Small
Shoppers, small businesses and civic leaders come together to support small businesses and to help their communities thrive. Shopping small adds up to big things and we're just getting started.
American Express cares deeply about thriving communities and believes small businesses are at the core of every successful neighbourhood. That's why we created Shop Small, to encourage people to show their support for small businesses by shopping small and local.
Small Business Saturday was founded by American Express in the U.S. It began on 27 November 2010 as an initiative encouraging people to shop local. Over the past ten years it has been running in the US, with the support and backing of numerous organisations and personalities, Small Business Saturday has achieved billions in sales for local businesses. In the U.S., Small Business Saturday is now a recognised “shopping holiday”, alongside Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The Small Business Saturday initiative was launched in the UK for the first time nine years ago on 7 December 2013 and supported by all main political parties, as well as numerous national, local, industry associations, media organisations and personalities. Small Business Saturday UK falls on the first Saturday in December, which this year will be Saturday 3 December 2022.