Small Business Saturday helps local businesses thrive during the holiday shopping season

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The start of the holiday shopping season is just around the corner. Online shopping is expected to be huge again this year, but it may also come at a cost for the little ones. This is exactly why Small Business Saturday was created 15 years ago.

“It helps support local and it’s a good idea if you need to buy gifts,” said a shopper in downtown Austin.

Software company Adobe estimates that people will spend nearly $11 billion on November 30th and December 1st. The majority of this spending will go to large retailers and online sellers, but not to local small businesses.

“For small businesses that don’t have the advantages of some of these big retailers and stores, it’s really smart to join forces,” said Donika Toncheva, marketing manager for Austin’s 2nd Street District.

There was a lot going on in the 2nd Street District on Saturday, with many people trying to find the perfect gift while spending their money locally. This can also be a difficult task since so many people choose to shop on their phones rather than in a store.

“People will travel to something unique and special,” Toncheva said. “So it was a challenge, but also a fun challenge, to think about how to make the experience unique and special for people and worth the trip.”

In fact, many stores got creative to attract customer traffic; One such store is ATown, which offered a free gift with every purchase.

While there is nothing better than a brick-and-mortar shopping experience, mobile purchases are increasing every year.

“We encourage our 2nd Street businesses to embrace this as well and do both aspects as best as they can,” Toncheva added.