What Is the Difference Between Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday?
Learn when to shop local in person and when to look for online deals across the holiday weekend.
Small Business Saturday is the Saturday after U.S. Thanksgiving for spending at independent local stores, restaurants and service businesses. Cyber Monday is the following Monday for online and e-commerce deals.
The Saturday falls between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Many shoppers visit neighborhood businesses in person on Saturday, then look for online discounts on Monday.
Verification note: Program terms and availability can change. This page was checked against linked sources on November 06, 2026.
When does each day happen?
Small Business Saturday always falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It sits inside the long Thanksgiving shopping weekend. Shoppers treat it as the local-shopping day between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The National Retail Federation counts Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday as one five-day shopping weekend, and in 2024 it estimated 197 million shoppers, with 124.3 million shopping online and 64.4 million online shoppers on Cyber Monday, according to NRF holiday weekend estimates. Cyber Monday is the closing online day of that stretch. The Monday timing matters because many deals expire that night.
Where and how do you shop?
Small Business Saturday centers on Main Street and in-store visits. Think bookshops, cafes, restaurants, gift shops, salons and local service providers. You pay at the counter, pick up goods the same day and talk directly with staff.
Cyber Monday centers on websites and apps. You compare prices across retailers, add items to a cart and choose shipping or pickup. That contrast shapes the experience: Saturday rewards foot traffic and neighborhood spending, while Monday rewards search, comparison and fast checkout.
Why were they created?
American Express created Small Business Saturday in 2010 to direct holiday spending to small businesses. The U.S. Small Business Administration has co-sponsored it since 2011 as part of its Shop Small effort, according to the SBA Small Business Saturday announcement.
The goal is to keep more holiday dollars with local owners. Cyber Monday has a different origin. Encyclopaedia Britannica traces the name to a Nov.
28, 2005 press release from the National Retail Federation's Shop.org, after observers noticed people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving using faster workplace internet, as explained in this Cyber Monday history. It was built to promote e-commerce deals. One day supports local storefronts, the other supports online carts.
How should you plan for both?
Use Saturday for purchases that benefit from seeing, tasting or trying in person. Use Monday for purchases where brand, model and shipping terms matter more. Check hours, return policies, shipping fees and delivery dates before you commit.
Adobe Analytics measured $13.3 billion in U.S. online spending on Cyber Monday 2024, up 7.3% from the prior year, making it that year's largest online shopping day within $41.1 billion in five-day Cyber Week spending, according to the Adobe Cyber Monday recap. Local-spending estimates and online-tracking totals come from different methods and store samples, so they do not measure the same thing.
Compare shipping cutoffs and pickup options before Monday checkout.
- List local stops for Saturday: gifts, meals, groceries and services.
- List online targets for Monday: electronics, apparel sizes and repeat household items.
- Set a spending limit for each day so one does not swallow the other.
- Save receipts and order confirmations for returns and price checks.