3 Things You Should Know About Small Business: Nov. 27

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- What's happening in small business today?

1. Small Business Saturday spending exceeds expectations. U.S. consumers spent $5.5 billion shopping "small" this past Saturday, exceeding original estimates, according to research from the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express (AXP) .

According to the second installment of the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, consumer awareness of Small Business Saturday jumped to 67% from 34% just two weeks ago. Of those aware, nearly half (47%) shopped on Small Business Saturday.

The increased awareness translated into higher spending for the day. Shoppers spent a total of $5.5 billion on independent merchants, above the pre-holiday estimate of $5.3 billion, according to the research. The survey was conducted among a national representative sample of 800 men and women 18 years and older.

Separately, American Express said transactions by card members at small-business merchants rose 21% compared to last year's Small Business Saturday.

"In an uncertain economy, America's small businesses have remained a beacon -- creating good jobs and supporting the families they employ and the communities around them," said NFIB CEO Dan Danner. "We are very pleased that so many Americans sought to give back by shopping small this Small Business Saturday. We hope that the support of small firms, retailers, restaurants and other independent businesses continues throughout the holiday season and year-round. Continued support of this vital sector is one important way to ensure our economy fully recovers and a healthy private sector is restored."

AmEx says 220,000 small merchants placed permanent point-of-purchase decals on their storefronts recognizing the day, adding to the 500,000 who placed them in 2011.

2. Will Amazon ever go into brick-and-mortar stores? Gleaming from a recent Charlie Rose interview with Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos, Business Insider says the online retailer must be able to do something different instead of being redundant.