The simple answer to whether Saturdays are considered business days depends on the industry in question. Some business operations do not operate Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays), which is considered the typical business day format. But how does this change how your business operates?
In this article, Real Business will lay out why a business week is the way it is, including the pros and cons of counting Saturday among your working days, and how it changes the business landscape.
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Benefits Of Using Saturday As A Business Day
The benefits of using Saturday among your business days are numerous.
- Wider Demographic – Saturday is a day that many people are typically off, meaning they now have access to a wide group of people within that time. Standard business hours of 9-5 throughout a typical work week, by definition, mean that most people will be at work or in school.
- Versatility – A Saturday being a business day means you can take advantage of opportunities your competitors are not.
- Avoid Bottlenecks – Sometimes, having Saturday among your business days means you can meet demand and avoid bottlenecks. This can be particularly important for industries such as healthcare, where lack of access could cause society’s health to plummet.
- Extended Profit – Adding Saturday among your business days, taking total working days up to six, means you have six profitable days.
- Extra delivery day – Some delivery companies work Saturday and even Sunday, potentially making all seven days of the week working days. This is especially convenient for businesses that operate on one-business-day shipping.
What Is The Standard Work Week?
A standard working week is Monday through Friday, five business days and two rest days, with business hours being 9-5. However, during the increased popularity of remote work during the 2020 quarantine, there came a shift in what’s considered standard business days and hours. Nowadays, organisations opt for flexibility, operating at times previously considered restricted, such as a smaller number of days with longer hours. But Saturday is still considered a business day that is “abnormal”.
What Is A Business Day?
Business days are days that normal business operations are conducted. It’s important to distinguish this from calendar days, which spans every day in the month including weekends and holidays.
Which Businesses Operate On A Saturday?
Two main types of businesses benefit the most from making Saturday a working day.
- High-Demand Businesses – Businesses that have high demand, such as supermarkets, typically see the most foot traffic on Saturdays. This is largely because there is such high demand for groceries, medicine and other such items that five business days is not enough to serve everyone.
- Hospitality – Businesses that are customer-facing, catering to several people such as families in restaurants etc. typically open on a Saturday to take advantage of the weekend freedom from work and school.
What Are Normal Business Hours?
Opening hours, and hours of operation, differ between industries to maximise profitability and functionality.
Retail Stores & Shopping Centres
Retail stores and shopping centres tend to operate business as usual on Saturdays, and sometimes even at reduced hours on Sundays. Many of these shopping locations tend to open earlier than 9 am, sometimes as early as 6 am. These times are to take advantage of people who require goods before or on the way to work.
Often, hours are set to consider staffing requirements.
Supermarkets
Supermarkets are open typically between 7 am to 10 pm throughout the week, including Saturdays and for a reduced timetable during public holidays and Sundays. This is to take advantage of the high demand that supermarket goods enjoy. In areas where there are high amounts of people, some supermarkets may stay open 24/7, or as long as possible during weekends and public holidays.
Banks
Banks operate mostly on a traditional business day format, though many have allowed for a reduced timetable to be available for Saturday, typically 9 am – 1 pm. ATMs and other machines, such as those designed for deposits, help offset the lack of flexibility. Many banks have strict security and processing measures that limit their availability and have been looking more to the online world to help make things more convenient.
Restaurants & Hospitality
Saturday is a business day for many in these industries, with Sunday also sometimes being available. There is a larger amount of availability across people’s schedules at the weekend, making it a staple of the industry.
Should Saturday Be A Business Day?
When considering whether Saturday should be among your business days or not, consider the following:
- Customer Demand – Is there a Saturday demand for the goods and services from your customers?
- Resource availability – Do you have available resources comfortable working on Saturdays?
- Profitability – Calculate operation costs against potential turnout.
- Work/Life balance – Consider staff wellbeing if increasing work patterns. Are your staff happy working Saturdays?
- Industry Standard – How much competition do you have on a Saturday?
It also depends on the type of goods and services you offer. For example, high-demand products like groceries or services like petrol stations, which customers expect to have access to quickly, would see a negative impact on their business by not opening on a Saturday like their competitors. Understanding how long a business day, typically an 8-hour workday, is crucial for managing time and setting deadlines effectively.
Continually monitoring performance indicators, will provide insights into your business that can be used to understand customer needs and plan business strategy to maximise opportunities and mitigate any threats.
Case Studies: Industries Embracing Saturday Trading
The standard business week is evolving due to changes in customer habits and lifestyle patterns.
- Healthcare Clinics – Healthcare clinics have fully embraced opening on a Saturday to provide more flexibility for patients, maximising healthcare outcomes for the populace. It also means people can avoid taking time off work to attend appointments. A study named “Do medical outpatients want ‘out of hours’ clinics?” found that 62.5% preferred clinics with out-of-hours or weekend availability.
- Fitness Centres – Fitness centres and gyms have begun to change the working patterns of their PTs and other staff, including later opening times and Saturday and Sunday opening hours. This is due to people being freer closer to the end of the day for a workout, as it is a physically intensive and tiring process. The IHRSA Health Club Consumer Report of 2020 found that there was an increase of 25% in attendance for fitness centres that offered extended hours to cater to this demographic of gym-goers.
- Mobile Pet Groomers – Mobile pet groomers found that weekends are extremely popular due to the change in service availability, no longer needing to coordinate grooming through normal work hours. Saturdays are the most popular day by far for this service, a study from Global Market Insights (2022) found, and is the largest contribution to the compounded annual growth rate of 8%.
Saturday As A Business Day – Predictions
Saturday, extended work hours, shifting opening times and general flexibility of new ways of working, such as remote working, have made future prediction hard. That being said, commerce experts, such as McKinsey and Company have made predictions on the topic:
- Increased Consumer Demands – Consumer demand for weekend services has skyrocketed, with Saturday being expected to rise by 20% over the next five years (thanks to the growing gig economy and flexible work schedules).
- Retail and E-commerce – Saturday is expected to become a critical day for online shopping due to increased weekend promotions and online consumer activity, with projections tallying up to an 18% increase in weekly sales by 2025.
- Service Industries – Healthcare industries and fitness centres have found that customers prefer booking their appointments on a Saturday, leading many to already make the shift.
- Financial and Professional Services – This industry is experiencing an increasing demand for Saturday services as business days. Saturday transactions could account for 10-15% of weekly activities by 2025, according to a 2023 PwC report.
- Workforce Changes – As Saturday becomes more normalised and standardised as a business day, it may become common to find employees who choose to give up their Saturday for an alternate weekday as time off. This allows people to access otherwise barred opportunities to them throughout the week.
- Sunday Restriction Lift – There are currently restrictions for Sunday work to enforce religious observance, rest and social welfare, and sometimes simply cultural norms. However, as flexibility continues to develop and traditions become older, we may see this change.
Conclusion
Saturday has quickly become an extremely important trading day for business profitability and is likely to remain so to ensure more flexibility for consumers. As business starts to take more of a turn toward accommodating employees as if they were customers (internal customers), we will continue to see the emphasis on choice open up further opportunities.
FAQ: Best Way To Check Business Opening Hours
Today, most businesses have websites and social media accounts – such as Facebook and Instagram – where they post up-to-date information about the business including details on opening hours, excluding holidays. These can be checked from any smartphone, tablet or laptop and are probably the most convenient way to find this information.
They will also usually include either a phone number or contact methods if a customer wishes to confirm information that’s displayed on these sites, especially around holiday periods where operating hours can differ.
If attending a business in person, checking signage on doors and storefronts that display up-to-date opening hours can be useful.
