Shop Small with American Express will be returning in June

This article has been sponsored by American Express Merchant Services

American Express has confirmed that it is bringing back its ‘Shop Small’ campaign. The campaign will run in late June, with exact dates to be confirmed soon.

‘Shop Small’ is an offer which incentivises you to shop at small independent retailers. In turn, of course, it encourages small independent retailers to accept American Express in order to participate.

The ‘Shop Small’ campaign usually runs twice a year – in December and in June. The upcoming offer will offer you £5 cashback when you spend £15.

Should your business take part in Shop Small?

We usually focus our ‘Shop Small’ coverage on the consumer cashback benefits of shopping at participating retailers. However, we thought we would briefly cover the benefits of taking part in Shop Small as a merchant for anybody reading who may have their own retail business or knows someone who does.

Any eligible business who signs up to accept American Express payments and takes part in ‘Shop Small’ will benefit from:

• An attractive cashback offer that is fully funded by Amex at no cost to you
• Access to Amex’s high-spending Cardmembers (they spend 3x more)
• Transparent and competitive pricing where you only pay when you receive a transaction.
• No setup costs or monthly fees
• Promotion via the Amex Map and Amex App

Is your business eligible to take part in Shop Small?

To take part in Shop Small as a merchant, American Express has a defined criteria. One of the key requirements in this is that your business must be a traditional “street-side” business that deals with its customers face to face in premises that the business owns or rents. This means that the small business must have at least one physical business location (up to a maximum of 30 locations) within the UK.

Understandably, another requirement is that the business must have signed up to accept American Express and the terminal must have been set up to accept American Express® Cards to be included in Shop Small.  For the full set of requirements, please click this link here.

To take part in Shop Small, business owners need to apply to accept American Express before 25th May using this link here.

How will Shop Small work for consumers?

• The campaign is now confirmed to run in late June
• You must register in advance via the ‘Offers’ section of the American Express® app or website. Each Card / Supplementary Card, must be registered separately. Registration is not yet open.
• You will be restricted to £25 cashback per American Express Card you register
• The standard rule of one payment per retailer per Card will remain

Conclusion

If you, or someone you know runs an independent shop, it is worth considering signing up to take Amex payments in time for Shop Small. As a reminder, the last day you can apply to be an Amex merchant in time for Shop Small is 25th May. You can sign up here.

If you are not a shop-owner and simply have an American Express Card, Shop Small is a rewarding time to shop with local and independent retailers. American Express funds 100% of the cashback so your local independent shops are not paying to participate.

We will remind you when registration opens for Shop Small Summer 2022 – it is likely to be soon.