Shop Small is a nationwide campaign dedicated to supporting the thousands of small businesses in the UK, who are at the heart of our community and economy. Created by American Express® in 2012, Shop Small helps to promote small businesses that welcome American Express Cards via a national advertising campaign and a Cardmember offer, where we incentivise our Cardmembers to Shop Small at participating small businesses.

Small Business Saturday UK is a grassroots movement which highlights small business success and encourages consumers to shop locally and support small businesses in their communities. 

The day itself takes place on the first shopping Saturday in December each year. This years its 5 December and the campaign aims to have a lasting impact on small businesses.

The next Shop Small kicks off on Small Business Saturday and runs for a period of 2 weeks.

This year, American Express understood that small businesses need support now more than ever which why  Shop Small ran for 3 months long during the Summer and will run again during the Winter 5 December - 20 December 2020.

No, apart from the standard costs for processing transactions as outlined in your merchant agreement, it costs nothing for eligible small businesses to participate in Shop Small. American Express invests in the marketing of the campaign and the promotion, funding and fulfilment of the offer to Cardmembers.

Good News. If you have been contacted about Shop Small, you have automatically been enrolled into the campaign. This means that your business will be displayed on the  Shop Small Map and Cardmembers can find your business location, so they know exactly where they can redeem their Offer when they spend £10 or more in your store once (at no cost to you) between 5 December - 20 December 2020.

 When an eligible American Express Cardmember saves the offer to their card and spends £10 or more in a single in-store transaction between 5 December to 20 December, they will  receive a £5 statement credit, once per participating small business, up to 10 times. 

The statement credit is completely funded by American Express at no cost to participating small businesses. The offer is redeemable at any of the participating Shop Small locations, once per each location. This means that Cardmembers can be rewarded up to £50 back for Shopping Small between 5 December to 20 December.

Shop Small is subject to change based on COVID-19 restrictions.

Subject to American Express checks and approval, small businesses who are eligible to take part in shop Small are defined as follows:
 

• The small business must welcome American Express Cards and have recently taken an American Express transaction.
  
• The small business must be in the United Kingdom (UK), which consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and includes islands such as the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides and the island groups of Orkney and Shetland and the self-governing dependent territories of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
  
• 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.
  
• The small business must not be a government agency, public administration organisation, charity, non-profit, trade association, shopping property management company, direct seller, or political organisation or operating in industries that are deemed ineligible for Shop Small.
  
• Small businesses that are part of a franchise brand are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
  
• Small businesses that have an online or mail order business are excluded, as are those who process American Express Card payments solely through a third-party processor or as part of an affiliate programme.
  
• Eligible businesses who process American Express payments solely through bank partners are included, as well as the aggregator SumUp. Other Aggregator partners are not included. Unfortunately, we are unable to add any additional SumUp merchants mid-campaign.
• Shop Small is subject to change based on COVID-19 restrictions.

If you would like to discuss your business’ eligibility and you process American Express Card payments through an aggregator, please contact the aggregator directly.

American Express reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to immediately disqualify, without notice, any merchant suspected of fraud, gaming the offer or any other breach of the Offer Terms. If you would like to discuss your business' eligibility, please call us on 0800 032 7216.

Small businesses who meet the qualifying criteria will automatically become a Shop Small Merchant, featuring on the Shop Small Map and will benefit from the Shop Small American Express Cardmember offer.

The Shop Small Map displays the physical business address of small businesses participating in the Shop Small campaign who have seen a recent transaction. The map has been created to help our Cardmembers find where to redeem their Cardmembers Offer - which American Express funds.

During this unprecedented time, please note that the hours and/or services on the Shop Small may differ right now. Please reach out directly to update your details.

For more details please refer to the "What is the Cardmember Offer?" in the FAQs.

In order for your business to be displayed on the Shop Small map for American Express Cardmembers to see, you must be a qualifying small business that has accepted an American Express transaction recently. If you are a qualifying small business and have processed a transaction but still aren’t appearing on the Shop Small Map, please call 0800 032 7216.

In most instances the address on the map will reflect the details we have on file for your business. If this is showing incorrectly on the map, this could be due to several reasons. For example, we hold your registered address on file which is different to your trading location, or your business has moved premises and we have an old address on file. You can update your address and location on the map by clicking in the 'Suggest an edit' for this business. This can be found at the bottom of the merchant details window. You will be asked to login, please use your merchant login details once you have logged in you will be prompted with two options: 

1. Incorrect business information

2. Business is closed permanently

 Select the option that best reflects what you are trying to do, enter the new information and click submit. Upon submission you will receive a message that tells us that we have received the suggested edit successfully. If you receive an error message you will need to try again to ensure we receive the information. Please note that any changes requested via this route may take up to a maximum of 21 business days to reflect on the map.

Urgent changes can be made if you call us to request this or to be removed from the map on 0800 032 7216. This takes up to 72 hours to reflect on the map. 

Smaller changes to your address location on the Shop Small map (i.e. left vs right-hand side of the road) may not always be possible as some map data is not controlled by American Express. 

Any changes you have made to your business location on the map may not be reflected on the map straight away (changed can take up to a maximum of 21 business days).  Please note that smaller changes to your address location on the Shop Small Map (i.e. left vs right-hand side of the road) may not always be possible as some map data is not controlled by American Express.

Between 5 December and 20 December 2020, our Cardmembers will be looking to spend at small businesses participating in Shop Small to redeem their Cardmember offer – which American Express in funding. As a small business, it costs nothing to participate in Shop Small and the campaign is a great way to promote your business and get more exposure. If you decide to remove your location(s) from the map it could mean that less Cardmembers will spend at your business during the campaign period (5 December to 20 December). If you still wish to remove your business location(s) from the Shop Small map, call us on 0800 032 7216.

For more information refer to “What is the Cardmember offer” in the FAQs.

No, not at all. Simply place our Shop Small sticker in your window to let Cardmembers know you accept American Express Cards and are participating in Shop Small. Should you wish to make the most of Shop Small and help turn new customers into loyal customers, you could offer a bespoke offer anytime during the Offer period (5 December - 20 December 2020). In the past we have seen businesses offer free gift wrapping, a sweet treat, and more to tempt people in.

To discover new ways to get back to business and/or order Shop Small signage and supplies for your business please visit here.

We're here to help you. Please call us on 0800 032 7216. We are available Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. Please note call volumes will be higher than usual during this time,
alternatively you can speak to a member of our team on Live Chat here.

It's great to hear you want to do this. By accepting American Express, you could find yourself welcoming new customers and continuing to provide great service by allowing your existing
customers to pay with their card of choice. A new business that meets the Shop Small eligibility criteria can be included in Shop Small if they sign up to accept American Express no later than 20 November 2020. The new businesses terminal must be set up to accept American Express Cards no later than 3 December 2020.

You can find out more about accepting American Express here or by calling us on 0800 33 99 11 Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm.

If the FAQs on this page do not answer your specific question, call us on 0800 032 7216 or by using our Live Chat here from Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm.

(Please note to use the Live Chat you need to be logged in to Merchant Interactive).