If you have an American Express credit card (we’ve reviewed the Nectar American Express credit card here), you can make big savings on your Christmas shopping from this Saturday until 17th December with ‘Shop Small’.
American Express is the major UK sponsor of a scheme called ‘Shop Small’, designed to encourage you to shop in local independent stores instead of major chains.
Starting this Saturday 2nd December until 17th December, you will receive £5 cashback on EVERY transaction you make for £10 or more at a participating ‘Shop Small’ business.
There are very few rules apart from the fact that you can only get one £5 cashback per shop per card. You can, of course, register multiple American Express cards if you have more than one.
It is a simple process:
You MUST register your credit card before making a ‘Shop Small’ purchase.
An American Express Nectar credit card can be registered by going to the American Express website, logging in and looking under ‘My Offers’ on the statement page.
You can also register British Airways, Harrods, Costco, Starwood, Gold, Platinum, Platinum Cashback and Green American Express cards via this link. Corporate and pre-paid cards do not qualify.
If you have an American Express card issued by Lloyds Bank or MBNA, you must register via this page. TSB and Barclaycard Amex cards cannot take part in this offer for some unknown reason.
You can register supplementary cards (an additional card held by your partner on the same account) as long as it has a different card number to your main card.
Find participating small shops
The main Shop Small site is amexshopsmall.co.uk which contains a link to an interactive map where you can find participating shops in your area. You will also often see a Shop Small sticker in a shop window.
Bewaree that this map, in previous years, has not been accurate. Often in a good way (some shops not featured give the credit) and often in a bad way (shops on the map are closed or don’t even accept Amex). Your best option is to use your Amex whenever you can during the Shop Small period and see what hits.
It is worth noting that it is not just sellers of ‘things’ who are taking part. You may find cafes and even the occasional pub taking part!
Make a qualifying purchase of £10 or more
You can make one purchase per registered card per shop that is taking part in ‘Shop Small’.
If you have an American Express Nectar credit card, you should receive an email confirmation soon after making your purchase. This will not happen with some other American Express cards but your cashback will still turn up.
A £5 credit for every £10 purchase will be added onto your credit card statement within a few days!
PS. Our full review of the American Express Nectar credit card is here. It currently offers 20,000 Nectar points for signing up and spending £2,000 within three months.
Want to earn more Clubcard or Nectar points? Click here to visit the Shopper Points home page for the latest news and offers. Come back every day for new deals or join our email list.Do you earn Clubcard or Nectar points from your credit card?. If not, you're missing out. We review the best options in this article.
Do you convert Clubcard points into Avios or Virgin Flying Club? If you do, visit our sister site, Head for Points, which is full of tips for maximising your frequent flyer miles.
About Shopper Points
“Barclaycard Amex cards cannot take part in this offer for some unknown reason”
Barclaycard Amexs were all cancelled in the Summer.
Anyone any good London tips for things one might actually need?
always good to top up your Oyster at convenience stores. quite a lot of them set a charge for cards – like £1 – but it’s still something like £6 for £10 TFL credit.
Otherwise, we use it as an opportunity to get to a few more restaurants, stock up on wine at the local wine shop and get some dry cleaning done. Had a great dinner last year where I split it across 4 cards!
Got my cousin and his other half up from London to Leeds on Saturday. Just found out the Mexican we’re going to for dinner is on the list. Can’t wait to see my other half’s face when I make three £10 card payments……ha ha ha
Genghis, here is my list for this year:
FOOD & DRINK RETAIL:
Maitre Choux
Provenance Butchers – Sloane Sq
Cheesehop – Pavilion Rd Sloan Sq
Natoora – Pavilion Rd
Pierre Hermes macarons
Dominique Ansell Bakery
Amathus
Roccoco
Sally Clarke
Bottle Apostle
Ginger Pig – Moens
Brickwood Cafe
RESTAURANTS
Shoriyu Carnaby
Princi
Pizza Pilgrims – Kingley Court
Bao – Rupert Street
Brooks & Gao
Lorne Restaurant
Ebury Wine & Rest
Tartine & Chocolat
Rachel Riley
Tabio
Piccoli of Abbeville Road
OTHER:
Pestle Mortar Pharmacy
Jo Loves
Warwick Pharmacy
Chase dry cleaners
Ryness
Knights Dry Cleaners
Curzon cinema
Thank you so much! I’ll look into these to see if they’re useful for us. I like Artisan du Chocolat at Borough Market.
The least, Amathus sells some really good spirits. So, half price gins, and some fine liquors. And they dont ,mind if you pay with multiple cards. 🙂
Pretty sure Amathus put up a sign to say no Amex during shop small last year. Pretty crazy considering they are not funding it.
I’ve got loads of these lined up in Cardiff. Should be fun. 🙂
The map seems to have changed this year compared to other years, I’m sure there were more shops beforehand. Will be useful for Christmas presents.
“If you have an American Express Nectar credit card, you should receive an email confirmation soon after making your purchase. This will not happen with some other American Express cards but your cashback will still turn up.”
Got this on BA Amex Supplementary card.
The map looks a bit dodgy – surprisingly there appear to be a few shops in our village but it also shows a pub which is in a village 5 miles away.
Am a bit lost as how to register supplementary cards – help would be appreciated.
Register the supplementary to an online account then scroll down to offers.
Agree that the map is ludicrously out of date. I wish they would bring out a shopsmall app
Also the fact that two of Newcastle’s ‘Gentlemen’s Clubs’ are on here amuses me greatly!