American Express (NYSE: AXP) is continuing its longtime support of small businesses through collaboration this summer with SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series featuring special performances from five top artists at small venues in cities across the U.S. Together, the companies will put small businesses in the spotlight by encouraging consumers across the country at each concert stop to Shop Small. Leading up to each concert, American Express will partner with local businesses and restaurants surrounding the venues in each city to provide eligible Card Members with a $30 gift card at a small business that can be used towards shopping, dining, and more in the local communities (while supplies last, terms apply). The multi-city concert series kicks off in tandem with the release of the new 2022 Shop Small Summer survey, which reveals that shopping small can help inject as much as $793 billion into the national economy this summer.
“We’re excited to collaborate with SiriusXM to bring Shop Small on its first-ever concert tour,” said Elizabeth Rutledge, Chief Marketing Officer of American Express. “With the return of live experiences, we want to bring more awareness to all the ways consumers can immerse themselves in the culture of local communities and support the local businesses, restaurants, and small venues that make them unique.”
In advance of the concert series, American Express is building on its “Let’s Go Shop Small” campaign, debuting geo-specific QR codes on digital out-of-home advertising to make it easy for consumers to discover local bookstores, restaurants, clothing, barber shops, and more. When a consumer scans a QR code, they will be provided with information about nearby local businesses from the American Express Shop Small Map. The company also updated its Shop Small Offers Hub which features unique offers for eligible American Express Card Members from small businesses. Card Members can view and select offers by accessing their account online and visiting the Amex Offers and Benefits page here. To help small businesses market themselves year-round on social media and other platforms, American Express is providing new ready-to-use marketing tools and educational resources which can be found in its Shop Small Resource Hub here.
SHOP SMALL GOES ON COAST-TO-COAST TOUR
‘SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series Presented by American Express will take place in multiple cities across the U.S. from July to September, allowing fans to see some of their favorite musical artists perform at small, iconic venues. The concert series will kick off with Måneskin on Thursday, July 28, in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City. More artists, cities, and dates will be announced throughout the summer. Card Members can visit here for more details.
Ahead of each performance, the companies are curating shopping and dining guides that include recommendations in the concert venues’ neighborhoods. The guides will be posted here. Fans located outside of the five communities can be part of ‘SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series Presented by American Express’ by listening to the performances and interview content from each artist on SiriusXM radios and on the SXM App.
“Since launching SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series we’ve aimed to shine a spotlight on local venues across the country by bringing performances from groundbreaking and often stadium-level artists,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President, and Chief Content Officer. “We are excited to come together with American Express to further support local communities and small businesses by joining forces for their Shop Small initiative with SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series.”
LOCAL TOURISM SPURS SMALL BUSINESS OPTIMISM FOR SUMMER SALES
According to the 2022 Shop Small Summer Survey, 84% of people are planning to travel this summer, and nearly all consumers (97%) say when they travel, they are likely to shop or dine small. The survey also reported that 81% of consumers Shop Small when attending a local event.
With an expected influx of summer shoppers, 89% of small business owners say they are ready to welcome both locals and tourists into their business this summer. While 76% of small business owners are still concerned about the rise of inflation, 77% are feeling positive about their business’ sales this season with 62% expecting sales to be higher than last summer.
American Express has been a longstanding champion of small businesses and continues to strengthen its support globally. Since 2020, the company spent more than $300 million toward Shop Small campaign initiatives to help jumpstart spending at small businesses. In November 2021, American Express held its 12th annual Small Business Saturday® event, which reached an all-time high of $23.3 billion in estimated consumer spending at small businesses in the US.2 These initiatives, among others, are part of American Express’ year-round efforts to drive $100 billion in consumer spending at small businesses through 2025.
