Nielsen Homescan Member Review

The Nielsen Homescan is operated by the Nielsen Company who are one of the world’s leading marketing and information gathering companies. The have been in business for nearly 70 years and have a great reputation in this industry. When you become a member you are given very simple and clear instructions on the set up and usage of your scanner, as well as access to a 24/7 support team.

Nielsen will reward your efforts with points every week. With opportunity to earn more with surveys or correspondence with their monthly e-newsletter. The points catalogue offered by Nielsen is nothing but vast. I have never seen a company offer some many items. There are video game consoles, flat screen TVs, towel sets, children’s toys, barbeques, pedal bins, aromatherapy candles, laptops and even day out experiences (Spa visits, bungee jumps etc.) There will always be something you can switch these points for. So far in 18 months I have received 3 Nintendo DS games, a 13.5 tog king size duvet and new washing line.

I started participating in Nielsen research in 2010. I applied online and was selected to join; there were a few emails sent back and forth and a phone call to verify my contact details. A few days later my scanner arrived in the post. It came with a detailed user guide, a copy of their gift catalogue and a booklet with special barcodes in to be used for loose items.

The scanner was a little tricky to set up. It requires a mains plug for power, but the problem was that my scanner would send the information to Nielsen via GPRS (Text Message basically) and living in a basement flat I had to move my scanner around the place before finding a sweet spot. The scanners can be set up to send data via the internet as well, either with a constant line in or by you plugging it into the computer and uploading the information.

The scanner itself looks like a mobile phone. It has a LCD screen with three main buttons and a numerical keypad. It is made from plastic but it is well made and sturdy, I have dropped mine a few times with no damage or marks. It is programmed with a small menu asking you to scan you items, read messages (Nielsen will send you the odd message), indicate whether you have done no shopping that week or participate in a survey. The surveys will be sent through the mail, they are booklets with a series of questions, and each answer has a barcode to scan. Scan all your answers through and you will receive some nice extra points.

Each panel member will develop their own way of scanning their shopping. It must be easy as it will then become a habit more than a chore. I personally will scan all of my shopping as I am putting it away, the receipt in front of me. Taking this second look at the shopping list can open your eyes to some of your habits as well, such as buying excessively or in one case I bought items that had discount stickers on them but I was charged full price. I wouldn’t have noticed without having to give my receipt a second look.

To get the best value for my money, I spread my shopping out over many stores along with small grocers and butchers. It is easy to scan the things in packets as they have barcodes printed on them. However, the loose products I buy have to be scanned in using the booklet included in the scanner. For example if I buy some bacon from the butchers, I open the booklet to the meats page. Find bacon, scan the barcode and must input some extra details like if it is organic and its weight in grams.

Finally input the total cost of that particular shop and place your scanner back in its base. The information will be received automatically at the end of the week and your points will be updated online.

I have read some bad reviews of this system before, people claiming that it is a scam and not worth the effort. I disagree entirely, I believe it is important to develop scanning your shopping into a good habit and then have patience. But remember to be realistic as well about the amount of you can earn. Do not expect to be trading your points in for an Xbox 360 within a month.

If you decide to join Nielsen Homescan panel or would like some more information, do not hesitate to contact me.

Try joining them here: Nielsen Sign Up

Neilsen market research is constantly expanding and they now offer more rewards for nothing. They simply wish to see where and how you surf on the net, more specifically where you shop online. Just spend two minutes installing a safe software and get more Neilsen rewards every month. Plus you will be entered into cash draws every month with the top prize at £3,000.

Join up to Neilsen Net Ratings Here.