National Consumer Panel Reviews and Features

National Consumer Panel

6800 Jericho Turnpike Suite 102E, Syosset, NY  11791 US
Tel: 1-800-962-6700   Contact: [email protected]
Operated by: Nielsen and IRI

Jump to: National Consumer Panel Reviews | Rewards | National Consumer Panel Sign up

KEY FEATURES:

The National Consumer Panel is an established company backed by two research powers, NielsenIQ and IRI. The NCP is a "mini-USA", representing millions of Americans. Since 1987 (originally as Nielsen Homescan, then in 2010 as National Consumer Panel), the NCP has been gathering panel member's opinions and shopping data to help manufacturers and retailers make informed decisions on what products to develop, improve or sell in the market.

The NCP panel gives panelists the opportunity to earn rewards from a fun and simple process, simply by scanning barcodes of the items they buy every week! You could change the face of your favorite brands or improve your shopping experience by becoming a member.

Sign Up for Your Spot

Being immediately accepted into the program is not guaranteed because acceptance is based upon if/when there is an opening or a need for specific household demographics, so availability does vary. To sign up for NCP, simply click the green 'join now' buttons on this page to apply for a position.

Rewards for Participating

Earn points for sending your shopping data each week and for answering surveys. NCPMobile participants can redeem their points towards gift cards including: AMC, Amazon, Apple, Delta, Fandango, Google Play, Groupon, Spotify, Uber as well as for Vanilla Visa cards.

Participants with hand-held scanners can access NCP's online gift catalog that contains a wide variety of name-brand merchandise including electronics, home appliances, sporting goods, toys and more!

Earn More Rewards

New NCP panel members earn reward points for registration and reporting their first shopping trip. In addition, panel members earn 250 reward points for birthdays, 1,000 bonus points on their 6-month anniversary and 1,000 bonus points on their 1-year anniversary (and each year after that). Other seasonal and ad-hoc promotions can earn panel members additional reward points depending on their participation.

Scan Your Purchases with the National Consumer Panel App

As a new member of NCP, you will receive access to NCPMobile, their exclusive mobile app for scanning and reporting your shopping trip details (available in iOS and Android). Use the app to scan the barcodes on your weekly purchases and earn rewards for your participation. You can also provide information on non-barcoded items you purchase (such as fruit and vegetables, baked goods, gas, prescriptions, etc.) using the app. You may be asked to provide additional information on a shopping trip, including the store you went to, if you used a club card, etc. Sharing this level of detail will help the product makers and retailers that are responsible for the products you love to purchase and is easily done so using the interface.

Earn Reward Points!

Points are largely earned by scanning your weekly purchases. You'll start by getting 150 points each week NCP receives your shopping data. The weekly amount of points increases the longer you are on the panel. With opportunities to earn additional points by answering surveys, special NCP promotions, specialty panels, etc., points can add up quickly. Gift offerings begin at 5,000 points.

Automatic Sweepstakes Entries

Regular participation in the program means automatic entries into NCP's sweepstakes that are held monthly and quarterly. Sweepstakes include:

• $100 Monthly Sweepstakes (20 winners each month)
• $500 Super Scanner Quarterly Sweepstakes (5 winners each quarter)
• $5,000 Cash Giveaway Quarterly Sweepstakes (1 winner each quarter)

The Longer You're a Member, the More You'll Earn

The longer you are an active participant of NCP, the more points you will get credited to your account each time you participate. The program has been around for over a decade, so it's not uncommon for participants to be members for this long!

Special Member Perks

Being a member also entitles you to the NCPRewards+ program where you can get special discounts at AT&T (some users report receiving 25% off their phone bill), as well as receiving discounts with other major retailers.

Is National Consumer Panel Legit?

There's no reason to think that National Consumer Panel is anything but legitimate. It is not a scam, and it is run by NielsenIQ - a highly respected market research firm. Although people may have different experiences being a member of the panel, the NCP program is legitimate.

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National Consumer Panel Reviews (104)

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August 5, 2014 by Sharon from United States

Have been doing the weekly scanning for about 1 month. The first time it took forever because I was disorganized. From then on, it was a breeze. Does take time, so do the frozen food first. It is also educational, because you get to compare prices among stores. They stick in my head on future shopping trips.

As far as rewards go, I have my prize picked out, sort of a goal. Have spoken to them twice on the phone and they were business-like both times. Don't give up too quick.

July 11, 2014 by Peggy from United States

NCP is a big joke! We really enjoyed scanning items we had purchased. When we joined we were told we would receive a $10.00 AMEX gift card. It never came. We were told about 6 times 'it's on its way'!! LIARS!! We were so disappointed in NCP. We finally just returned the scanner. All that work and never rewarded for it.

June 8, 2014 by Joel from United States

I've been a members of NCP for 9 years. It took that long to accumulate 228,000 points, enough for an Apple iPod Touch 32GB, an approx. value of under $229.

Scanning groceries and answering online surveys took at least 5 hours per week. Calculated at 9 years x 52 weeks x 5 hours, this adds up to 2,340 hours, divided by $229 = 10-cents per hour. That's a low return on effort, considering that I've been paid as much as $175 to attend a 45-minute in person consumer focus group by other consumer marketing research firms.

Redemption time is indicated as 6-8 weeks. However, my iPod Touch took just 13 days to arrive. I was pleased by the quick delivery and hope other products from the NCP Gift Catalog take a similar arrival time.

I was too quick to criticise when I wrote this to NCP:
"Consumers want FAST fulfillment. As an example, I ordered a product from Home Depot online. Nine days later it still had not shipped. I cancelled that order, and reordered from Amazon.com. Just 4 hours later I received confirmation that my order had shipped with a promised delivery 3 days later. That order arrived today. I will NEVER do business with Home Depot again. However, I will be a loyal Amazon customer for the rest of my life.

Please note that I've waited nine (9) years to earn enough reward credits to order a meaningful prize, an Apple iPod 32 GB music player. I asked your agent to please deliver it by Father's Day. 6 to 8 weeks fulfillment is not acceptable. The main complaint on online forums by NCP members is slow rewards fulfillment time."

I have to admit I was too quick to criticise.

You might like NCP, especially if you don't place a high value on your time. Personally I think that clipping grocery coupons is more profitable. Over the years, their gift catalog has improved, although the option to convert points to cash is still not available.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Ecto

May 19, 2014 by Ms Dale from United States

This is real easy to do. You just scan the items you buy and get points for them.

April 6, 2014 by Karen from United States

I have been a member for several years. I started out with their handheld scanner, but am now using an iPhone app which allows me to scan items as I add them to my cart. Some stores require you to input the prices, but stores like Kroger and Meijer do not ask for prices. I have used the points to buy a handheld steamer, which I love. And for being a superscanner (not missing a week) I am entered into monthly and quarterly drawings. I won a $500 gift card through one of these drawings, and the timing was perfect. I used it to buy a new dishwasher that I needed for my kitchen that was being rebuilt.