Update: Looks like they recruited as many people as they needed at this time. I’ll let you know when it opens up again.
Join Nielsen’s panel of home scanners here to earn rewards when you scan the products you bring into your house. After you register you’ll be added to their waiting list. When they have an opening they’ll be in touch and provide you a hand held scanner. Once you have the scanner you’ll literally scan all your groceries you buy and enter their price. If I understand correctly it comes with a database of products with suggested prices, but you are expected to tweak it. You’ll enter any new items that aren’t already in the system. Over time it gets faster and faster because you will have built a complete database for the things you routinely buy.
I joined about 2 months ago and have been contacted to move forward with the scanner. I’ve been busy and haven’t followed up yet, so I don’t have personal experience with how this works or how quickly you earn points. Nielsen though, is a very well regarded organization providing TV’s Nielsen ratings for years. Now they are moving into market research with consumer goods and want you to participate.
Personally, I joined because I thought it would be a great way to influence product makers by having my favorite products noted. Plus, I thought it would be a great teaching opportunity for my kids to learn about marketing, market research and product development.
Your turn: Have you been a Nielsen Home Scanner? If so, tell us about your experience.
About Carrie Rocha
I clicked on the link and it says they are not recruiting right now. They must have had too many people sign up. Bummer.
On the right hand side of the page it says “Sign up to make your opinions count.” Register there, then your name is added to a waiting list. When they have an opening they’ll be in touch. It took a few weeks, but they did follow-up with me. Does that help?
Interesting! I noticed a woman with a scanner the other day at Target in Maple Grove and wondered what she was doing with it. I thought maybe she was a secret shopper. I added my name to the list — thanks Carrie!
When I completed the “Sign up” form I recieved the following resonse on the next screen:
We’re sorry but the Nielsen Homescan Panel is not recruiting new households in your area at this time. Please take a look at these offers/savings that you might be interested in.
When you registered did it say the same thing? I can’t tell if I have been added to a waiting list or not (my guess is not).
Alicia
I actually participated in Nielsen’s scanning program & it is a pain in the neck! It takes forever to scan your items and in my opinion is not worth it. I returned the scanner to them after only two weeks.
I have their scanner and love the program. When I get home from shopping I take everything out of the bags and scan it before I put it away. It doesn’t take much time at all. The points accumulate fast because you take surveys they send you too.
I participated in this last summer. I only did it for a month, because it is not worth it. It is very time consuming and the points do not add up very quickly. If you have a lot of time on your hands it may work for you. But as a mom of two young children time is precious.