National Consumer Panel Reviews and Features

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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

KEY FEATURES:

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PAYMENTS OFFERED

checkmarkAmazon gift cards checkmarkGoogle Play credits checkmarkPrepaid debit or credit cards checkmarkMovie vouchers checkmarkRetail e-vouchers checkmarkMerchandise

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HOW TO PARTICIPATE

checkmarkBarcode scanning checkmarkOnline surveys checkmarkMobile app

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REDEEMING REWARDS

Mobile app users need 5,000 points to redeem their first e-code reward.

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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.

Payment and Rewards

NCP website

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.

Visit National Consumer Panel's website 

Participant Experience

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.

Visit National Consumer Panel's website 

Community Features

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.


National Consumer Panel Reviews (104)

5 Star Reviews (38) 36.5
36.5
4 Star Reviews (7) 6.7
6.7
3 Star Reviews (7) 6.7
6.7
2 Star Reviews (8) 7.7
7.7
1 Star Reviews (44) 42.3
42.3

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Unfair Company

August 25, 2021 by Angie from United States

This company dropped me out of the blue after being in the panel for several years. When I asked why they dropped my account, they said there was too many other people in my area. I had just scanned my groceries 2 days before and got credited and then they dropped me. I also had a lot of points built up and had been doing the surveys also. I was close to picking out a gift, only 1500 points away and could have made this by the end of the year. This was very aggravating. They claimed once I sent the scanner back in, I would be able to login back into the website, and pick a gift card. I don't know why they would allow someone to access their site again once their account had been terminated, doesn't make sense. Also, I tried to get them to have the owner or president of the company to call me back, Lynne Morrison, and so far she hasn't. They also didn't call me or leave a voice mail message either about dropping me from the panel. Beware of this website. All of their emails seem like generic emails and several of them are not monitored either.

Takes some work but ok site!

August 24, 2021 by Lisa from United States

NCP is one of those sites where you have to scan your purchases with a hand-held scanner they send you and then you have to transmit your scanner's data to the company every week. It is a lot of work if you buy a lot or buy from many different stores every week. The points are fair and they do increase with your time with the program. Their gift catalog has a wide variety and does change every year or 2, with new items added occasionally. They also give you surveys to complete which give you additional points.

Won a $500 VISA Gift Card from them in one of their sweepstakes - earned entries by scanning and submitting every week for the quarter so I upped my rating to 4 stars.

Update: Just so you know, I developed health issues and wasn't able to shop and scan. This was a situation that lasted several months. I continued doing surveys for them but wasn't able to send them data. Next thing I knew, I was kicked out of their program and told to send their scanner back IMMEDIATELY.

A lot of effort for little rewards!

July 12, 2021 by Tanya from United States

I’ve been a member of NCP for over two years. I scan multiple times a week as well as take multiple surveys a week. It took me a year to receive one $50 Amazon gift card, and additional year to get a second one. The time that it takes and the rewards that are issued are extremely minuscule! They are definitely a legitimate site. I think it is ran by Nielsen, but it seems most of the funding that comes from marketing requesting information go to pay the staff. And when you order items off Amazon most of those have knock off barcodes and cannot be scanned. They ask you to peel off the barcode…. Not so easy in the very few cases they are stickers and not actual barcodes. I have withdrawn from NCP due to my rewards from them are less than pennies on the hour for my time and input. There are better sites for rewards out there.

National Consumer Panel reply logo

National Consumer Panel responded to this review on July 14, 2021

We appreciate your feedback Tanya and we are sorry to hear that you are no longer interested in participating. We do offer opportunities for our Panel Members to earn additional incentives and points through various sweepstakes and promotions. Unfortunately, not all retailers use UPC barcodes so it can limit the amount of items you can scan in. In those cases, we do advise you to use the Non-Barcoded Items menu available on the NCP Mobile App. If you cannot find a compatible category for a specific item, you can still include it in the total price of your shopping trip without scanning if you have purchased other items that you are able to enter.
Great site

January 27, 2021 by sue from United States

I enjoyed this site but I could not get my new phone to take their program but my old one did. I was member for probably 10 years when they first used home scanners. It is some work but fun.

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National Consumer Panel responded to this review on January 27, 2021

Sue, thank you for your positive feedback. We appreciate it!

-NCP
Mostly Cheap, Outdated Rewards, Very Time consuming For The Rewards Offered

January 25, 2021 by Jev from United States

Scanning and entering prices is a pain. If the incentives were better it would be worth it. I have been accumulating points for years. Saving up to get something nice. I have spent hours upon hours of my time scanning, entering prices, entering coupon amounts, who was with me, how I paid, and more. Plus filling out surveys. Some lengthy and also time consuming. The best thing I can get is a small generic brand laptop (Supersonic 14 - Inch Windows 10 Notebook 32GB) for 187,000 points. It took me years to get enough points for this sub par cheap item. Or I can get a 50 Amazon gift card for 41,000 points. You're only allowed to get ONE gift card in that denomination once a month. It also too a very long amount of my time to accurate enough points for that. Or I could get the base model of the Echo Show 5 (the 8 is on the market right now) for 82,000 points. It just isn't worth it. I have been through the entire catalog of gifts. A video doorbell looked good, until I saw that it is a generic brand (Supersonic) They gift cheap crap. The name brand items are outdated and still a lot of points. The out door Nest camera requires an outlet to plug it in. Outside. I don't have that. It takes months of scanning, entering information, filling out surveys just to get an item you can buy for less than $20. Some less than $13.Or you can use (for most of us it's wasting) your points up by entering their sweepstakes. There are too many other survey sites out there that offer way better incentives than NCP. I contacted NCP about this. It doesn't appear anything will change since I was told I could get a gift card that I mentioned above. Save you time and energy for more useful, rewarding sites.