ShopandScan.com

Shopandscan is probably one of the best consumer research panels that I am a member of simply because it is more interesting than most, it is easy to use and the benefits of being a member suit me.

So who are shopandscan? Basically they are a consumer research panel who are run by TNS. TNS is credited with being the oldest UK consumer panel, running companies such as shopandscan and with over 40 years it is one of the most trusted and independent names amongst market research companies. TNS are based in London but they do have over 50 offices worldwide.

ShopandScan have one aim and that is to look into products bought my households and they ask people to join up to the consumer panel and record your purchases from supermarkets, high street stores, chemists and a few other stores by using an in-home barcode scanner known as the clicker. The clicker will be sent to you along with a USB cable to plug into your computer to allow you to upload the barcodes you have scanned. A Barcode is the black and white striped box you will find located on products; this code identifies the product as it is being scanned in.

For me ShopandScan is a consumer panel with a difference, it is certainly much more interesting than some I have joined, there are no hours of surveys to fill in to earn a few measly pounds.

So how do you join? Well you cannot simply go along to their website www.shopandscan.com and complete a registration form. Like Pinecone research you have to join through invitation and I joined from using the website 'Vouch For Me' and it asked me if I wanted to join and I ticked the yes box and received an email saying the following:

"You recently took part in a competition on Vouch4me.com where you said that you were interested in taking part in ongoing market research. So we're inviting you to join our market research survey, Shopandscan.
It's easy to take part. Using a mini handheld scanner you scan the barcodes on your shopping. You then transmit the barcodes to us every week via the internet.

Your reward account will be credited with £10 for registering and sending us your first shopping information. You will then accumulate points each week, equivalent to £5 for every five weeks of shopping information you provide".

So if you are interested in joining then look out for these invitations and join. I should also mention that they select people demographically, so you might not always successful in joining.

Once you have had your email confirmation, which took 5 days for me you can register by entering your invitation number and following the email instructions. I would also suggest scrolling down to the bottom of the home page to see a list of requirements and advice when registering. If you want to know more information about what technology your computer requires to be able to run efficiently, please see the FAQ's and question 6.

Once you have registered, you will be sent your clicker in the post along with the connection USB cable and your personal user guide which will show you how to use your clicker and how to hook it up to your computer. This takes about 5-7 days to arrive.

The user guide has 3 differently coloured pages - Blue, Yellow ad Green. The Blue page contains your user information and in order to have your points credited to your account ensure you point the clicker at your name. The reason I say 'your name' is because I registered Steve (Gingaro) as living with me on the same registration panel and he too can submit barcodes.

On doing so you will hear a beeping sound, this registers your name. The Yellow page will list the shops you visited and they are ranked into sections - Supermarkets, Small Grocers, Freezer Centres, Specialist food shops, Home and Garden, Large Stores, Drinks, Newsagents and Bookshops, Chemists, Pet Shops, Drug Stores, Health Food Shops and Other shops. Every single type of shop you could visit is listed. So after clicking the blue section you need to click your yellow section to indicate where you shopped (and for reference, do one shop at a time to avoid confusion). The Green section lists the approximate amount you spent in that store and it starts with 0-99p and ends with £300 and over and again you point the clicker at the amount bracket your purchases costs and then to the fun part.

Once everything has been entered into the clicker you can then point your clicker at all of your items to store the barcodes. Again you will see a red glow on the top of the clicker and a red line along your barcode, click the + sign to see the red button turn green and a beep will indicate the storage. If you do not hear the beep, repeat the process.

So, you have now scanned and clicked everything you have bought in this weeks daily shopping and you are wondering what to do next. The answer is, you need to transmit those barcodes to the shopandscan website and to do this you need to do the following.

Connect the accompanying USB cable to the relevant computer port and go to www.shopandscan.com. Click on 'Transmit my Barcodes' and then type in your Panel Number which can be found on the blue page of your user guide. You will then see a screen stating the following "check that your clicker is connected and then press the submit button. The data transfer process takes about 5 seconds; please only press the button once. During the transfer the clicker will beep. During this process you will hear a number of beeps and the computer screen will inform you that your barcode is now empty. You have now transmitted your barcodes and your points will be allocated to you.

Well you didn't really expect to be doing this for nothing did you? Every time you enter your barcodes, an email will be sent to you, informing you of how many points you have received. You can log into your rewards account by clicking on 'My Reward Account' on the left hand side of the screen and then you are taken to a new webpage which is titled 'www.shopandscan.co.uk'. Simply enter your username and password to go to your account and verify how many points you have. These points can be exchanged for vouchers for an array of companies such as Argos and Arcadia, to Amazon and ticketmaster. You can also opt to have your points sent to a charity for either health research or a children's charity. You can only start to redeem your points when you get to 10000 which is a £10 equivalent.

I have been a member of shopandscan for about 3 months now and I have managed to accumulate 29000 points to date. I submit my barcodes every week and receive an email on a Monday to inform me about how many points I have received. The points I accumulate each week varies from 1000 to 5000 but I would say it is usually 1000 which still adds up pretty quickly. I have already cashed in two £10 voucher for Amazon and it comes alongthrough Royal Mail to your home address as a credit sized gift voucher and you simply type in the code on Amazon. I had to wait 5 working days for the voucher to be sent to me and I have never had a problem using it or claiming it.

I really enjoy being part of this website and I find the whole concept behind it really interesting. I had always wondered how they know which product is the most popular for any given month, week or whenever and now I know that I am part of that consumer population who helps to provide the information.

There are of course a lot of plus sides to being a member of this panel, it is easy to use and I have never received any spam emails offering me everything I do not want. It is quick to use unlike some research panel websites which take along time to provide the information for, there is no rush to be the first person to sign up to offer information, you simply decide when you want to submit your barcodes and the rewards are really good with a lot of different options for you to choose from when cashing in your points.

The clicker and the accompanying notes and cable is also easy to use and the user guide makes connecting for the first time extremely simple.

The only downside to this website is that you cannot just register your details, you do need an email invitation to enable your registration and there is also no way for me to recommend people to reap any benefits of any kind.

If you need to contact shopandscan their details are as follows:

Free Phone: 0500 560 152

Post:TNS, Westgate, London, W5 1UA

Email: helpdesk@shopandscan.com

Happy Clicking....