Product Information Submission Guidelines for Manufacturers
The following guidelines are provided for manufacturers with UPC coded products moving in retailer supermarkets, drugstores, and mass-market outlets.
To improve accuracy and expedite the time it takes to enter new products into the SPINS Product Library, we are requesting that all manufacturers and producers of UPC coded products regularly provide SPINS with all product information including UPC, brand name, product name, size, ingredients, product characteristics (packaging type, flavor, etc), positioning claims, and 3rd party certifications (such as organic, fair-trade, kosher, etc) for their existing brands and products, as well as any new products that will eventually launch in retail.
In addition to requesting that this data be sent to SPINS, we also ask that manufacturers send product packaging or equivalent to Nielsen’s Coding Reference Desk to ensure the products are properly coded into their Product Dictionary. SPINS and Nielsen partner to provide the SPINSscan Conventional data service, as well as a host of other joint services. However, products are potentially not active and reportable in these services without full coding by both SPINS and Nielsen.
All of the below criteria must be met for products to appear correctly in SPINS reports:
• The UPCs are moving in stores that are in SPINS' or Nielsen's sample of stores in the United States.
• The products meet the definitions for tracking in SPINSscan Natural and/or Conventional services, or another SPINS service (e.g.; NCGA Key Account, and Consumer Homescan Panel data). Definitions for each service vary, but in general SPINS only reports on natural and organic products, and select health & wellness products (dietary supplements, functional beverages, etc). Products that fall outside of these guidelines will not be activated.
If you feel that all of the above criteria are met and products are still not appearing in your SPINS data, please contact your SPINS representative so that we can investigate the issue.
When sending product information to SPINS or Nielsen, please observe the following guidelines.
Acceptable forms of product information:
Product packaging, sent to the addresses below.
Product packaging photographs with all sides of packaging that are digitized and emailed to the addresses below.
PDF files with all product specs including the following:
• Product UPC bar code
• Case UPC bar code
• Brand name
• Product name
• Product unit size
• Product case size
• Ingredients and Nutritional Facts/Supplement Facts
• Picture(s) of the product with clear images of the packaging type, labels with any and all claims, certifiers, warnings, allergen information, storage (refrigerated, shelf stable, frozen) and any other pertinant information.
• In addition, if organic, specify percentage as it relates to N.O.P. guidelines (<70%, 70-94%, 95-99%, or 100%)
• If gluten-free, specify whether this is stated on the label
For product packaging, please send to the following addresses.
Please provide contact information for the manufacturer should we have unanswered questions.
SPINS, Inc.
Product Library
1111 Plaza Dr., Suite 715
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Send electronic information such asdigital photographs, PDF files with all product specs, etc. to productlibrary@spins.com.
Nielsen
Coding Reference Desk
30 S. Main St.
Fond du Lac, WI 54936
Send digital pictures of all sides of packaging (a must) to "Image Box": NPCImages@nielsen.com.