• What is an IMA?
An IMA (Independent Merchandising Agreement) is an agreement between Nestlé® Waters North America
and independent retailers that offers financial incentives based on purchases through approved MSA suppliers.
• How can I register for an IMA?
There are two ways to register for an IMA. The first is an approved distributor, wholesaler or a broker visits you and enrolls
your store in the IMA program. The second is to
sign up online.
MSA is a company that tracks Nestlé® Waters products purchased through approved wholesalers and distributors.
Nestlé® Waters uses this data to determine the IMA payout to independent retailers based on their purchased cases.
• Do I have to use an approved
MSA supplier?
Yes. Only certain wholesalers and distributors who send their Nestlé® Waters purchase information to MSA are approved MSA suppliers. Nestlé® Waters uses this purchase information to determine IMA payments. All purchases need to be confirmed before sending out payments for IMA's.
• Who is eligible for an IMA?
C-Stores that purchase Nestlé® Waters products from approved suppliers are eligible to participate in the IMA Program.
• Are club stores eligible as approved
suppliers for an IMA?
No, club stores do not participate as approved suppliers in the IMA program. However, we do offer free POS to club stores.
Simply complete the
Free POS for Club Store form.
•
I registered my store online but now the system does not recognize
my user name and password. What do I do?
You may have made a duplicate entry. If the same store was enrolled multiple times, our back-end system may have detected
this and consolidated all of the duplicates into a single store entry, and the usernames linked to the consolidated stores
may no longer work. All of your purchase information should be consolidated as well. To access your store information, try
one of the other usernames. If you are not successful,
contact us.
IMA Program holders can receive incentive payments based on their purchases. The more products you purchase, the higher
the financial incentive. For specific questions about incentive payments or required purchase volume, please
consult the IMA agreement.
If your sales volume is not what you are expecting, here are a few troubleshooting tips.
Were all of your purchases made through an approved distributor participating in the IMA Program?
Not all distributors of Nestlé
® Waters products participate in the IMA Program. In order to receive a sales volume credit
for your purchases, you must purchase through a distributor that is participating in the IMA Program.
Log in to your online account, if you have one, to view a list of approved distributors in your area.
Did you recently register?
If you recently registered for the IMA Program, it may take up to six weeks for your volume to appear.
Did our tracking period recently change?
Each year in August, we switch from tracking Period I to Period II. All of the volumes return to zero at this point. Navigate
to the “Purchase Volume” page and click on the “Annual Summary” tab to view your purchases for the full year.
Are you only missing the most recent month's volume?
Your Nestlé
® Waters purchases, reported by approved suppliers, are updated on a monthly basis. However,
it may take a few weeks before the data is updated electronically. Please check back in a few weeks to see if the missing
volume has been added.
If you still have concerns about your purchase volume, please review the other FAQs or
contact us.
Your approved MSA supplier provides your purchase history of Nestlé
® Waters products to MSA, who in turn provides this data
to Nestlé
® Waters. You can access your purchase history by
logging in
to your online account if you signed up for one.
All Nestlé® Waters brands count towards the IMA:
Arrowhead® Brand Mountain Spring Water
Deer Park® Brand Natural Spring Water
Poland Spring® Brand Natural Spring Water
Ice Mountain® Brand Natural Spring Water
Ozarka® Brand Natural Spring Water
Zephyrhills® Brand Mountain Spring Water
S. Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water
Acqua Panna® Natural Spring Water
Perrier® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water
San Pellegrino® Sparkling Fruit Beverages
resource® Natural Spring Water
Sweet Leaf® Iced Teas
Tradewinds® Iced Teas
Keeper Spring™ Natural Spring Water
•
The 2012 IMA has Double Value Cases. How is this different from
regular purchases and which products does this include?
In 2012, Nestlé® Waters introduced Double Value Cases to incent retailers who purchase specific brands.
Purchases of the following items will count as two cases toward case goals:
Arrowhead® Brand Sparkling Mountain Spring Water
Deer Park® Brand Sparkling Natural Spring Water
Poland Spring® Brand Sparkling Natural Spring Water
Ice Mountain® Brand Sparkling Natural Spring Water
Ozarka® Brand Sparkling Natural Spring Water
Zephyrhills® Brand Sparkling Mountain Spring Water
S. Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water
Acqua Panna® Natural Spring Water
Perrier® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water
San Pellegrino® Sparkling Fruit Beverages
resource® Natural Spring Water
Sweet Leaf® Iced Teas
Tradewinds® Iced Teas
Keeper Spring™ Natural Spring Water
• How do I get my IMA incentive payments?
There are two payments per year—in February and August.
• Do I have to register online to
receive my incentive payment?
No. However, you can track your incentive payment if you have an
online account.
If you are no longer participating in the IMA program, there is no need to cancel your IMA.
• When does my IMA expire?
The 2012 IMA program runs until December 31, 2012. Only Nestlé
® Waters purchases made between January 1, 2012 and December
31, 2012 will count toward your 2012 IMA payment, as long as you are registered in the program.
Register now for the 2012 IMA Program.
You can now register for the 2012 IMA Program online
here.
Please
email us
with your question(s), name, store name, address and phone number and we will be happy to answer your question(s) about
the IMA program.
Once you've registered, simply
log in to your account and click
the "Approved Supplier" link to see a list of suppliers in your area. Please remember that your Nestlé
®
Waters product purchases will only count if they are ordered through approved suppliers.
•
If I don’t reach the next payment level by the end of the year,
will my purchases rollover to to the next year?
Only Nestlé® Waters purchases made between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 will count toward
your 2012 IMA payment.
• Are purchases retroactive once
I’ve enrolled in the IMA?
Purchase volume is retroactive within the current period (January 1-June 30 and July 1-December 31). For example, if a retailer
enrolls for the IMA in October, volume credit will be retroactive to the beginning of the second period (July 1st), but
not for the entire year. Other questions? Please
email us.
Other questions? Please
email us.
• How do I register for an online
IMA?
•
If I signed up for an IMA with a
paper contract (not online), how do I activate my account once I receive an activation code in the mail?
You should receive an activation code by mail from Nestlé
® Waters North America 2 to 3 weeks after you submitted your paper contact. Once you receive your activation code in the mail, go to
https://www.sellbottledwater.com/activate and follow the instructions to create an on-line account. If you did not receive your activation code, or have misplaced it, please
email us your name, store name, address and phone number and we will forward it to you.
For security reasons, we need to verify that the store being registered is an actual c-store, and that the person completing
the form can actually receive mail at that address. This takes some time and requires that we send a physical piece of mail
to the address.
• I forgot my user name and/or password
– what should I do?
Go to the
Log-In / Registration page and click on the link that
says "Forgot User Name?" or "Forgot Password?" You will be asked to provide information to verify your identity. Once we
verify your identity, we will give you your username or password.
Please
email us
your name, store name, address and phone number and we will send it to you once we verify your identity.
Please note that it takes 3-4 weeks for you to receive your activation code if you signed up with a paper contract.. If
you have waited 4 weeks, please
email us
your name, store name, address and phone number and we will look into the reason for the delay. If you signed up online,
your account has been established.
Your activation code is linked to your store zip code. Please re-enter your activation code and store zip code. If you still
get an error message, please
email us
your name, store name, address and phone number and we will contact you.
Registered users can order free POS online for Nestlé® Waters brands and you can track your Nestlé®
Waters purchase progress towards your IMA payment levels, view your average cases purchased per week and your store’s total
purchases.
• I tried to create an account, but
it says I already have one. What do I do?
If you believe your account was created in error, please
email us
your name, store name, address and phone number and we will contact you.
Yes – There are two ways you can set up multiple stores:
1. You can add multiple stores to your current profile by clicking "
Add
a Store" on the upper right side of the Welcome screen.
2. You can create a separate user name and password for each store.
In order to comply with IRS regulations, Nestlé® Waters North America is required to obtain your Store
Tax ID.
Other questions? Please
email us.
• What is POS?
POS stands for point of sale. POS is usually signage and other materials that attract customers to specific products and
brands.
• How do I order POS?
Registered IMA program participants can order POS by
logging in,
and then clicking "Order POS" from the left-hand navigation. If you have registered more than one store, be sure to select
the correct store first in the drop-down.
Club store purchasers can also order POS by completing our
Free
POS for Club Store form.
Please note that you can only order POS once per day per store.
Nestlé® Waters provides IMA and C-stores who purchase from Club Stores with free POS.
• How much POS can I order?
An IMA customer may order POS once a day per store.
• What brands are available?
POS is available for the following brands:
Arrowhead® Brand Mountain Spring Water
Deer Park® Brand Natural Spring Water
Ice Mountain® Brand Natural Spring Water
Ozarka® Brand Natural Spring Water
Poland Spring® Brand Natural Spring Water
Zephyrhills® Brand Natural Spring Water
Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water
Perrier® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water
Sweetleaf® Iced Teas
Tradewinds® Iced Teas
• I just placed a POS order – when
will I receive a shipment?
You can expect delivery within 2-3 weeks.
• How can I track my POS order?
Log into your account and click "
Track POS"
on the left side of the Welcome screen.
Log into your account and click "
Track POS"
on the left side of the Welcome screen for shipment status. You will receive confirmation via email once your order has
shipped.
If it has been more than three weeks since your order has shipped, please
email us
your name, store name, address and phone number.
Other questions? Please
email us.
• What is my Owner Profile?
Your Owner Profile displays the information you provided when you registered. You can update or change
your user name, password, and security question on your profile.
• What is my Store Profile?
Your
Store Profile displays the information we have on file for your store. If any of the information is
incorrect, please
email us
your name, store name, address and phone number, with any updates or corrections.
If you want to make changes to your store address, please
email us
your name, store name, address as it appears in your Store Profile and phone number, along with the correct store address.
In order to comply with IRS regulations, Nestlé® Waters North America is required to obtain your Store
Tax ID.
Other questions? Please
email us.
