Consumer cooperatives are enterprises owned by consumers and managed democratically which aim at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of their members. They operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Consumers' cooperatives often take the form of retail outlets owned and operated by their consumers, such as food co-ops. However, there are many types of consumers' cooperatives, operating in areas such as health care, insurance, housing, utilities and personal finance (including credit unions). In some countries, consumers' cooperatives are known as cooperative retail societies or retail co-ops, though they should not be confused with retailers' cooperatives, whose members are retailers rather than consumers. Consumers' cooperatives may, in turn, form cooperative federations. These may come in the form of cooperative wholesale societies, through which consumers' cooperatives collectively purchase goods at wholesale prices and, in some cases, own factories. Alternatively, they may be members of cooperative unions. Consumer cooperation has been a focus of study in the field of cooperative economics. One of the world's largest consumer co-operative federations operates in the UK as The Co-operative (commonly referred to as "The Co-op"), which together operate over 5500 branches of 'The Co-operative' branded business including The Co-operative Food (The UK's fifth largest supermarket chain), The Co-operative Funeralcare, The Co-operative Travel, Co-operative Legal Services, Co-operative Electrical, The Co-operative Bank and The Co-operative Energy. The Co-operative Group is by far the largest of these businesses, itself having over 4500 outlets and operating the collective buying group.

Read full article on Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA