Which of the following is owned managed and controlled by consumers themselves formed with the objective of reducing the number of middlemen and thereby providing services to members?

Consumer cooperative stores

The correct answer is option 2- Consumer cooperative stores.

A consumer cooperative store is an organisation owned, managed and controlled by consumers themselves. The objective of such stores is to reduce the number of middlemen who increase the cost of produce, and thereby provide service to the members. The cooperative stores generally buy in large quantity, directly from manufacturers or wholesalers and sell them to the consumers at reasonable prices. Since the middleman are eliminated or reduced, the members get products of good quality at cheaper rates. The profits earned by consumer cooperative stores during a year are utilised for declaring bonus to members and for strengthening the general reserves and general welfare funds or similar funds for social and educational benefits of the members. To start a consumer cooperative store, at least 10 people have to come together and form a voluntary association and get it registered under the Cooperative Societies Act. The capital of a cooperative store is raised by issue of shares to members. The management of the store is democratic and entrusted to an elected managing committee where one man one vote is the rule. The liability of the members of a cooperative store is generally limited to the extent of the capital contributed by them. To ensure fair management of funds, the accounts of the stores are audited by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies or a person authorised by him/her.

OTHER OPTIONS-

• Mail order houses- Mail order houses are the retail outlets that sell their merchandise through mail. There is generally no direct personal contact between the buyers and the sellers in this type of trading. For obtaining orders, potential customers are approached through advertisements in newspapers or magazines, circulars, catalogues, samples and bills, and price lists sent to them by post. All the relevant information about the products such as the price, features, delivery terms, terms of payment, etc., are described in the advertisement. On receiving the orders, the items are carefully scrutinised with respect to the specifications asked for by the buyers and are complied with through the post office.

• Chain stores- Chain stores or multiple shops are networks of retail shops that are owned and operated by manufacturers or intermediaries. Under this type of arrangement, a number of shops with similar appearance are established in localities, spread over different parts of the country. These different shops normally deal in standardised and branded consumer products, which have rapid sales turnover. These shops are run by the same organisation and have identical merchandising strategies, with identical products and displays.

• Super markets- A super market is a large retailing business unit selling wide variety of consumer goods on the basis of low price appeal, wide variety and assortment, self-service and heavy emphasis on merchandising appeal.