Not all companies can qualify to become members of the AT Cooperative. To qualify, a company selling products at the retail level must:

1. Sell to businesses (not just to consumers), be well established and profitable

2. Have unused and/or unsold inventory or capacity and a desire to sell to other members of the Cooperative

3. Have use for goods and services provided by other members of the Cooperative

A company that meets the above qualifications obviously has revenues larger than expenses and, therefore, all expenses related to its operation are paid from sales to clients that are non-members of the cooperative (cash sales). 

 

A company in that position can make additional sales to Cooperative members and incur a cost, related to those sales, much smaller because they do not include the normal operating expenses of a company.

 

Example: A retailer with a 2 million dollars in revenues and 1.8 million in expenses and a 200K in profit, can make additional sales to Cooperative members and the incremental cost of making those sales will be limited to the hard cost of the product sold because the operational expenses are fully paid by the cash sales.

 

If the retailer’s cost of the product is 50% of the sales price and it is sold on a 70% cash, 30 Trade Credit basis, the cash received easily covers the out-of-pocket costs and the remainder is positive cash flow and when the business uses the 30% in Trade Credits, together with cash, to pay for goods and services from vendors, also members of the Cooperative, those savings add directly to the bottom line of the business.

 

If a company in the retail sector has an opportunity to make a purchase, but does not have the required balance in the ATC account, the company makes application to the Cooperative for a credit line and uses it to complete the purchase, then uses Trade Credits from sales to other members to retire the debt.

 

Financial Results Illustration: The link below is a short slide show illustration showing typical financial results achieved by hospitality companies through the use of the System

 

Typical Financial Results Illustration - Retail

 

Below are links to short slide shows that illustrate how companies in the retail sector benefit from participation in the ATC Cooperative / WIR Cooperative.