Guest Shopping Proposal(Split from non-member shopping)
This proposal is to allow guests to be able to shop from the coop, while reserving voting privileges to members.
Background
Currently, only members who contribute labor and pay dues are allowed to shop with the coop. If members bring a one-time or infrequent (twice a year) guest, they could shop through the member who brought them or we could establish a Guest Purchase policy with a Guest option on the buyer’s list of names. <— see highlight. suggest updating to quarterly since it aligns with our monthly socials when members would be likely to bring guests (Hadley)
Problem
By restricting shopping to members, we are screening out individuals who might be interested in shopping and joining our coop community at a lower engagement level than current members. Current practice also restricts our sales volume. If the volume of sales were to increase, we would potentially be able in the future to:
- Negotiate for lower prices from Chicano Sol (and any other provider)
- Provide cheaper and higher-quality goods to people in the community
Solution
Individuals who come with a member (e.g., visiting family and friends) can purchase items as a guest. Prospective members who come to a social or onboarding event, but have not become a dues and labor contributing member can purchase items as a guest. We would need to monitor guests and determine by what measure do we request them to become a member or customer to continue to shop. <— suggest updating highlighted sentence to “Individuals can shop as a guest up to fourtwo times per year (quarterly).year. After that, they will be encouraged to become a dues and labor contributing member” (Hadley)
Guest Surcharge
The coop reserves the right to institute a percentage surcharge for orders by guests. This surcharge would be raised in the future if a need is assessed, but this proposal recommends a 10% surcharge to start.
Voting Rights
Only members would be able to vote on formal proposals and structural changes to the coop.
Guests would have no voting rights but could offer outside perspective and ideas on how to continue to improve processes or innovate to draw in more members and customers.