Direct Co-ops

What is Direct Co-ops?

We all have childhood memories of parents, teachers and others encouraging us to work together. A co-op is what “working together” looks like all grown up.

Direct Co-ops is a company based out of Toronto, Ontario in Canada. We have offices in over 25 countries and work with cooperatives, chambers of commerce, associations, charity and non-profit organizations around the world, dedicated to helping small businesses flourish through cooperation among our members.

Over the last 30 years, the middle class in North America has shrunk by almost 40%, directly affecting both our communities and national economies. Giant, powerful corporations called “Big Box” stores, have been able to establish themselves by wiping small business communities, mom and pop shops previously owned by families for many generations. Online competition driving better prices through much greater buying power, has resulted in small businesses having to pay a price 2 or even 3 times higher, than what a powerful online retailer would.

Today, small businesses cannot compete with big chains, alone. They need the cooperation of other businesses:

How can we save our communities? – By coming together. Joint purchasing what we need and what we sell. Empowering you, by leveraging buying power to the smallest of us: All for one and one for all.


The Direct Initiative

The Direct Initiative brings small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) together, by forming buying groups to negotiate better prices with the manufacturers or the service providers, in order to enjoy the same buying power as the big chains. By coming together, we can reduce our buying prices on all products and services that we use by up to 50% or more:

Small businesses vote on the products they need (no minimum order requirement)
As soon as we get 1000 votes on any given product, we contact the manufacturers (or suppliers) and negotiate the best wholesale prices.
Once the manufacturer has been selected, we confirm and process all orders at the agreed upon group volume price.
The order is placed and shipped to a UPS Store or our distribution centre, closest to the location of the buyer. The order is delivered directly to door via a courier, or picked up locally at no cost.


How can you benefit as a member of Direct Co-ops?

We have negotiated the better than market deals on the most common services that businesses typically use, such as phone & internet, payment processing, Point Of Sale systems, colocation and web hosting. Other available services are:

Real Estate & Mortgages
Video Production
Marketing & Branding
Grants and SR&ED (Canadian Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program)
Financing and small business loans
Online pharmacy and drug benefit program for employers

Visit our services page for more information.

Our Shop offers items from some of the suppliers that we have negotiated deals with. These include coffee, organic bulk foods and spices (cheaper than non-organic by up to 80%), restaurant and kitchen supplies, liquidation products, original art and more, all at significantly discounted prices compared to the lowest prices that we could find.


We Are Global

Direct Co-ops is has global operations and we currently have offices in over 25 countries around the world, including USA, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Brazil and others. Each country or major city (in N. America) is represented by its area calling code, for example:

416Direct.ca in Toronto
514Direct.ca in Montreal
212Direct.com in New York
971Direct.ae in Dubai
33Direct.fr in Paris
61Direct.au in Sydney
etc.


Think Global, Shop Local

All registered businesses are welcome to enjoy a complimentary membership with Direct Co-ops and join a rapidly growing local and global community of small businesses, working together to reduce their business expenses. Note you must have a registered business or a corporation to be a member.

To sign up as a member, simply fill out the form at https://www.directcoops.com/registration/


Interested in selling your products to other businesses through our platform?

Suppliers/manufacturers are welcome to offer their products to our members through our online store. If you would like to become a supplier of Direct Co-ops, please write to us to request special access to our platform as a Direct Merchant.


Spread The Word!

Membership is important to each and every one of us, as the more members we have, the stronger our buying power becomes. You can spread the word by referring members, or by becoming a Direct Co-ops Affiliate (see Affiliate Area).
Our Guarantee: By joining Direct Co-ops, you, as a business owner, will become part of the largest buying group allowing you to increase your buying power, reduce your operating expenses and become competitive with the big chains. Think outside the box… the Big Box