https://www.uni-muenster.de/Ejournals/index.php/ifgimpulse <p>IfG Impulse is the new publication of the Institute for Cooperatives (Institut für Genossenschaftswesen - IfG) and offers researchers and members of the IfG a medium to analyse and discuss current topics from cooperative practice in a scientifically sound way. In close cooperation with the IfG, articles are published that reflect both practical issues and fundamental developments in the cooperative system. The IfG Impulse series thus makes an important contribution to the networking of science and practice and supports the sustainable development of cooperative principles in the economy and society.</p> Institut für Genossenschaftswesen, Universität Münster de-DE IfG Impulse 3052-1270 https://www.uni-muenster.de/Ejournals/index.php/ifgimpulse/article/view/8939 <p>In a rapidly evolving economic and technological environment, cooperatives need to rethink their approaches to collaboration and customer-centric strategies. The global economy is characterized by radical social and technological change. This is reshaping customer expectations and business processes. Companies with the highest market share show long-term potential for success, as the use of network effects often leads to multipliers and ultimately to rapid growth rates.</p> <p>For cooperative enterprises, this may mean that expertise must be pooled across traditional sector boundaries in order to create resilient solutions for the cooperative and its customers and members. By integrating their business activities into the daily routine or daily life of their customers, cooperatives can serve a shared market in a way that puts customers at the center of their activities, increases network effects, and thereby creates mutual added value. This customer-centric approach enables cooperatives to move from short-term, transactional interactions to long-term, relational, and loyalty-oriented customer relationships, thereby ensuring sustainable growth and competitive advantages.</p> <p>This article examines how cooperatives can jointly serve their customers across sectors by embedding their collaboration in customers' daily routines. Practical insights are drawn from a cooperative project between a housing cooperative and a cooperative bank.</p> Thorsten Wiesel Marco Pietsch Franz-Bernd Große-Wilde Andreas Seiferth Copyright (c) 2025 Thorsten Wiesel, Marco Pietsch, Franz-Bernd Große-Wilde, Andreas Seiferth https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-09-05 2025-09-05 1 3 10.17879/ifgimpulse-2025-8939