Girl Scouts are adding digital marketing to their formidable arsenal of charm, cuteness and perseverance to sell millions of boxes of Thin Mints, Samoas and other longtime cookie favorites.
After years of prohibiting Internet sales, the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., the group’s national organization, has approved “Digital Cookie,” a platform for scouts to sell and ship the colorfully boxed cookies to friends and relatives around the country.
The expansion beyond traditional selling strategies like operating booths outside supermarkets, sending order forms into their parents’ workplaces, and door-to-door canvassing is expected to increase the nearly $800 million raised in annual cookie sales.
Under the program, each Scout may have her own cookie website, which customers can gain access to only if the Scout sends them an e-mailed invitation.
The digital program begins this month in a limited number of areas where scouts have started cookie sales, and will start nationally in January.