Christmas just came early for cookie lovers who will now be able to order Girl Scout Cookies online for the first time ever.
Local troops in the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council will sell the cookies electronically as part of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America’s new digital cookie program.
“It’s just another element that brings the cookie program into the 21st century,” said Girl Scouts of Gateway Council CEO Mary Anne Jacobs.
To order the cookies online, a Girl Scout must email a link to her customized personal website. The cookies can then be shipped to any doorstep in the U.S.
The online component won’t eliminate the face-to-face or door-to-door aspect of cookie selling, Jacobs said, but it will make it easier to distribute the treats.
“The internet is a critical component to doing business,” Jacobs said. “We’re trying to teach them the importance of technology.”
The new program is expected to significantly increase sales, Jacobs said. Each box of cookies will be $4.
Local troops will start selling cookies Sunday at the Gateway Council’s Third Annual Cookie Kickoff, which will take place at EverBank Field before the Jacksonville Jaguars game.
Jacobs said she’s excited because Girl Scouts will be gaining real-world experience in today’s technological business environment.
“It’s not just about selling cookies anymore,” Jacobs said. “They’re learning how to reach out and identify their target buyers and build a list of clients.”
Jacobs said local Girl Scouts set their own quotas, and each troop decides how the raised money will be spent.
Gateway Council Service Unit Manager Cindy Laukert, who oversees 25 of Gainesville’s nearly 150 troops, said the digital cookie program will make it easier for Girl Scouts to send cookies to non-local family members.
“If Aunt Susan in Tennessee orders it online, the girl here in Gainesville gets credit for the cookie sale,” she said. “But they do have to pay for shipping.”
Laukert said the girls in her troops are excited.
“They’re happy to be able to do it online and be able to increase their sales by sending them to people that they couldn’t reach in the first place,” she said.
Ashlyn Reese, a UF telecommunication and criminology junior, said she doesn’t normally buy Girl Scout cookies but might this year now that they’re online.
“It’s definitely less personal, but that’s the world we live in,” the 21-year-old said. “I’d probably be more willing to buy them online.”
