By Paige Lambert
Girl Scout cookie season is one of the many prized American traditions, holding its own with baseball and apple pie.
And much like so many other traditions, Girl Scout cookie sales have now gone digital.
The organization rolled out its online cookie order program this year after beta testing it with select troops.
Initial sales in Kyle and Buda were up by 13 percent this year, area cookie manager Crystal Luna said. She said the new digital side has helped sales increase since then.
“You can’t pass by a kid without a device in their hand,” Luna said. “Our culture is tech savvy and this is a sign of the times.”
Each scout is allowed to set up her own page on the main website if her troop participates in the program. The page shows a picture of the girl, a video and a list of the girl’s goals.
Parents of scouts under 12 years old control the site, while troop leaders talk with scouts about online safety. Regardless of age, all scouts have to go through an online safety course.
“Cyber bullying is a big deal, so it’s kinda important,” 8-year-old Bella Luna said. “And it’s also about learning about ‘stranger danger.’”
Many parents will share the scout’s page on Facebook or social media to get the word out. It helps notify distant family members without awkwardly calling them just to sell cookies.
“I’m hoping this will catch the attention of family who I may not have seen in a long time, and put a bug in their ear,” Crystal said. “It’s a really neat way to show the reason behind the cookies.”
The digital pages, along with word-of-mouth about the cookies, have left a bug in the community’s ear.
Crystal said scouts usually have 1,400 boxes of cookies, or approximately 117 cases, stored in their warehouse to carry the troops through the week. She said they are barely making it to resupply day on Thursdays before running out.
Bella’s goal doubled this year, from 300 to 600 boxes, in anticipation of the online sales Crystal said.
But not everyone is on the digital bandwagon. Lori Redd, cookie warehouse manager, said her troop isn’t going online because of the shipping prices.
Customers have two ways to receive their cookies. They can either pick up their online order from the troop, or have them shipped to their home. The customer, however, must buy a minimum of four boxes and pay $9.95 in shipping fees.
“The shipping cost has been the main deterrent,” Redd said. “We may look at it next year if the shipping cost goes down.”
Even without the online component, her troop’s sales have increased by 25 percent this season, Redd said. She said her troop focuses on door-to-door and storefront sales so the scouts can learn business skills.
“It may be because people have more disposable income or there’s just more people in the area,” Redd said on reasons for the increase. “We always expect to sell more the next year.”
Regardless of how people buy them, Girl Scout cookies will be forever part of American culture.
“I think it’s cool because it was a little hard, but easy,” Bella said (A little hard to sell cookies? Not sure what she meant by this.). “People will go online more and people don’t have to walk that much.”
