As the weather warms, there are signs of spring everywhere: Birdsong can be heard reverberating in backyards; the maple sap is running; snow is retreating from roads; Girl Scout cookies are selling as they always do — though maybe not quite so visibly this year, given the ongoing pandemic and social distancing restrictions.
With Girl Scouts outside local stores few and far between, and with more employees than ever working from home, some cookie cravers might find it harder than usual to get their annual fix of Thin Mints, Samoas, Girl Scout S’mores and Lemon-Ups, among other types.
“We’re limited by the number of people who can find us, and who know a Girl Scout,” said Suzanne Smiley of Gill, chief operating officer for the Girl Scouts of Western and Central Massachusetts region. “They may not see the local Girl Scout standing outside the supermarket, but they can find them in the digital world.”
When the pandemic was fully realized last year, Smiley says local troops pivoted their business models to the digital space. Other creative solutions include drive-thru cookie booths and lemonade stand-style neighborhood booths. “Lots of thinking outside the box; outside the cookie box,” she said.
Without the ability to sell in person, Kaylynn Lupien, 12, of Northfield, a Girl Scout Cadet with Troop 58611 in Winchester, New Hampshire, hosted a virtual cookie booth via Facebook Live.
Along with her brother, Dane Lupien, “They showed what the cookies looked like, described the cookies and did the math on which boxes had the most cookies, and the math about serving size,” said Stephanie Lupien, her mother. While she didn’t know an exact number offhand, Kaylynn estimated she has sold “at least 500 boxes.”
Since cookie season kicked off in January, Girl Scouts like Kaylynn have been selling and filling delivery orders digitally through a national collaboration with Grubhub, the online food delivery platform. Additionally, Girl Scouts of the USA has made online cookie ordering available nationwide so consumers who don’t know a Girl Scout can still purchase cookies from a local troop for direct shipment to their homes.
Given the circumstances this year, however, the Girl Scouts set up individual profiles on the national organization’s cookie selling platform, drove traffic to troop-specific links through promotion, and filled orders via contact-less delivery.
Smiley noted that regionwide sales are a little down this year because slightly fewer Girl Scouts are actively selling, but with membership down a little because of the pandemic, individual sales are way up.
Practically, the challenges (and economic opportunity) posed by the pandemic has posed a real-world conundrum that the young entrepreneurs have had to overcome, Smiley said. In addition to marketing their product, each Girl Scout must plan, budget, pick up and track inventory as it’s sold, manage money and expend their proceeds as a troop. While a very small portion of the money that’s raised helps support the regional and national infrastructure of the Girl Scouts organization, the vast majority stays local, paying for activities like camping and outdoor activities.
“It gives girls a really good sense — whether or not they ever open their own small business — it gives them a good sense of their communities and marketing (matching a product with a need or desire by their customers). And basic skills that can give them confidence in a business world,” Smiley said.
Andy Castillo can be reached at acastillo@recorder.com.