Perhaps the most important news coming out of CES 2015 isn’t an announcement from Samsung, or even Apple, but instead comes from the Girl Scouts of the USA!
Ordering the world’s best cookies has been, until now, an agonizing, distinctly low-tech process. First, you handwrite (!) your information in tiny fields on a paper (!) order form. You wait weeks if not months (!) for those delicious Thin Mints and Samoas to arrive, then fork over cash (!) for them.
All that is passé now, as the Girl Scouts have gone high tech. The organization now offers credit card payments, and a web platform that allows each scout to create their own website to push their sweet, addictive wares.
While you can’t download an app for your iOS or Android mobile device, a Girl Scout can load it on her device, and then hand it over to you, to allow you to order, “just one box of each.” (OK, maybe three boxes of each… Five boxes of the Thin Mints. – Ed.)
With just a few taps, you place your order, enter your shipping and credit card info, and your cookies will be shipped to your home – in as little as three to five business days. (You can also donate your order to your local Girl Scout council’s chosen charity.)
The Girls Scout organization has put safeguards into place, such as requiring a parent to sign off on a scout’s website before it goes live, and the site lists only the scout’s first name., so the scouts will need to send the link to the site to prospective customers.
The whole system isn’t designed to take the selling process out of the scout’s hands, but instead is designed to continue to teach them about marketing, and managing a business.
“It is all about the girls and building future business leaders,” said Kelly Parisi, Girl Scouts of the USA chief communications executive. “They are learning about e-marketing, managing money and additionally creating their first websites.”
Works for me, now can someone point me to the nearest mobile device that I can use to order some Thin Mints?
UPDATE: 01/09/15 – All references to the “Girl Scouts of America” have been changed to the correct “Girl Scouts of the USA.”
Also, a Girl Scouts of the USA representative has reminded us that the Girl Scouts have a cookie finder app (available here) where people can search for Girl Scout cookies being sold near them or you can visit girlscoutcookies.org and type in your zip code to find cookie booths in your area!
