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Amalea Thijssen sells scout cookies since she's in kindergarten. She started because she wanted to meet her neighbors, but the 13-year-old said her sales had not really taken off before going door-to-door to digital.
Gone are the days when small entrepreneurs could only go from house to house or set up cookie stands in the car parks to peddle their mints and samoas. Like everything else these days, Girl Scouts can now peddle their wares online with the organization's Digital Cookie platform. There, they or their parents can create a site and contact their friends and family via email and social media.
"I love sales of digital cookies. It's great, "says the bubbly Amalea, who three years ago became the biggest seller in Mountain View after selling 1,300 cartons. She is not yet close to that this year. "If you're a teenager and you post pictures on social media anyway, it's pretty easy to manipulate cookies."
But while many Scouts and their parents are happy to say sayonara According to others, nothing resembles the traditional method of teaching girls valuable lessons about marketing, sales, and winning customers.
"It's interesting to sell Girl Scout cookies face-to-face," says Jane Rabba Nicola, a mother of two in Dublin. "It promotes a sense of community, not to mention getting them to practice the latest art of" talking to people. "
Girl Scouts launched its digital cookie sales platform in 2014 and today, more than 7,300,000 boxes are sold online each year, according to Heather Burlew-Hayden, Marketing and Membership Manager at Girl Scouts of Northern California.
"Families are spread across the United States, allowing girls to connect with relatives and friends across the country," Burlew-Hayden says, adding that cookies can be ordered quickly and easily during the sales season. which ends on March 3rd.
The bottom line? Girls like Amalea, who sell in both directions, sell 76% more cookies than girls who do not sell online, explain the officials.
Amalea publishes photos of her cookies on Instagram and Snapchat. She produces videos on YouTube, like the one in which she is a Rapunzel-themed princess stuck in a cookie tin tower, to market Amalea's Cookie World. And she likes the fact that she can always sell online when the weather is bad or she has a lot of work to do.
"She is very committed and works very hard," says her mother, Mendy Thijssen, who estimates that about 20% of their sales are online. "She also goes door to door. But that's the future. They learn a lot about managing a business by selling cookies, and digital is an important part of it. "
Many Scout mothers say that online sales are more fun and more convenient. According to Brenda Diaz, the Digital Cookie platform and its application made her life easier when she was in charge of cookies for the soldiers of her daughter Kristen's daughter last year.
"I loved being able to see the orders on my screen," says Diaz, who lives in Union City. "It's a great way to stay on top of everything and take control at any time."
Veronica Vazquez Houck, of Oakley, has been selling scout cookies since her 12-year-old daughter Hailey was in kindergarten. Audrina, 7, also sells. According to her, digital sales helped reach customers who would prefer to pay per click. "A lot of people simply do not have any more money on them," she says.
Yet some prefer old-fashioned cookie sales, where scouts must in person, describing cookies in detail and explaining why it is important to support their troupe. This is the method of sale proven since 1917, the year of the sale of the first Girl Scout cookies.
"If a child shows up at my door, I do not care what he sells, I'll buy it 100% of the time," says Caris Noble, of Pleasanton, who has three children, none of whom are n & # 39; 39, is a scout. . "If a mother posts on Facebook or sends a message saying her child is raising money for something, I will not buy it."
"Children lack valuable lessons, especially in terms of accountability, accountability, initiative, communication and respect for others," says Noble. "These are lessons that I think our young people are particularly prone to miss at this time of smartphones and social media."
Burlew-Hayden said that online sales were also a valuable teaching in the digital age. "Girls learn useful and relevant skills in technology, logistics, sales and marketing," she explains, "how to get online, manage inventory, Internet security skills, and the importance of having a web presence in their business ".
Amalea quickly accepts all kinds of sales. She takes out a blue wagon full of cookies in the neighborhood after school and works with her men in cookie booths. She wants to visit customers who prefer personal interaction. And she points out that online shoppers can request delivery in person when ordering.
"I like to meet people almost as much as I like to eat cookies," she says. "I like selling cookies. It's my thing.
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