MACEDONIA, Ohio — Cookie lovers, you know what time of year it is. Think Thin Mints, Trefoils, and Do-si-dos.
But with the pandemic, the old way of selling Girl Scout cookies is just not as safe as it used to be. That's why instead of going door to door, Girl Scouts are now going digital.
"We have the opportunity for them to set up their own digital storefront," Jane Christyson, CEO of Girl Scouts of North East Ohio, said. "Then they set individual goals for themselves, and they can go out and send out links."
This year, each scout gets their own website for taking orders and making a pitch on video. It was so successful for Kadence Heykoop, of Michigan, that she sold more boxes in one week than she did in all of last year: 725, according to her mom.
Nikki Beal leads her daughters' troops in Lorain County, where her daughter Emerson has an eye on a prize.
"A plushie," Emerson said, and she is likely to get it too with the Scouts saying that they are well ahead of where they were at this time last year.
"You see sales all over the place on social media or on the websites or stuff like that," Beal said. "I think it's just going with the times and there’s no going back."
"It's really an exceptional opportunity for a young person to learn all those aspects of digital selling," Christyson concurred, adding the Scouts will be teaming up with Grubhub next month.
Anyone who spends $15 or more on cookies can have them delivered for free to their door. The promotion ends on Valentine’s Day, and yes, Girls Scouts will be working on the orders to get credit for those sales.