E-Commerce Savvy Girls to Sell Girl Scout Cookies Online

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Knowing how to pitch a tent, cook over a campfire, and sell cookies door-to-door are fine community-building skills to have, but so is knowing how to be a digital entrepreneur. This is one reason why the Girl Scouts will soon be selling their famous cookies online. The organization, which builds community around the idea of female leadership, wants to introduce its members (and attract prospective members) to skills that are essential in today’s economy.

But the organization insists that the community-building aspect of its approach won’t be lost along with the shift to online sales. Girls scouts will build personalized sales pages to make the snacks available to friends and family. And for those door-to-door sales, girls will be able to process the payment on a mobile app.

“The organization views the technology upgrades not just as a practical matter, but as a way to train girls in online marketing, app usage, social media, and e-commerce skills as they run their own “digital cookie” businesses.”

As Lisa Witter explains in her Big Think interview, what began as a “white male geeky tool” is wonderfully suited to help build women’s outreach capabilities.