Girl Scouts Push Cookie Sales Online This Year Due to Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is altering the way the Girl Scouts hold their yearly cookie sales

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It's the time of year when tiny salespeople make their best pitches and appeal to our sweet tooth.

"They ask me what's my favorite and I say this one," 7-year old Rylie Brown of Girl Scout Troop #1460 said, pointing to a new cookie on her disinfectant-friendly, plastic-coated menu.

Brown is selling door-to-door in her neighborhood.

"We have to wear a mask," she said.

Online cookie sales accounted for about 10% of Girl Scout Cookie sales last year, but this year online sales are expected to be much higher due to the pandemic.

"They're learning how to pivot, how to course correct, be resilient, and persistent in a way that, perhaps, they never have before," Girl Scouts Northeast Texas CEO Jennifer Bartkowski said. "That's probably the gift of COVID this year, is that we're all learning those skills, and our girls included."

Katherine McLaughlin, 7, of Girl Scout Troop #1485 noted what she missed from last year's sales.

"Waaaaay different," McLaughlin said. "I like it, but I also liked it better last year when we could actually go to people's houses and ask if they wanted any cookies."

It's different for a lot of parents too, who in years past, brought Girl Scout cookies to the office. Now, many of them are working from home.

"We used to sell a couple hundred boxes of cookies at work, and now all that is gone," Girl Scout Troop 6643 Leader Brigette Vinton said.

Vinton said her scouts will miss out on face-to-face sales skills but are learning something else this year.

"It can still be done. There's still a way to get things done," Vinton said. "Even though they are in this global pandemic."

The Girl Scouts have an online order tool to connect with a Girl Scout by zip code. They are also partnering with Grub Hub next week to offer contact-free delivery.

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