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I think that there is a decent niche market for a Girl Scout cookie sales website. Relativly lots of people looking to buy Girl Scout cookies online and there is a darth of sites to do it from. eBay is about it.
i think it defeats the purpose though. the whole idea is to make the girls work towards a goal by physically selling their products--however outdated that mat be.
the website would most likely increase revenue for the GS. maybe this organization actually puts the development of its members ahead of the bottom line, rare thing these days.
as far as the e-commerce badge, i think thats a great idea. i'm not familiar with the GS 'curriculum' but they should be exposing the girls (boy scouts as well) to technical subjects. what if each chapter had to maintain their own website? i'm sure somebody would donate webspace.
I'll just gloss over some web page on cookies, but if some wide eyed little girl jumps in front of me outside the grocery store and pleads to me to buy some of her cookies, i got a problem saying no.
/sucker
I think the door-to-door might be overrated?
If anything (some form of) directory listings on the GS site might be an idea.
The girls could hand out the "cookie forms" with their "cookie code" on the form so that they can get the "cookie credits".
GS cookies actually started out being made by gilrs with their moms and then selling them door to door or outside peopled places (stores, electric companies back in the days when you didn't mail in your bill and cafeterias).
They eventually went to a commercial bakers, so that more cookies could be made to a regular standard (i.e. so they could sell more to make more money)
The Girl Scouts say that the sale of cookies today is to promote business skill in girls to prepare them for careers tomorrow.
I am sort of laughing at this thread because most of the answers to why GS cookies should not be sold online sound a lot like many companies early in the dot com era (and even today). It won't work for my company, My customers need that personal touch, My business is about people not computers.
The fact is that many Girl Scouts no longer sell their own cookies. Their parents do by taking the forms to work. A portion of Girl Scouts do sell through little tables outside stores, but I doubt that even half do that. Society has taken the sales and fulfilment out of the girl's hands because these days it's just too dangerous to send a child door to door and parent simply don't have the time to go door to door with them. Girls no longer sell the cookies and deliver them later on their own. Their parents almost exclusivly do it (I know, I bought cookies from 4 different girl scouts, none of whom I have met, but I work with their parents.)
I don't suggest that the National Council set up a website, but I think it would do a lot of good for a few enterprising troops to set up a few ecomm websites that they could promote, either locally or online. Talk about your business skills. Advertising, marketing, hands on customer service, shipping, packaging and fulfilment issues and costs, the ability to put the responsibility back in the hands of the girls.
Then the leaders should push this aspect of the endeavor.
When they were delivering the cookies in my neighborhood, they made deliveries to every home on my street.
And I never buy them from parents. Defeats the purpose.
<add>BTW hannamyluv, I agree wholeheatedly.</add>
Anyway, I'm a yay for buying cookies online. I would rather get a flyer at my door with a url for my local GS cookie seller. I'd like to see a cute personal little website which would then direct me to a main GS cookie site, which would handle all the orders...and of course, credit my local GS troup kid with the sale. Affiliate marketing from early childhood. :)
OK, this works for me, but the girl scout has to have a part in creating the site (good for another merit badge maybe?), not just get credit for a site mom or pop set up. Kids are clever. Who knows, maybe the Girl Scouts will turn out the female version of Barry Diller.
From what I know of it, there are territorial restrictrions when selling GS cookies. Revenue goes to the particular council directly. Each council sets their rates for the cookies, as well.
Different councils sell at different times of the year. This presents a problem when territorial restrictions aren't followed - it's not uncommon to see girls from our council getting shunned because a girl from a neighboring council didn't respect the restrictions and sold to someone in our council - two months before the girls in our council had the oppourtunity.
Without significantly changing the distribution, timing, pricing, and selling restrictions of the GS, I don't know how an e-commerce site could ever be feasable.
