USA Today recently reported that Girl Scout cookie pre-sales had tumbled up to 19% in some regions, which is problematic because these pre-sales account for 70% of cookie sales, and the revenue is used to fund Girl Scout activities in neighborhoods nationwide. Consumers cited everything from cookie quality to the economy to the portion cuts for their purchase decrease.
Since I spent a few years in Brownie, and then Girl Scout, troop as a kid, I thought the least I could do would be to order 2 boxes to support my local girls. Since I don’t actually know any Girl Scouts, I headed over to GirlScoutCookies.org to place an order.
There’s no way to order online, which seems to be a big short coming of their system. I impulsively wanted cookies “now”, so it would seem getting my credit card info BEFORE I changed my mind might be a good strategy. Instead, I shared my contact info so someone could get in touch with me about an order.
The next day I received a follow-up message regarding my cookies.
OK. I can wait. Since I submitted my info on a Friday, February 20th, I figure I’d hear back during the following work week. But nothing. Silence.
On Wednesday, March 4th, I finally get a response!! YAY! I will be able to order cookies. . . or not.
TWELVE days after submitting my information because I really wanted a box of Lemon Cremes and maybe a box of Samoas, they directly tell me they might be too busy to take my order.
TWELVE days ago, I really wanted those cookies so I could SUPPORT local girls, because I bake a better cookie than I could ever buy from a Girl Scout. But after following their instructions to pre-order, I essentially get told they’re too busy to take my order, and I should track them down on a weekend, probably in front of a grocery store. Are they intentionally playing hard to get, even with sales down?
At this point, I don’t want cookies anymore. So that’s an $8 sale they lost.
It seems absurd that you can’t order Girl Scout cookies online and either pay for shipping or pick them up at a designated location once they become available. Take my money while I’m of the mindset to part with it.
Could you imagine going to JCrew.com and after picking out some new threads being told to go to your local store to purchase them? They’d be losing a lot of business, which might be a good lesson for the Girl Scouts’ “leading business and economic literacy program.”
Why even offer a pre-order option if the troops won’t actually take your order? Wouldn’t it be better just to have prospective buyers submit their contact info and zip code so they can automatically be sent a list of dates and locations that cookies will be available for purchase? In that case, I’d at least think they wanted my money.
Instead, I’ll going to spend my $8 on the chocolate chip cookie ingredients on the back of a bag of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.
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