It seems as though everyone has a favorite flavor when it comes to Girl Scout cookies, whether its Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, or Thank You Berry Much.
However, most of us have been caught short of cash in our pocket when the local Girl Scouts come calling.
This year Girl Scouts in Ohio and San Diego will be accepting credit card transactions via iPhone.
Credit Card orders will be processed using AppNinja, an iPhone application which allows iPhones to send credit and debit card information. The iPhone is plugged into a stand which contains a built in card swiper.
The AppNinja application then communicates the card details to Visa, MasterCard, or other appropriate credit card networks. A spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland Council, Sara West says, “You can turn your phone into a cash register.” The council has around 34,000 Girl Scouts across 30 Ohio counties.
Cookies sales are what the Girl Scouts are most famous for and has fast become the organization’s biggest annual fundraising activity. Girl Scouts and their parents order boxes of cookies and sell them to friends, neighbors, and relatives. The leftover boxes are often sold outside retail stores.
The Girl Scout Cookies’ website also features a cookie booth location finder to allow you to find your nearest available cookie stall. This year, AppNinja has donated 25 card swiper phone stands to the Ohio council which are being used at cookie stalls in shopping malls and outside grocery stores.
The machines normally cost around $80 to purchase and the Ohio Girl Scout council are now considering whether or not they will buy the AppNinja machines for next year’s cookie sale.
Sara West says that so far the machines have proved to be a big success. The machines have taken in approximately $2,500 in the first two weeks of use.
They are also helping to boost sales. “If people don’t have cash and they’re using a credit card, they don’t want to charge $3.50 for a single box,” West says. “So instead they buy five boxes.” The introduction of credit card payments at Girl Scout cookie sales shows that technology has caught up to the traditional organization.
Girl Scouts are also using Facebook and Twitter to sell cookies. When you consider that the majority of this generation of Girl Scouts is seldom without technological devices such as Smartphones, iPods, and other gadgets, it is no surprise that Girl Scout cookie sales have also taken the leap into the technological age.
