Dive Brief:
- The Girl Scouts of the USA reported mixed results in its first year of selling the signature cookies online through its e-commerce outlet Digital Cookie.
- Although 2.5 million boxes — $10 million — were purchased online this year, overall sales declined, hitting 194 million boxes — $776 million. This marked 1 million fewer boxes than last year.
- Sales were expected to dip 6%, but only fell under 1%, with the online sales aiding the organization. The organization anticipates e-commerce sales to keep growing. Sales have been on a consistent decline over the last several years, a company spokesperson told Fortune.
Dive Insight:
Digital Cookie was not just geared at helping sales, but also focused on training girls in entrepreneurship. Girls can set up their own websites with fundraising goals and communicate with potential customers through email blasts.
The company also revealed a revamped Digital Cookie, featuring analytics and games that target business and tech education.
More food and beverage companies are pursuing e-commerce as an avenue to take back market share.
"I think it’s not necessarily mission critical for them today," Matt Pierre, General Mills' director of e-commerce, recently told Food Dive of e-commerce in the industry. "I think in the near future it'll be mission critical."
Back in May, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said, "E-commerce is shaping up to be the next great revolution in the food and beverage industry."
