From credit card readers and a cookie booth locator app, to adding “bling” to their cookie booths and holding a drawing for a year’s worth of cookies, local Girl Scouts are pulling out all the stops during booth sales, Feb. 28–March 16.

“Girl Scouts are really embracing technology as an effective way to market and sell Girl Scout cookies,” said Alisha Moore, vice president of sales at Girl Scouts Louisiana East. “This year we will have more troops than ever using credit card readers with their smart phones, as well as tracking their sales with a special app.”

According to Moore, there is also a free Girl Scout Cookie Locator mobile phone app that uses the phone’s GPS location or by manually entering a zip code to locate booths. Customers can download the app from the iPhone App Store and Android Market Place, or by calling **GSCOOKIES (**472665437) from their mobile phone. Customers can also set up a sale email alert, download sales information like location, dates and time to their phone’s calendar and share sale locations and more with friends on Facebook, Twitter and email. BlackBerry users and any cellphone that can access the Internet can visit the mobile site by pointing their phones browser to: http://mobile.littlebrownie.com. This mobile site has many of the same functions as the app. The Cookie Locator is also available on the Girl Scouts Louisiana East website at www.gsle.org by clicking the Cookie Locator icon.

The Girl Scouts Louisiana East council is holding a BUY 5 promotion for customers who buy 5 or more boxes of Girl Scout cookies at one time from a participating troop during the booth sales. Four winners will win a year’s supply of Girl Scout cookies (52 boxes). Girl Scouts also hope to entice customers to buy from them by “blinging” their booths and delivery wagons.

The annual Girl Scout Cookie Program helps teach girls a lifetime of skills like goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. Customers can support their efforts by purchasing additional cookies for donation to the troops’ Gift of Caring service projects. Gift of Caring cookies are donated to a non-profit or service organization selected by the troop, like fire and police departments and military troops serving overseas.

The local council, Girl Scouts Louisiana East, is selling eight varieties of cookies for $4 a box with

all proceeds remaining locally to support troops’ activities, special events and field trips, community service projects, and to help the council maintain camp properties, train and recruit volunteers, and provide the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.  

For more information about Girl Scouts call the council office in New Orleans at 504-733-8220, in Baton Rouge at 225-927-8946, or visit its website at www.gsle.org.