While the Girl Scout cookies sale generates key revenue for Girl Scouts, it is also an important skill development experience for Girls and their Troops. Keeping costs down in a one-time sale is difficult, particularly in a volunteer organization without established infrastructure. The cookie program is the largest girl-led entrepreneurship program in the world, and available for about six months each year. Girl Scouts leverage a variety of their retail channels to sell cookies, including Scouts selling directly to customers, selling in person from booths outside brick-and-mortar stores, selling within their own networks, and using online and mobile tools.
The Girl Scouts of Western Washington enlisted the 2015-2017 cohort of Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics masters students in Prof. Anne Goodchild’s SCTL 501: Introduction to Supply Chain Transportation Logistics & Analysis course to help increase supply chain performance for Girl Scout cookies. Students were asked to analyze and strategize the Scout cookie supply chain, use historical data and analytics to forecast future demand, manage inventory, plan deliveries, and evaluate new strategies to better achieve their sales goals.