By Google Flies in To Help Girl Scouts With Cookie Sales Shortfall – Delivering Thousands of Boxes Via Drone (WATCH)
As of early April, Girl Scouts were experiencing a 50% shortfall in cookie sales, with reduced foot traffic and the pandemic limiting their ability to sell their iconic cookies in person and eating up their annual activity budgets.
Wing, Google’s delivery service, began speaking with a local Girl Scout troop in Christiansburg, Virginia, where they run America’s first and only residential drone delivery service. Now the excitement and sales are skyrocketing, with local explorers selling cookies in a whole new way: via drones.
Christiansburg residents can now get Samoas, Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, and more favorites flying through the sky and falling right on their doorstep.
And through it all, Wing has also been working with local explorers showing them the technology of how drones work and hopefully inspiring girls to pursue STEM careers.
“In return, they are teaching us a lot about how to sell cookies,” a spokesperson told GNN.
During 2020, Wing was able to support several local Christiansburg businesses with its contactless delivery capabilities. For example, bakery owner Mockingbird Cafe reported that drone delivery accounted for approximately 25% of sales during the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
GNN reported last June on a local library that started using Wing to deliver books to children trapped at home, great!
Buyers who like sweets can order through Wing app in Christiansburg until the end of May, but the company has committed to helping the girls sell 3,000 boxes, regardless. The most popular cookie order so far is unsurprisingly Thin Mints.
A recent Virginia Tech survey of consumers in nearby southern Virginia found that 87% of residents liked the idea of drone delivery after the first year of service in the community.
FUNNY: Hilariously honest reviews of Girl Scout cookies lead to record sales
Drones can deliver products to a consumer in minutes, without increasing traffic congestion and, in terms of energy, they are 10 times more efficient than electric vehicles and more than 50 times more efficient than gasoline vehicles.
“It makes a lot more sense to deliver a 1-pound box of cookies with a 10-pound drone than it does with a 3,000-pound car,” says Wing.
If that means dropping our Thin Mints in our front yard, it’s a badge that’s worthy of a Girl Scout band.
LOOK Scout spirits soar with Wing …
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