Bend Girl Scout adapts cookie sales to e-commerce, sells over 800 boxes online

'My goal is to get more!' 9-year-old Claire says

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- You most likely won't see Girl Scouts selling cookies outside stores this year, but for the first time, you can now buy them from local troops online.

Nine-year-old Claire de Gruyter of Bend is one of many Girl Scouts who've had to shift her business models since the pandemic began to e-commerce, setting up her own website and shipping cookies to places as far away as Texas.

The nationwide move sparked by COVID-19 restrictions has become a real learning experience.

"So first, in order to set up your website, you've got to write some stuff like, 'What is your troop going to do with the money you earn?'" Claire said Tuesdasy.

Taking her marketing to a "boots on the ground" strategy, Claire designed signs with QR codes linking to her website.

She then distributed them throughout the area by walking door to door in the cold weather.

Her work is proving to pay off, as she already sold more than 800 boxes of cookies.

"Yeah, it's really cold -- but it's fine," Claire said.

On top of making calls for orders, Claire is also handling customer service calls, notably from those she said might not be used to paying for shipping.

In fact, when I tried to order cookies Tuesday afternoon as a test, there was a four-box minimum -- and a charge of about $9 for shipping.

Claire said, "So it's just like kind of weird for them to having a shipping fee, because usually the girls would bring it to their doors."

Claire's mom, Cierra, said watching from the side, she is amazed by the type of learning experience the pandemic has created.

"She has learned to think creatively, to be resilient -- as we all have," Cierra said.

In fact, she said, much of what her daughter is learning is way beyond what most third-graders normally do.

"We've been able to talk about what is proper email etiquette, how do you address someone and how do you sign off an email," she said. "We're also talking about sentence structure."

Claire said that with her new knowledge, having her own website one day is now something she hopes to do.

"I know a lot more responding in emails, how to respond in email, how to set up a website and stuff, and how to, like, write down my goal on my website," she explained.

As for her website now, she's got the same inspiration as most who achieve success on the internet do.

"My goal is to get more!" Claire said. "Like, my goal is to get as much as I can."