Girl Scout Cookie Sale Acquires High Tech Makeover with Intuit QuickBase; Web-Based Sales Management Solution Helps Streamline Annual Cookie Sale

Business Wire, Jan 3, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 3, 2003

In a few short days, 18,000 Girl Scouts will earn their cookie seller patch as the Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council kicks off the 2003 Annual Cookie Sale with an innovative high-tech approach. Last year, the Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council pioneered a new way to track and organize the sale of 1.6 million boxes of cookies with QuickBase(R) for Corporate Workgroups, the Web-based data sharing solution from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU).

"Once again this year, QuickBase helps to eliminate a huge manual calculation process," says Deborah Deacetis, Associate Executive Director of the Patriots' Trail Council. "QuickBase streamlined the entire order process from gathering the Girl Scouts' individual orders to tracking orders council-wide to delivering the right box of cookies to the customer's doorstep. A process that used to be 15 hours long and incredibly labor intensive has been reduced by an incredible 75%."

The cookie business is big business. Last year, Thin Mints(R) were the number two selling cookie in the United States, second only to Oreo(R) cookies - quite an amazing feat as Thin Mints are only sold three months of the year while Oreos are available year-round at numerous retail outlets.

"Imagine deploying a sales management application to a sales force of more than 18,000, within two months and on a limited budget," explains Jill Ward, Vice President and General Manager for Intuit Inc. "That's exactly what the Girl Scouts achieved with QuickBase - A fast, easy and affordable way to manage cookie sales from initial order through fulfillment."

In past years, hand-written orders would be passed through four rounds of tallying, consolidation and recalculation as the orders moved from the Girl Scouts to their Troop Leaders to the Service Unit to the council level and finally onto the bakers. The task was daunting, time-consuming and frequently fraught with calculation errors.

Enter QuickBase: the Web-based way that makes sharing data as easy as surfing the web. Because QuickBase uses a common Web browser, Troop Leaders were able to enter their troop's data directly into a central database using their own PCs. Suddenly, everyone in the council could see what was being ordered in real time. Leaders, cookie volunteers and Patriots' Trail Council were able to view the orders and organize the data by troop, by region, by cookie variety, all with just a few clicks. And, everyone had the peace of mind that the numbers were more accurate in QuickBase as the numbers were automatically, rather than manually summarized.

"The Girl Scout Cookie Sale is an entrepreneurial program for girls," says Deacetis. "And QuickBase helps incorporate key Girl Scout values and skills by introducing girls to computing and business concepts with the help of their Troop Leaders. With QuickBase, the girls can set goals and watch in real time as they strive to achieve those goals."

What drew Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council - one of the largest councils in the country - to QuickBase for Corporate Workgroups was the Web-based concept that made the service available anytime, anywhere via the Internet - offering real-time access and update capabilities to the huge Girl Scout sales team. And, the flexibility of QuickBase gave Patriots' Trail the ability to customize it to their unique needs. Best of all, they built it in record time - just under a week of total development time.

The 2003 Girl Scout Cookie Sale kicks off this year on January 3rd throughout greater Boston. Selling Girl Scout cookies helps girls gain real life skills such as money management, decision-making and goal setting. Proceeds from the cookie sale stay local helping troops cover the cost of pins, badges, program materials, special activities and summer camp. It also allows Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council to continue delivering quality Girl Scout programming. Intuit QuickBase gives teams a better, more effective way to work together and offers the Girl Scouts a real-world introduction to how technology is shaping their future.

About Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council

Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council, Inc. is one of the largest Girl Scout Councils in the United States serving nearly 30,000 girls and 11,000 adult volunteers in Boston and 65 communities. Members come from diverse ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds, and include girls with disabilities. Girl Scouts, families and volunteers take part in a wide range of activities that build skills and recognize accomplishment and growth. For more information, go to http://www.ptgirlscouts.org.

Intuit, the Intuit logo, and QuickBase, among others, are registered trademarks and/or registered service marks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries. Thin Mints is a registered trademark of the Girl Scouts of the USA. Oreo is a registered trademark of Kraft Foods Inc. Other parties' trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners and should be treated as such.