How do I take cake orders without Instagram DMs?
Keep Instagram for the first hello and move the order itself onto one link. When someone messages "do you do a 3 tier for the 14th?", reply with your order link instead of a price. The link collects the details, shows the price, takes the deposit and puts the date in your calendar, so nothing that matters lives in a chat thread. A working system has four parts: an order form, a deposit at booking, one calendar and written terms.
1. An order form with the fields that matter
Every field below answers a question you would otherwise ask in three more messages:
| Field | Why it is there |
|---|---|
| Event date and collection or delivery time | Checks availability before anything else |
| Pickup or delivery, and the address | Delivery changes the price and the day |
| Servings | Sets the size, which sets the price |
| Flavour and filling | Usually priced by option |
| Design notes and reference photos | Photos replace ten messages of description |
| Allergies and dietary needs | Written down by the customer, in their words |
| Name, mobile and email | So the order is not tied to one app's inbox |
| Budget, for custom work | Saves quoting a design they cannot afford |
| Agreement to your terms | One tick, linked to the full terms |
Make date, servings, allergies and contact details required. Make everything else optional, or the form becomes the reason they go back to DMs.
2. A deposit at booking
A date is not booked until a deposit is paid. Take it by card at the moment the customer confirms, not when they "get around to the transfer". For how much to take and when the balance should fall due, see how much deposit for a custom cake.
3. One calendar
Every order, from every channel, goes into one calendar with its status: enquiry, quoted, deposit paid, paid in full. A DM order that never made it into the calendar is how the same Saturday gets booked twice.
4. Written terms
Cancellation, design changes, allergens and delivery should be in writing and agreed before the deposit. A tick box on the form is the minimum; for weddings and large orders, a signed agreement is worth the extra minute. The terms worth getting signed covers what each clause should say.
How ibakepro does it
ibakepro turns the DM into an order, whether you bake from home or run a bakery with a team answering messages:
- The DM itself. Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger and SMS arrive in the Social Media inbox. From a conversation you can link it to a customer, create an enquiry or send a link for their contact details, so the chat becomes an order without retyping.
- The order form. Your website takes enquiries on every plan, and on Growth and Business the storefront lets customers choose size and flavour, pick a date, see allergens and pay. Custom fields ask the questions specific to your work.
- The deposit. Each order gets its own page where the customer chooses between quote options, fills in details and allergens, uploads photos, agrees to your policies and pays the deposit by card through your own Stripe account. The balance is chased on a schedule. See payment schedules and deposits.
- One calendar. Every order lands in one calendar, and syncs to Google Calendar if you use it.
- Signed terms. Contracts are signed online with e-sign on every plan, and the signed copy is filed against the customer.
Orders, quotes, deposits and the inbox are on every plan, from US$17, A$26 or £13 a month, with a 14-day free trial. See orders and quotes for the full order flow.