What is the best online ordering system for a bakery?
A bakery's online ordering system has to sell for a date: the customer picks a pickup or delivery day, the system offers only the days and slots you can still bake for, and the order exists only once it is paid. ibakepro, bakery management software for bakeries from home kitchens to multi-site operations, has a storefront built that way, on the Growth plan (US$22, A$33, £17, C$30 or NZ$37 a month) and Business (US$59, A$89, £47, C$81 or NZ$100).
A general online shop assumes the product is on a shelf. A bakery order is for something you will make on Friday, so judge an ordering system by what it refuses.
What a bakery ordering system should refuse
An order inside your lead time. If a celebration cake needs three days, a customer on Wednesday evening should not be offered Thursday. In ibakepro the date picker only shows dates outside your lead time.
An order on a day you are closed. Block a public holiday, a week off or a wedding weekend when you are fully booked, and those dates disappear from the shop. Blocked dates also sync to Google Calendar.
A collection time you do not staff. Customers pick from the pickup and delivery time slots you set for each weekday, so Saturday can run 8 to 11am and Wednesday 3 to 6pm, with nobody arriving at 7am.
A delivery you cannot reach or have not priced. Delivery is priced from your own zones and fees, and an address outside them cannot choose delivery. The maths of setting the fee is in what to charge for delivery.
An order nobody paid for. The order is created only when payment completes, by card or wallet into your own Stripe account. There are no half-finished orders from people who left at the card screen, and no "I'll pay on pickup" that never arrives.
A box you have not baked. For a limited run (Christmas cookie boxes, hot cross buns, a weekly sourdough bake), sell it as a drop, which holds each item the moment it is added to a cart and stops at the number you set.
Where deposits fit
Ready-to-order products (a dozen cupcakes, a sourdough loaf, a 6 inch birthday cake in three flavours) are paid in full at checkout. Larger custom work, such as a wedding cake or 200 branded cookies, belongs in an enquiry rather than a cart: the customer fills in the enquiry form on your site, you send a quote with options, and they pick one and pay the deposit from their own order link, with the balance chased before the date. See payment schedules and deposits and how much deposit for a custom cake.
What the customer sees
- Sizes, flavours and quantities that change the price as they choose.
- Allergens for the options they picked, and every allergen a product could contain until they choose.
- Pickup, local delivery or shipping, with your own flat shipping rates, plus live carrier rates in Australia on Business.
- Add-ons such as candles or a message plaque, suggested in the cart and once more before payment.
- Discount codes, and a private link afterwards to follow the order.
The shop is built from 11 templates on your own ibakepro address, or on a domain you already own.
Growth or Business
| You need | Plan |
|---|---|
| An online shop with dates, slots, delivery zones, drops and your own domain | Growth |
| The same, without "Powered by ibakepro" on the shop | Business |
| A private ordering area for cafes and stockists on their own prices and terms | Business |
| Route planning and drivers for your own deliveries, and courier labels in Australia | Business |
| A team with no user limit | Business |
On Essentials (US$17, A$26, £13, C$23, NZ$29) the website and enquiry form work, and orders are taken by quote rather than through a cart. See storefront, and if most of your orders still arrive by message, how do I take cake orders without Instagram DMs.