# What is the best online ordering system for a bakery?

> A bakery ordering system has to sell for a date: lead times, blocked days, collection slots, delivery zones and payment before the order exists. What to look for.

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](/blog/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](/features/limited-release-drops), 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](/features/payment-schedules-and-deposits)
and [how much deposit for a custom cake](/blog/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](/features/online-storefront), and if most of your orders
still arrive by message,
[how do I take cake orders without Instagram DMs](/answers/how-do-i-take-cake-orders-without-instagram-dms).