Bakery websites: custom cake orders and daily menus

For most bakeries, two parts of the website matter more than everything else: the custom order process and the daily menu. Customers ordering a cake want to know how far ahead to ask, what information you need, and how pricing and deposits work. Walk-in customers want to know what is baked today. Write both clearly and the phone rings with fewer repeated questions.

Custom orders: lay out the process in steps

Customers who have never ordered a custom cake do not know how it works. A short numbered list at the top of your custom orders page clears most of that up:

Check the date. Send us the date, servings and a rough idea of the design.
We confirm and quote. We reply with availability and a price, usually within a day or two.
Pay the deposit. Your date is held once the deposit is paid.
Final details. Confirm flavors, colors and writing by a set number of days before.
Pick up or delivery. Pick up at the bakery, or delivery if you offer it, at the agreed time.

Say how customers start: a form on the page, an email, a phone call during open hours, or coming in. If you prefer a form for custom cakes so details are written down, say so and explain why.

Lead times, said plainly

The question "how much notice do you need?" decides whether someone orders from you or the supermarket. Put the answers where everyone sees them, ideally in a small list:

Decorated cookies: at least one week
Birthday and celebration cakes: at least one to two weeks
Tiered cakes and wedding cakes: several months ahead, especially in spring and summer
Holiday pies and pre-orders: by the date on the holiday order page

Use your real numbers. Then say what happens with short notice: "Need a cake sooner? Call us. We can often do a simpler design from our standard flavors in a day or two." That line saves orders you would otherwise lose.

What the order form should ask

A good custom cake form collects what you need to quote, without becoming a questionnaire:

Event date and pickup or delivery time
Number of servings (offer a simple guide: "a 6-inch round serves about 8 to 10")
Cake flavor, filling, frosting (offer your standard options as choices)
Design: a description and an option to attach a photo of an inspiration cake
Writing on the cake, spelled out
Allergies or dietary needs
Name, phone, email

Add a note about inspiration photos: you will use them as a guide but every cake is made by hand, so it will be your version of the design, not a copy. That sets expectations kindly.

Pricing and deposits without awkwardness

Custom cake prices vary so much that many bakeries leave them off. Customers then ask, or assume it is too expensive, or worse, assume it is supermarket-priced. A middle way works well:

"Starting at" prices per size for a simple design
What raises the price: tiers, fondant work, sugar flowers, hand-painted details, sculpted cakes, rush orders
How deposits work: that a deposit holds the date, whether it is refundable, and when the balance is due
How changes and cancellations are handled, in plain sentences

A small gallery of past cakes, each labeled with servings and a rough price band, helps customers find a design in their budget. For the general case for showing prices, see should you list prices on your website. If you want customers to pay deposits online, a payment link from your card processor can go on the page; adding a PayPal or Stripe button to your website explains how that works.

Walk-in customers want to know what they will find. Bakeries handle this in a few ways:

A regular weekly menu. If certain items appear on certain days (cinnamon rolls on Saturday, rye bread on Tuesday and Friday), write the weekly pattern on the menu page:

Every day: croissants, muffins, scones, sourdough loaves, cookies
Tuesday and Friday: rye, challah
Saturday and Sunday: cinnamon rolls, morning buns, fruit tarts

A "Today" note updated each morning. If your panel lets you edit from a phone in a minute, a short note at the top of the home page ("Today: pumpkin bread, apple hand pies, last of the cranberry scones") gives regulars a reason to check.

Daily posts on social media, with a clear link from the website. Fine if you already post the morning case on Instagram; the website then carries the regular menu and a link to "today's case".

Whichever way you choose, add "until sold out" for items that go early. Customers who arrive at 1 pm for something that sells out at 10 learn to come earlier, as long as you told them.

Allergens and dietary needs

People with allergies, celiac disease or dietary restrictions read bakery websites carefully. Be clear and honest:

Mark items that are vegan, gluten-free, nut-free or dairy-free, with a key.
Say plainly if your kitchen handles wheat, nuts, eggs, dairy and soy, and that you cannot promise any item is free of traces, unless it really is a dedicated kitchen.
If you offer gluten-free baking, say how it is made (separate equipment, separate days) only if it is true.
Invite questions: "Ask us about any ingredient, and we'll tell you what's in it."

What a bakery must label or disclose may be set by your state or local health department; check with them if you are not sure.

For the core pages and photos every bakery site needs, see what a bakery website needs.

Checklist for this week

Write the custom order steps as a numbered list.
Put your real lead times on the custom page and the order form.
Add servings guidance and inspiration photo upload to the form.
Add starting prices and what affects them, or at least what affects them.
Write the weekly bake pattern on the menu page.
Add an honest allergen sentence and dietary marks.

If your current site makes custom orders hard to place or the menu hard to keep current, you can see your site rebuilt first with your cakes and menu, and keep it only if it works for you.