The problem
Baking by habit leaves trays unsold at closing and sells out of the favorites by noon. If a bakery has 24 items left at closing each day that cost $1.60£1.20€1.43A$2.30C$2.26 each to make, over 26 days that's 624 items and about $996£749€891A$1,438C$1,408 a month in the bin.
What the AI does
Square's UK help pages say item sales, category and modifier sales reports are available to all Square sellers from the Square Dashboard, and you can set reporting hours to match your opening times. Each week, look at item sales for the same day over the last four weeks, write the next week's bake sheet from the numbers, and note what was left at closing and when each item sold out. The report shows what sold, not what you binned, so keep a simple tally of leftovers alongside it.
A worked example
An independent bakery in Frome with the owner-baker and four staff, a shop counter on Square tills, uses Square's free till plan. The owner reviews item sales every Monday and sets the week's bake quantities.
Before
About 24 items left at closing a day at $1.60£1.20€1.43A$2.30C$2.26 to make: 24 x 26 x $1.60£1.20€1.43A$2.30C$2.26 = about $996£749€891A$1,438C$1,408 a month
After
About 14 items left a day: 14 x 26 x $1.60£1.20€1.43A$2.30C$2.26 = about $581£437€520A$839C$822 a month, plus 20 minutes a week on reports (86 minutes a month)
What it's worth
About $376£283€337A$543C$532 a month saved: $415£312€371A$599C$587 less in production cost (10 fewer unsold items a day x 26 days x $1.60£1.20€1.43A$2.30C$2.26) minus about $39£29€35A$56C$55 for 86 minutes of report reading at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour. The $1.60£1.20€1.43A$2.30C$2.26 cost and the 10-item cut are assumptions. The reports are free with Square's till.
How to set it up
- Make sure every item is rung through Square as its own item, not as 'misc bakery'.
- Set reporting hours to your opening times.
- Keep a daily tally of what's left at closing and when each favorite sells out.
- Every Monday, compare four weeks of the same weekday and write the bake sheet.
- Change one or two items at a time and watch the tally for two weeks.
What goes wrong
- Reports only show sales; an item that sold out at 11am looks like low demand unless you note when it ran out.
- Weather, school holidays and local events change demand; adjust the numbers by hand for them.
- Items rung through under a general button can't be reported; set up every product properly.
- Cutting quantities too far loses sales and regulars; aim for a small amount left, not none.