The problem
Cake orders arrive by phone and Instagram message, each needing flavor, size, date and payment agreed, and some cakes are never collected. If a bakery takes 25 cake orders a month at 12 minutes each, that's 300 minutes, 5 hours, and 2 uncollected $47£35€42A$67C$66 cakes is $93£70€83A$134C$132 of work unpaid.
What the AI does
Square Online is Square's online shop, synced with its tills. Preorders, where customers order items for a specific date and time in the future, are on the Plus plan at $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month billed annually, with pickup on every plan. Add each cake size and flavor you make as an item with a photo, price and the notice you need, and customers pay when they order, so a cake left uncollected is already paid for. Food sold online needs its allergen information available before the customer buys, so list the allergens for every cake from your recipe records and have a trained person check them. The plans page doesn't mention a box for the inscription wording, so test how you'll collect it before launch.
A worked example
An independent bakery in Frome with the owner-baker and four staff, a shop counter on Square tills, takes about 25 celebration cake orders a month and moves them from messages to Square Online preorders paid in advance.
Before
25 orders at 12 minutes of messages and payment (300 minutes, 5 hours) plus 2 uncollected cakes at $47£35€42A$67C$66 a month
After
25 orders at 4 minutes to check and confirm (100 minutes, 1.7 hours), with every cake paid for when ordered
What it's worth
About $182£137€163A$263C$258 a month: $89£67€80A$129C$126 of time saved plus $93£70€83A$134C$132 from two cakes now paid in advance. The time is 3.3 hours (200 minutes) at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour; the $93£70€83A$134C$132 is the price of cakes already baked, so it counts in full. Square Online Plus is $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month billed annually; online card fees of 1.4% + 25p per UK card order are extra.
How to set it up
- Upgrade to Square Online Plus and turn on preorders with the notice you need, for example 4 days.
- Add each cake as an item with a true photo, size, servings, price and full allergen information from your recipe records.
- Have a trained person check every cake's allergen list against the recipe and supplier labels before it goes online.
- Work out how customers give inscription wording and test a full order from your own phone.
- Check the next week's orders every morning against your production plan.
What goes wrong
- Allergen information online must be correct and kept up to date; a changed recipe or supplier means updating the listing the same day.
- Preorders are on Plus only; the free plan takes orders for collection but not for a chosen future date.
- If the cake photo looks different from what you'll make, customers can complain; show your real work.
- Set a limit on how many cakes you can make each day so a busy weekend doesn't overbook the ovens.