Website for a Home Bakery: How to Take Cake and Cookie Orders Online
A website for a home bakery should do one thing well: turn "I want to order" into a confirmed, paid order without twenty messages back and forth. Here's how to set one up, whether you're a cottage bakery, a cookie business or a custom cake maker.
Why DMs aren't enough anymore
Taking orders through Instagram and Facebook messages works for the first few customers. Then it gets messy:
- Orders get lost in a long thread of messages
- You answer "how much?" and "do you have any left?" over and over
- You chase people for payment, and some never pay
- You can't see all of Saturday's pickups in one place
A simple online store fixes this. Customers see the menu and prices, pick a pickup time, pay, and you get one tidy email per order.
What your home bakery website needs
- Your menu as products, each with a photo and price: "Dozen chocolate chip cookies, $18." Flavors and sizes can be choices on one product.
- Pickup details: your pickup days and times, where to collect, and your order cut-off ("Order by Wednesday for Saturday pickup").
- Local delivery, if you offer it, with one simple fee.
- Easy payment: card, PayPal, and the apps locals already use like Venmo, Cash App or Zelle, or pay at pickup.
- An order notes box for allergies, names on cakes and special requests.
- Your story and photos, so people see the real baker behind the treats.
Make checkout painless
Online shoppers drop off when checkout surprises them. Baymard Institute's research found extra costs like shipping and fees are the top reason people abandon a checkout, and having to create an account and too few payment options also send people away.
Show as table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees) | 40% |
| Delivery was too slow | 20% |
| Didn’t trust the site with card details | 19% |
| Had to create an account | 18% |
| Checkout too long or complicated | 17% |
| Site had errors or crashed | 17% |
| Returns policy not good enough | 13% |
| Couldn’t see the total cost up front | 12% |
| Not enough ways to pay | 9% |
For a home bakery, the fixes are easy: free local pickup, no account required, and the payment methods your neighbors already use. (We wrote more about this in why shoppers leave at checkout.)
Getting paid: what each option costs
- Cards through Stripe: 2.9% plus 30 cents per order at Stripe's standard US rate.
- Venmo: for business payments, use a Venmo business profile. Venmo's standard seller fee is 1.9% plus 10 cents per payment.
- Cash App and Zelle: popular with locals; check the current terms for business use in each app.
- Cash at pickup: no fees, but you risk no-shows, so consider asking for card or app payment on big custom orders.
Custom cakes and big orders
Custom cakes don't fit neatly into a cart, but you can still make them easy:
- List your standard cake sizes as products with a starting price, and let customers add details in the order notes.
- For fully custom designs, use a contact form for requests, then reply with a quote.
- Consider a "Custom cake deposit" product so customers can pay the deposit online to lock in the date.
Set it up this weekend
You can preview our bakery store template or the cookie shop template, generate a free demo with your bakery name, and add your own products. A full store with pickup, delivery and all those payment options is $9.99 a month, with no commission on your sales.
- Write your menu: products, sizes, flavors and prices.
- Take a bright photo of each item next to a window.
- Choose your pickup days, times and cut-off.
- Turn on the payment methods you want.
- Put your store link in your Instagram bio and Facebook page, and pin a post: "Now taking orders online!"
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a website for my home bakery?
You don't have to have one, but it makes life much easier once orders pick up. A website gives customers one place to see your menu and prices, choose a pickup time and pay, so you spend less time answering messages and more time baking.
Can I sell baked goods online from home?
In many US states, cottage food laws allow some home-baked goods to be sold, but the rules differ a lot by state: which foods are allowed, whether you can ship, labeling and yearly sales limits. Check your state's cottage food rules before you start selling.
How do I take bakery orders on my website?
Use an online store with your products and prices, a cart, and a checkout that collects the customer's name, contact details, pickup day and notes. Turn on local pickup and the payment methods your customers like, such as card, PayPal, Venmo or Cash App.
How do home bakers take custom cake orders online?
List your standard options as products (sizes and flavors as choices) and add an order notes box for custom requests. For fully custom cakes, use a request form, reply with a quote, then send a payment link or ask them to order a deposit product.
Open your own online store
A full store with your products, cart and checkout, card, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle or pay at pickup. No commission on your sales. Still only $9.99 a month.
See Webbiy Stores →