Instagram for cafés & bakeries

Custom orders arrive as a DM and a photo of someone else's cake

Bakeries sell on Instagram and take orders in the DM, usually while somebody is elbow deep in dough. The enquiry needs six pieces of information and arrives with one.

What they actually ask

Can you do a two-tier birthday cake for the 12th?
Is anything on the menu nut free?
What time do you close on Sunday?
Do you do same-day collection?
How much notice do you need for a custom order?

What makes this different from any other business

A custom order enquiry is missing five things every time

Date, servings, flavour, design, dietary requirements, collection or delivery. Almost every enquiry arrives with a photo and a date, and the rest takes four messages to extract. An agent collects all six in one exchange, which is the difference between a quotable order and a conversation.

Lead time is what turns enquiries into disappointments

Custom bakes need notice, and celebration cakes are asked about days too late almost as often as they are asked about in time. Stating the minimum notice at the first message means the customer either books properly or finds out immediately, rather than after you have both invested in the conversation.

Allergen answers in a bakery carry the most risk of any trade here

Nuts, gluten and dairy in a shared kitchen cannot be answered casually. The honest answer usually includes what you cannot guarantee, and that phrasing has to be exact. An agent repeating your written wording precisely is safer than a tired reply at the end of a shift.

Setting it up

1
List what a custom order enquiry must includeDate, servings, flavour, design, dietary needs, collection or delivery. The agent collects all six in one exchange.
2
State your minimum notice clearlyBy order type. This prevents most of the disappointing conversations.
3
Write your allergen position exactlyIncluding what a shared kitchen cannot guarantee. The agent repeats this precisely rather than paraphrasing.

What it does not do

It does not quote a custom bake — it collects what you need to quote
It cannot take a deposit or payment
It should not improvise on allergens, so anything outside your written position escalates

Questions

Can it price a custom cake?: It can give your published starting prices by size and type, but a custom bake is a judgement. It collects the six things you need and hands the enquiry over ready to quote.
How do we handle allergen questions safely?: Write the position exactly, including what a shared kitchen cannot guarantee, and set anything beyond it to escalate. The agent repeats your wording rather than paraphrasing, which is more consistent than a reply at the end of a long shift.

Where the rules come from

Instagram Messaging documentationMeta's reference for what a business account can and cannot do in DMs.

Other businesses like yours

Collect the whole order in one exchange

Answer while your hands are in the dough. Free plan, no card.

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