Food businesses: Christmas pre-orders online, live in 7 days

For food businesses

Online orders that go straight into your system. No re-typing.

I connect your website and online ordering to the system your food business already runs on, so orders land in operations, not in someone's inbox.

I built Knotts Bakery's online cake ordering: 115 orders in its first 11 weeks, with weekly online orders up about 50% without promotion.

  • Free, no obligation
  • You talk to the engineer who builds it
  • Reply within 12 hours

The problem

Every order typed twice is time you pay for, and a mistake waiting to happen.

Orders come in by phone, by email, through the website, from trade customers. Then someone types them all into your system again, often after closing.

It eats hours

Staff spend the end of the day re-keying orders instead of going home.

It causes mistakes

A wrong date, size or collection shop gets found out when the customer arrives.

It loses orders

If you only take orders while the shop is open, the customer who wants to order at 10pm goes elsewhere.

It hides the numbers

Orders spread across inboxes and notepads mean nobody can see what's coming.

Off-the-shelf tools fix the front of this. They take the order. But the order still has to get into your system, and that's the bit I build.

Proof

Knotts Bakery: 115 online cake orders in 11 weeks

1 in 4 orders came in while every shop was shut. Weekly online orders rose about 50%, without promotion. The connected system behind it runs Corries' shops, from the nightly stock count to the signed delivery docket.

Knotts Bakery · Online ordering

Online cake orders go straight into the bakery's system

Customers design and pay for their cake online. The paid order appears in the bakery's own system for the right shop, with no one typing it in.

115 online cake orders in the first 11 weeks; 1 in 4 orders placed while every shop was shut; Weekly online orders rose about 50%, without promotion.

Read the Knotts case study

Corries · Operations platform

One system from the nightly stock count to the signed delivery docket

Shops count stock at night, and the system works out tomorrow's order, prints the picking sheets and dockets, and records the driver's signed delivery.

Read the Corries operations platform case study

How it works

Four steps, no surprises

  1. Free 30-minute call

    We talk through how orders reach you and where they go next. I'll explain what could be improved and what it might take.

  2. A fixed quote

    A written scope and a fixed price before any work starts.

  3. Built and tested in staging

    I build it and test it against a copy of your setup before anything touches the real system. Payments are tested in test mode.

  4. Go live, with support

    We switch it on together. After that, a Service & Support Agreement covers fixes and changes.

Peace of mind

You're not taking a chance on me

One engineer doesn't mean one point of failure.

  • You own the code

    It's yours, not rented. If we ever part ways, it goes with you.

  • Tested before go-live

    Every change runs in a separate staging copy first, with automated tests.

  • Professional indemnity insurance

    Professional indemnity insurance with AXA.

  • A backup developer

    A named backup developer has access to the code, hosting and accounts, so your system keeps running if I'm ever unavailable. It's written into the support agreement.

  • Supported after launch

    Next-working-day response for issues, with fixes and small changes covered by a monthly support fee.

  • Written down

    Every system comes with setup notes and a runbook, so it's never just in my head.

Fit

Is this for you?

A good fit if

  • You run a food business and handle a steady flow of customer or trade orders.
  • Orders arrive in more than one way, and someone re-types them.
  • You already have a system the business runs on (even a spreadsheet), and off-the-shelf tools don't fit how you work.
  • You'd rather deal with the person building it than with an agency.

Not a fit if

  • You just need a brochure website. Plenty of people do that well, and cheaper.
  • Shopify or Square already does everything you need. Keep it.
  • You want the cheapest possible price over something built to last.

FAQ

Questions owners ask

What does it cost?

It depends on your range, how you take orders now and what it has to connect to. You see the demo first, then I give you a fixed price in writing before you commit to anything.

How long does it take?

Christmas pre-orders: live in 7 days. Bigger systems: typically 6–10 weeks from agreed quote to go-live.

What if you're unavailable?

A named backup developer has access to the code, hosting and accounts, so your system keeps running if I'm ever unavailable. It's written into the support agreement.

Why not just use Shopify or Square?

They're good at taking an order. They don't put it into your production system, stock targets, prep sheets or trade accounts. If they already do all you need, use them. If you still end up re-typing orders from them, that's the gap I close. I can connect to a tool like that rather than replace it.

What happens on the call?

A free 30-minute call about how orders reach you and where they go next. I'll give you an honest view on what could be improved and what it might take.

Do I need to replace my current system?

Usually not. The point is to connect what you already have. For one food group, the website feeds its existing system rather than replacing it.

Stop paying someone to type orders twice.

Book a free 30-minute call. We'll talk through how your orders move today and what could be improved. The best time to fix it is before your busiest season, not during it. I build every system myself, so I only take on a few at a time.