It eats hours
Staff spend the end of the day re-keying orders instead of going home.
For food businesses
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.
or email me: ben@websmith-systems.co.uk
I built Knotts Bakery's online cake ordering: 115 orders in its first 11 weeks, with weekly online orders up about 50% without promotion.
The problem
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.
Staff spend the end of the day re-keying orders instead of going home.
A wrong date, size or collection shop gets found out when the customer arrives.
If you only take orders while the shop is open, the customer who wants to order at 10pm goes elsewhere.
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
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
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 studyCorries · Operations platform
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 studyHow it works
We talk through how orders reach you and where they go next. I'll explain what could be improved and what it might take.
A written scope and a fixed price before any work starts.
I build it and test it against a copy of your setup before anything touches the real system. Payments are tested in test mode.
We switch it on together. After that, a Service & Support Agreement covers fixes and changes.
Peace of mind
One engineer doesn't mean one point of failure.
It's yours, not rented. If we ever part ways, it goes with you.
Every change runs in a separate staging copy first, with automated tests.
Professional indemnity insurance with AXA.
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.
Next-working-day response for issues, with fixes and small changes covered by a monthly support fee.
Every system comes with setup notes and a runbook, so it's never just in my head.
Fit
FAQ
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.
Christmas pre-orders: live in 7 days. Bigger systems: typically 6–10 weeks from agreed quote to go-live.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
or email me: ben@websmith-systems.co.uk