Why Custom Order Forms Are a Game Changer for Your Event-Based Food Business‍

July 17, 2023

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December 29, 2022

Whether you sell cookies, cakes, charcuterie boards, or other foods, it is likely that you rely on your customers’ big life events to drive your sales. Birthday parties, weddings, and holidays are triggers for people to buy your beautiful, custom food.

Special events require special products. Your solution? A professional, official custom order form that your customers can access online. Custom order forms are especially important for small businesses - they help instill trust.

Confused customers don’t buy. If they have doubts about what they are ordering or what your product will look like, they are likely to walk away. 

Castiron includes a free online order form creator in its Food Business Management Platform. The custom order form guides your customers through the purchasing process, ensuring they are confident in your abilities to deliver the best food product throughout the entire process. The best part? Castiron’s online order form includes payment, fulfillment, calendar tracking, and more, all specifically designed to be the best free online order form for people selling perishable local food products.

Although custom order forms can be used for any food type, we have found that the most common foods that absolutely need this process to purchase are cakes, cookies, and charcuterie boards. 

Look Professional with a Custom Cake Order Form

Successful at-home cake bakers most often have a simple cake order form that customers can easily access and use. If you’re intimidated by the idea of creating a cake order form online, you don’t need to worry. In just a few clicks, you can create an editable digital order form for your online custom cake orders with Castiron. 

In order to create your order form, all you need to do is take a few simple steps in your Castiron store. We are built specifically for perishable, local food products and got our start with at-home bakers just like you.

Castiron’s custom order forms are completely customizable, so you can decide what  information you need to give your customer a quote for their pending order. 

Don’t want to create your own? No problem! Castiron has pre-built cake order form templates to create your forms in just a few clicks. When you create a custom product in Castiron, you’ll be able to select from an order form template or build your own order form. We’ve included all of the questions you need to ask your customers, but you can always add additional questions.

Here is a often what our owners make sure to include:

  • When is your event? When do you need this product?
  • How many people do you need to feed?
  • Do you have any allergies or special dietary requirements?
  • What theme or color scheme are you using?
  • Is this for pickup or delivery?
  • Do you have any inspiration photos to share?

Streamline Your Orders with a Custom Cookie Order Form

Without question, one of the hottest event-based food trends in the past few years has been beautiful sugar cookies that combine the skills of art and baking. If you’ve started to sell these cookies, you know how cumbersome it can be to understand exactly what your customer is looking for. That process can take away from you doing what you love - baking and decorating the cookies.

In order to streamline your business in 2023, you need a professional custom cookie order form. Whether you use it as a sugar cookie order form or you sell another type of cookie, it will help you track your orders and make the process easier for your customers, keeping them coming back. 

So what exactly should be in a cookie order form? We suggest that at minimum you ensure that you capture the following information in one easy-to-access place.

  • Name
  • Contact information (email and phone)
  • Number of cookies
  • Flavor of cookies
  • Theme of cookies
  • Date the cookies are needed
  • Packaging options, like individual heat sealed wrapping
  • Fulfillment details, like delivery or pick up
  • Inspiration photos

Are you not sure where to start? Just like cakes, Castiron has pre-built cookie order form templates to create your forms quickly & easily. It is the same process as custom cakes - when you create a custom product in Castiron, you’ll be able to select from an order form template or build your own. If you need inspiration, check out how bakers like Edible Art by Mariah, Colony House Cookies, and The Whimsical Cookie are using custom order forms. 

Order Forms Aren’t Just for Baked Goods: Use Custom Charcuterie Board Order Forms to Transform Your Charcuterie Business

Home-based charcuterie board businesses are taking off - and for good reason! They are a fun, custom, beautiful addition to any event your customer may be having. In fact, during Covid, pre-packed charcuterie sales went up in volume over 80%, and by Q2 of 2021, pre-packaged charcuterie boards remained 40% higher than in previous years. Charcuterie boxes and boards are all the rage now, and sales don’t show any signs of slowing. 

But custom charcuterie orders can be tricky to keep track of. In order to look professional and streamline your business this year, you need a professional custom charcuterie business order form. Whether you sell pre-made charcuterie boards with custom options, completely custom charcuterie boxes, or table-long grazing boards, it will help you track your orders and make the process easier for your customers.

So what exactly should be in a charcuterie board order form? We often see our owners capture the following information at minimum:

  • Name
  • Contact information (email and phone)
  • Type of event
  • Number of attendees
  • Theme of event
  • Date the charcuterie is needed
  • Allergen considerations
  • Fulfillment details, like delivery or pick up
  • Inspiration photos

Just like any other baked good, Castiron makes building charcuterie order forms fast and easy. It is the same process as the other products above - simply create a custom product in Castiron, select from an order form template, or build your own.

Charcuterie boards are highly sought after for holiday parties, New Year’s celebrations, birthday parties, and more, so if you’re ready to get started quickly, you can take advantage of a thriving at-home charcuterie board market and start building the business of your dreams.

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About the Author
Anna Schena Walsh

Head of Growth, Castiron

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