How customers can order from your bakery through the link in your Instagram bio
Make a free ordering link for bread, pastries and cakes, put it in your Instagram bio, and get every order in one inbox. No app for the customer, no commission.
Most small bakeries already take orders on Instagram. A customer sees the Saturday cardamom buns in a story, sends a DM, and someone answers it between the oven and the till. It works until it is three cakes, two allergy questions and a "did you get my message?" at 6 am.
The fix is not a web shop with a checkout page and a monthly fee. It is one link in your bio that opens a real order flow, so the customer orders in thirty seconds and the order lands somewhere you can see it. This guide does exactly that in four steps. The Instagram steps were checked on 30 October 2026.
What you need
- An Instagram account. Any account can add bio links; you do not need a business or creator account for this.
- Ten minutes on your phone.
- A list of what people can order: bread, pastries, cakes, sizes and prices.
Step 1: Make the ordering link
Open the bakery order template. It is a working shop, not a mock-up: a catalog, a cart, options such as size or filling, and a chat where the order is confirmed. Try it as a customer first.
@leipomovilja
Then:
- Tap Use this template. The flow, including the sample products, is copied into a free Answe account. You sign in with your email; there is no card to add.
- Replace the sample products with yours: names, prices, options, stock. Products you have not baked yet can be marked sold out, which hides them from the cart.
- For cakes, keep the pickup day and the note field. If you want customers to attach a reference photo, add a photo upload field in the builder.
- Press Publish. Your link looks like
answe.com/yourbakery/xxxxx. Tap Share → Copy link.
If you would rather not start from a template, describe your bakery in a sentence and Answe drafts the flow with your products.
Step 2: Put the link in your Instagram bio
On the Instagram app:
- Go to your profile and tap Edit profile.
- Tap Links, then Add external link.
- Paste the link. Give it a title such as Order here or Pre-order cakes. Tap Done.
Instagram lets you add up to five links, but visitors see only the first one with "and 4 others" after it. Put the order link first. If you have an older link-in-bio page, keep it as the second link; the order should be one tap away, not two.
Instagram still does not make links in captions clickable, so write "order through the link in our bio" in the caption and story. In stories you can also add a Link sticker with the same URL.
Step 3: Tell people, every time
- Stories: a photo of the tray, a link sticker, "Order for Saturday pickup". Stories are where bakery orders actually come from.
- A highlight called Order: pin a story that shows the three taps, so the bio link has a permanent explanation.
- The counter: the same link as a QR code. Open your flow page, tap QR, print it. People who stand in the queue on Saturday pre-order on Tuesday.
- Your website: paste the embed code from the Share sheet and the same flow runs on your own page too.
Step 4: Where the orders arrive
Every order lands in your Answe inbox, in the iOS app, and in the free Orders app you can open on any tablet by the oven. Each order has a status you tap through: accepted, preparing, ready. The customer sees the status in the same chat, so "is it ready yet?" answers itself.
If you want payment up front for cakes, connect your own Stripe account and the order gets a pay button in the chat. Payouts go to you; Answe takes no per-order fee. Orders work without payment too; many bakeries take cash at pickup for everyday bread and payment in the chat for cakes.
The free plan shows up to 100 responses per question and two active flows, which covers a bakery that is testing the idea. Paid plans start at €9.99 a month when the volume grows (pricing, checked October 2026).
DMs, a Google Form, a web shop or a link: which one?
| DMs | Google Form | Web shop | Order link (Answe) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer needs | nothing | nothing | an account, often | nothing |
| Prices and options | typed by hand | plain text fields | yes | yes, with a cart |
| Sold-out handling | you remember | no | yes | yes |
| Payment | by request | no | yes | optional, in the chat |
| "Is it ready?" | another DM | no | status in the same chat | |
| Monthly cost | free | free | from about €30 | free to start |
A DM is fine for ten orders a week. A Google Form breaks the week the second person asks for a change. A full web shop makes sense when you ship nationwide. An order link sits in the middle: a real order, no store to run. If you are on a form today, Google Forms for orders compares the two in more detail.
Questions bakeries ask
Do customers need an app or an account? No. The link opens in the browser on any phone. They pick, add to the cart and send the order. An email or phone number is asked only so you can reach them about pickup.
Can I take cake pre-orders with a pickup date? Yes. The template asks for a pickup day and a note. You can set which days are available, so nobody orders a wedding cake for tomorrow.
What does it cost? Free to start; the free plan has two active flows and shows up to 100 responses per question. Payment in the chat uses your own Stripe account; Stripe charges its card fee, Answe adds nothing per order.
Can I use the same link on my website and at the counter? Yes. One link, three places: the bio, a QR code by the till and the embed on your site. Orders from all three land in the same inbox.
Start with the bakery order template, or see how other shops and makers take orders from one link.