Cupcake is a niche market in the baking industry and the statistics says that the industry turnover is about $1.6 billion annually in the United States of America only.

The most inspiring and encouraging factor to get in the Cupcake business is that you can start on a small scale from the comfort of your kitchen.

The business is so lucrative that even the Shark Tanks are investing in them !

If you are contemplating on How to start a cupcake business online, Here are the points that you must keep in mind :

#1 Plan Your Business Model

There’s no need to have a retail outlet if you have decided for opening a cupcake business online.

However, You will still need to comply with all necessary business regulation and licensing laws for starting a cupcake business online

1. Are you going make the cupcake yourself or are you going to tie-up partner with bakers/bakery stores and do only deliveries?
2. Have you decided on the pricing model ?
3. Have you decided the area where you will be supplying your cupcakes ?How will you ensure the delivery will be as agreed upon?

Try using the business model canvas. A business model canvas will help you get more clarity on the how you can plan your activities.

#2 Start with a Name and Logo Design

It might sound counter intuitive, but don’t spend too much time here. Shortlist a few names, pick one and get moving.

That’s not to say your name doesn’t matter but having the right cupcake business names will help customer to spell and remember easily. And ideally, it should cover the keyword, the product you’ll be selling. For instance, a name like “janecupcakes.com” covers the Baker/owner’s name.

You can also try using random name generator services like

https://www.dotomator.com/ or

https://www.namemesh.com/company-name-generator

Once you’ve decided to starting a cupcake business, you’ll need to be agile – there’s so much to be done.

A number of things (logo design, registering the domain name, hosting decisions, getting your visiting card & brochure printed etc.) can begin only after you’ve finalized a name. The longer you take in finalizing the name, the more these tasks get delayed.

Remember, your success depends upon how you make your customers feel about the product and the shopping experience. Your logo design & the name plays a big role in the branding activities.

#3 Deciding the Domain Name & Website Hosting.

Buying a domain name is not much expensive. (typically, $6 to $10 a year). You can choose to buy from either large companies (e.g. GoDaddy) or even we can help you with that too.

You can register the domain in your personal name even before the company gets registered. Next is the hosting service provider.

The hosting company provides you web space (memory) wherein your online cupcake store runs, in addition to other features.

You’ll not want to go in for the cheap hosting plans. Your entire business is going to depend on the speed of loading, security provided and whether the site is always running. This is not the place to cut corners.

#4 Designing the Website and Mobile App

Before embarking on the cupcake website design and the development, you should have browsed through a good number of online cupcake stores to know what exactly you want.

You will like to go with an experienced eCommerce development company who has worked with cupcake startups and would be able to design a customized cupcake website & cupcake mobile app that would make you stand out of the competition.

Here’s an example of Sweetist.co – one of our customers who partner with the best bakers in New York and deliver it to customer’s doorstep

You will need to have nice photographs of different cupcakes you are offering posted on the site it would be a great idea to include a menu including all your different cupcakes as well as their prices and descriptions.

You will need to apply for an online payment gateway for example : Stripe or Paypal through which you can accept credit card/ debit card payments from your customers.

While designing your website and app, Do keep these 3 points in mind:

• One, the online store & the app must be pleasing and have simple user interface to navigate through.
• Two, the code should be robust enough to keep you and your customers protected.
• Three, have as many payment options as possible – you don’t want a customer to turn away just because you don’t accept PayPal.

Also, one of the most important factors in deciding the vendor is the Cost;

The best option is to select agencies & vendors who have worked on a similar application earlier which helps you to reduce your cost also if you are able to find out offshore development companies in India as the billing rates would be much more economical

Caution:

Honestly, a poor choice at this stage can pretty much destroy your dreams. Don’t cut corners
– at least not too many.

#5 Delivery and Logistics Partners

Often, delivery is called ‘the last lap & the most important one in the entire race’. Making sure the delivery happens the way you promised the customer is critical. The delivery service must be able to deliver satisfactorily or else you’re spoiling everything during the last lap.

The deliverability has multiple factors like :

1. Stock/Inventory
2. Serviceable Areas

With on demand platforms like Uber, customers these days need more convenience and real time updates.

With Driver app, Your customers will be able to track their deliveries in real time also you would be able to assign the right deliveries and track the location of each driver.

This makes the entire logistics & supply chain smooth resulting into a phenomenal customer experience & drives in repeat business.

#6 Marketing Your Online Cupcake Business

Once you have the website up and running and you are ready to start your online cupcake business then the biggest and most important hurdle you have to cross now is marketing your online cupcake business.

You can start from traditional methods like word of mouth, friends and family former colleagues etc. As you are an online business create social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and start promoting your store.

You also take the email marketing route to get the word out there about your new cupcake business.

If you do not plan to have a in house digital marketing team you can hire an experienced SEO agency that can help you to drive more sales to your cupcake store.

Whichever option you choose you have to realize that you need to market your new business because if you don’t nobody is going to know that you even exist you don’t want your new website to be one of those thousands if not millions of websites that are put up every day just for the fun of it you need to make sure your website works for you check out

However….

If there’s one small but critical tip someone can offer you…

….it’s about the fine print.

To begin with, you’ll need clear Photos and accurate Product Descriptions. Attractive Photos and product description help to increase your cupcake website conversion rates.

Finally, have a clearly worded set of Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and Refund & Return Policy. Within them, you should be able to build in Dispute Resolution methods and locations.

It’s a good idea to keep revisiting and reviewing these from time to time.

Once all these things are in place, you can now safely execute the first order.

Conclusion

As a top-rated eCommerce website development company, we’ve been helping people realize their dream of setting up successful online cupcake business.

Why don’t you share us about your ideas ? We’ll be happy to serve you!