Square for Restaurants wants you to buy hardware. Toast wants a long-term hardware contract and a per-transaction cut. ChowNow takes the orders but never gives you the customer phone number. You'll have a working bakery site, pre-order menu, daily-special broadcast, and custom-cake intake live before tomorrow's bake.
Customers browse on your site or WhatsApp catalog and check out with a pickup time. Queue tomorrow's specials and broadcast — almond croissant, sourdough loaf, three slices left.
Occasion, headcount, flavour, design references, pickup date — all captured on one form. Quote → deposit → in production → ready, with WhatsApp updates at each step.
Every pickup logged against the phone number. Reward fires automatically after N visits. Slow Tuesdays get a one-tap "10% off pickups today" broadcast to your top 50 regulars.
| Feature | DCS | The other guys |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 5 min | Hardware shipping + onboarding |
| Cost | Flat $19-149/mo all orders | Per-transaction cut + hardware lease |
| WhatsApp pre-orders | Native catalog + checkout | Order-form link from a third-party |
| Custom-cake intake | Form + quote + deposit + production | DMs, screenshots, Google Forms |
| Daily-special broadcast | One tap to opted-in regulars | Instagram post nobody sees in time |
| Own your customer data | Yes — CSV export | Locked into their platform |
Customers browse your live menu on your site or WhatsApp catalog, tap items, and check out with a pickup or delivery time. Order lands on your kitchen tablet in real time with the prep window. No more chasing DMs or Instagram comments to reconstruct what someone wanted.
You queue tomorrow's specials the night before — almond croissant, sourdough loaf, three cheesecake slices. At your set time the broadcast goes out to every opted-in customer with a Reserve button. Sells out in minutes most days, predictable bake volume after.
On-site form captures occasion, headcount, flavour, design references (photo upload), pickup date. WhatsApp lands on your phone with a draft quote, you tap Approve and the deposit-link goes to the customer. The order moves through Quoted → Deposit Paid → In Production → Ready with WhatsApp updates at each step.
Every pickup is logged against the phone number. After N purchases (you set the threshold) a reward fires automatically on WhatsApp — free coffee, free croissant, whatever you choose. No punch cards, no apps to download, no third-party loyalty SaaS fee.
For online ordering, custom-cake quoting, and broadcasts — yes, and at a fraction of the cost. For full POS with cash drawers and table service we integrate; we don't replace the till. Most small bakeries we talk to keep Square for the counter and run everything customer-facing on DCS.