Understanding Inquiries in BakeSmart

Overview

Inquiries is a paid BakeSmart feature that allows customers to submit quote requests through your website instead of calling, texting, or emailing.

Customers use a public Inquiry Form to request products for a specific date or occasion, share budget and guest details, and upload inspiration images. These requests are sent directly into BakeSmart, where your team reviews, communicates, prices, and decides next steps before any order is created.

This article explains what Inquiries is and how it fits into the BakeSmart workflow.

What Inquiries Does

Inquiries is a request-before-order workflow designed for custom, quoted, or non-standard orders.

It allows customers to:

• Request pricing for products
• Select a fulfillment date
• Choose an occasion
• Provide guest count and budget details
• Upload inspiration images

Each submission creates an inquiry that your team can review, respond to, quote, and either move forward or decline — without committing production time or taking payment upfront.

Where Inquiries Lives

All inquiry activity is managed inside the Inquiries Inbox in the BakeSmart app.

Only employees assigned to manage inquiries can access:

• Incoming inquiry requests
• Customer communication threads
• Inquiry statuses
• Quote and order actions tied to inquiries

This keeps inquiry requests intentionally separate from active orders.

How Inquiries Work

At a high level, the inquiry workflow follows this path:

1. A customer submits a request through the public Inquiry Form
2. The inquiry appears in the Inquiries Inbox
3. Your team reviews details and communicates with the customer
4. A quote may be sent
5. The customer accepts or declines
6. Accepted inquiries are converted into orders and payment is requested

Until an inquiry is accepted, it does not impact production or payments.

How Inquiries Fit Into Orders

Inquiries exist before an order is created and before payment is collected.

They allow your team to confirm availability, clarify details, and set pricing intentionally. Once accepted, the inquiry converts into a standard BakeSmart order and follows your normal order and payment workflow.

What Inquiries Is Not

To set clear expectations:

• Inquiries is not instant checkout
• Inquiries does not automatically create orders
• Inquiries does not collect payment without approval

This separation is intentional and designed to protect your time, pricing, and production capacity.

Video Walkthrough

Video coming soon

Related Article

• How to Set Up and Use Inquiries in BakeSmart

Keywords

BakeSmart Inquiries, Website Quote Requests, Custom Order Requests, Inquiry Workflow Requests, Inquiry Workflow