Case Studies
James and the Giant Cupcake Grows Revenue 10% With Catering & Online Ordering
How one independent bakery was able to put same-day and advance orders on dedicated tracks with a beautiful custom website.
- Cuisine type:
- Bakery
- Locations:
- 2
- Founded:
- 2008
- City:
- Oakland, CA
In 2008, entrepreneur and hospitality veteran Eurydice Manning introduced her hometown of Oakland, CA to James and the Giant Cupcake: a pastry brand and passion project that sought to “put the magic back into food.” With beautiful, creative designs that dazzled food lovers around the Bay Area, Manning was able to open her first storefront in 2011.
Accepting orders through their website has always been a priority. James and the Giant Cupcake's first few websites were very DIY — fitting for a business that Manning started in her apartment. First there was a blog, then an HTML page Manning built herself, and eventually a simple Wix site.
By 2019, Manning wanted more. Specifically, she needed the ability to accept orders for both catering and same-day orders, in distinct but connected flows.
She found BentoBox.
+10%
Revenue, ‘22–‘23
+47%
Average Order Value, ‘22–‘23
4k
Site visitors per month
With BentoBox, James and the Giant Cupcake was able to handle both kinds of business while increasing revenue 10.2% per year.
“The fact that BentoBox has Online Ordering and Pre-Order & Catering lets my bakery serve people who are planning months ahead and people who literally forgot it was someone’s birthday,” Manning says. “We want those customers on different paths, and the website is great for that. It’s really helped with getting our revenue streamlined.”
BentoBox helped drive other kinds of revenue, too.
“The online gift cards are great,” says Manning. “I really like how they boosted sales during the holidays. The shipping is nice, too. It's just another thing that makes the website easy to use. People can see everything we have to offer and navigate easily to what they need.”
As a highly visual brand, design was also paramount to James and the Giant Cupcake. On BentoBox, Manning was able to create a website that looked just right.
“I liked that BentoBox was made for restaurants,” Manning says. “I didn’t have to use these templates built for generic businesses. That made it unique.”
Customers aren’t complaining, either.
“People like to use the website,” says Manning. “It's not confusing. We can show more options there than if they were to see us on DoorDash or UberEats, and we make more money, too. Our website is more inclusive of what we're really doing. I think people enjoy that.”
James and the Giant Cupcake’s home page features professional photos of the bakery’s diverse custom pastries.
Both the Online Ordering and Pre-Order & Catering pages prompt users to first select which location they’re ordering from.
Manning is easily able to make updates to the menu shown on the page for same-day Online Ordering.
Each item's Pre-Order & Catering description specifies the lead time needed per order.
Online Ordering and Pre-Order & Catering let my bakery serve people who are planning months ahead and people who literally forgot it was someone’s birthday. It’s really helped streamline our revenue.
Eurydice Manning
Founder & Owner
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