How to Develop a Bakery Website like Greggs? A Comprehensive Guide

Greggs, one of the largest bakery chains in the UK, is a recognized name in British households. But do you know what makes this brand even more popular? Its huge user base spans all major cities and towns in the UK. And the company’s digitalization through a website and a mobile app speaks a lot about this huge popularity. You will be surprised to know the Greggs app has over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store. And the numbers are still increasing, encouraging many local British bakery owners to reap the benefits of bakery website development. 

So, if you’re a bakery owner in the UK struggling with your ever-declining sale and looking for the best way to increase it, you need nothing but a website like Greggs, and if it works wonders for you, don’t take much time in developing a mobile app. According to last month's data, Greggs’ monthly web visitors were nearly 2,734,528. So, if we take 2% as the conversion rate, the online sales of this brand were way more than what you earn in a year from your brick-and-mortar store. 

If you keep evading the need for a website for your bakery business, you really need to get some inspiration from the Greggs website. It’s high time to invest in website development as if your competitors did it first, you will left with nothing but regrets. So, here’s a complete guide helping you navigate the process of developing a bakery website like Greggs. 

Why You Should Invest In Bakery Website Development Right Away?

Before we start to analyze the features and functionalities of Greggs's website that make it stand out, let’s first discuss whether your business really needs a website. If so, then you should invest in it right away. 

So, here are some reasons why you need a bakery website like Greggs:

1. You’re Definitely Missing Out on a Massive Audience

The most significant challenge you face as an offline business is to have a limited reach. If you don’t have a website, leave global reach; you won’t even get recognition in your local geographical area. 

By investing in a bakery website development and focusing on user-centric designs, you can tap into a wider global audience and potentially market your product to a large user base. 

At the same time, you can even use the power of SEO to ensure your website ranks upon local online directories and relevant search results. Without a website, you can’t even imagine elevating your brand. 

2. You Want to Expand your Business

Expanding your business online is a cost-effective strategy. It allows customers to buy your baked goods from the comfort of their homes. With the rise of online shopping, offering online orders makes your products more accessible to those who can't visit your store. 

With mobile app development companies like Mtoag Technologies, you can easily develop a website like Greggs, and that’s even within your budget. 

3. Websites Offer Info About Your Store

Not all customers know your operating hours; many might search for this information online. You might lose potential customers if your website doesn't provide this essential detail. Your website should ideally include:

• Your bakery's location (with a map and directions)
• Contact information - phone number, email, and social media links
• Operating hours

4. A Competitive Advantage 

A well-designed website with engaging content can set your business apart from competitors. Many similar businesses might already have websites, but there's always room for improvement. 

By learning from others and addressing user experience issues, you can create a superior website that attracts more customers.

5. Cost-Effective Advertising

Websites are an affordable way to promote your business. With a development partner like Mtoag, you can have an online food delivery app within a few weeks, even without any web design experience. 

You can continuously update and refresh your site's content based on the products you want to promote. Owning a website is like having a permanent advertising space at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising campaigns.

8-Point Checklist for Developing a Website Like Greggs

Why do you want a bakery website like Greggs? Definitely to drive traffic and earn profits. But before you go on such a time-consuming and investment-centric project, you should ask yourselves a few questions to evaluate the profit potential of your bakery website. 

• What is the purpose of your bakery website?
• What goals do you want to achieve with your website?
• How should you design your bakery app?
• How will you integrate marketing strategies into your website?
• How will you host your bakery website?
• When should you launch your website?
• Who’s going to maintain your website? 
• How will you integrate the POS system into your app?

How to Develop a Bakery Website Like Greggs?

Having a clear roadmap will help you greatly navigate the tedious process of developing a bakery website like Greggs. Here’s a standardized process of bakery website development that will help you stay updated on every step of the process. 

Step 1: Set your Goals

Creating goals for your project is essential as it keeps you and the development team on the same track. It is the first step in developing a bakery website; you need to set a realistic goal and metrics to work accordingly. Additionally, it is necessary to ask yourself a few questions about why your business needs a website and how it will help you get a wider reach. These questions will help you create actionable goals. 

Here are some questions you should ask yourself before setting goals for your bakery website development in UK: 

• How will you design your website? Focus on fonts, colors, themes, style tone, visuals, and navigation options.
• What will your bakery website do? Focus on areas like order management, offering digital menus, online cart, subscription management, automatic billing, and recurring billing management. 
• How will you promote your website? Focus on digital and visual marketing and e-commerce marketing automation. 

Tips

• Write down each goal as it will be easier to remember. 
• Ensure to create realistic goals; don’t create extraordinary goals that seem hard to achieve.
• Use measurable and actionable goals. 
• Set KPIs for each goal.

Step 2: Draw Your Website Layout and Point Out Its Functionalities

Do you know what’s the reason behind Greggs’s huge online traffic? It’s the features and functionalities that make it stand out. The Greggs’s website features a separate dropdown menu for products and other options, including Find A Shop, Ways To Order, Gift Cards, Greggs App, Doing Good, and News. So, if you also want users to keep engaged on your bakery website, you should also work closely on the website layouts. 

The purpose of a website layout is to align with the website's objectives. It's typically visualized through a wireframe, which is a basic blueprint showing how each content piece and design element will be arranged. 

This blueprint is an essential component of your website design. Your website's visual design should adhere to this layout, ensuring that graphic elements are placed strategically, not just based on looks and whims.

So, how do you construct your website layout? Here are the steps to create a layout for your bakery website:

• Recognize all areas of content, including images and text blocks.
• Create multiple wireframes. Even if the first design appeals to you, having another map provides you with various choices.
• Prioritize the user's experience and consider a more user-friendly setup.
• Develop an interactive prototype to examine your layout, buttons, navigation, and webpage. Tools like Figma or Invision can be used to create these prototypes.
• Gather feedback from test users and request them to record their navigation sessions. This can help identify potential usability issues.

Tips

• Sketch your website layouts on paper. However, tools like Whimsical can assist you in creating your wireframe layout.
• Prioritize usability and functionality over aesthetics.
• Remember to consider mobile users when designing the layout.
• Develop a layout for each page that will be included on the website.

Step 3: Choose a Bakery Website Host

Your website's hosting server defines its location on the web. While there are many options for website hosting, you should only choose reliable third-party hosting providers, such as Hostinger, Bluehost, or Godaddy. 

The best hosting server will offer benefits like

• Website security
• Improved site performance
• Technical support
• High reliability
• Uptime
• Affordability

Tips

• After choosing the website hosting provider, it’s important to choose the right and catchy URL for your website.
• Prioritize providers that allow you to integrate your business’s operational systems. 
• Always check the hosting provider’s privacy protection rules and check if they comply with PCI regulations.

Step 4: Pick the Best Bakery Website Builder

Now that you have completed the most crucial aspects of website development, it's time to choose the best AI website builder. You can create a bakery website on your own using online website builders like Wix. 

Most of these online tools come with a variety of pre-built themes and designs specifically curated fo different industries. You can easily choose and edit a pre-built theme nd template according to your website’s requirements. Some website builders offer full-service web solutions, while others may offer limited services. 

As said, using online website builders to create a bakery website in the UK seems affordable and quick, but it lacks the professional elements. If you want a basic website, you can go for this easy way, but if you want your website to be a hit like Greggs, we recommend you to contact a full-service website development company like Mtaog Technologies. 

Tips

• Choose a full-service website builder.
• Customize the templates according to your brand. 
• Add distinct styles and elements. 
• Choose a color scheme that aligns with your brand. 
• Ensure the font sizes are adaptive to different screen sizes
• Use high-definition images of your product. 

Step 5: Implement your Content Strategy

The content of your website includes all the crucial visual components and details that will be displayed. This can be pictures, graphics, calls to action, and text on the website. From the moment you start designing your website and its structure, think about the kind of content that will be featured.

Essential details about your bakery, such as the dessert menu, special offers, discounts, deals, loyalty programs, and subscription boxes, should be included. However, you are entirely responsible for choosing where to display this information on your website.

So, what are the typical pages for a bakery website? Here are some suggestions:

• A homepage or landing page that directs visitors to valuable content.
• An 'About' page that shares your backstory, contact details, operating hours, and the concept behind your bakery.
• Digital catalogs and a PDF version of your menu.
• Order forms for both catering services and individual orders.
• An online store and shopping cart.
• A gallery

Tips

• Your landing page should be vibrant, user-friendly, and concise. 
• On each page, incorporate an aspect of your bakery store or concept to promote your brand image and distinguish yourself from other bakeries.
• Consider implementing a QR code feature for your menu. This allows your menu to be easily downloaded and accessed on mobile devices. 
• Integrate order management and invoice management solutions, like BlueCart, to simplify order handling and vendor payment tracking.
• Employ the top online payment processing software to accept payments online. 

Step 6: Promote your Business Using SEO Best Practices

So, what’s the ultimate goal of your bakery website development? Probably to increase brand awareness and improve sales. That’s only possible when your app gets all the exposure it needs. 

With the right approach to marketing, your website can reach thousands of potential customers every month. Using search engine optimization (SEO) best practices, you can increase the chances of your bakery website featuring in the SERPs. 

Tips

• Add links to your business social media profiles. 
• Invest in SEO and content marketing to get the best of your investment. 
• Create content like video tutorials and recipe books to get the customer’s contact information. Use this information to convert leads into conversions. 
• You can even integrate email marketing by adding the subscription forms in the website’s footer section. 

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Bakery Website Like Greggs?

Creating a bakery website similar to Greggs involves various factors that contribute to the overall cost. The primary elements include the website builder you choose, the hosting plan, the plugins you install, and whether you opt for professional assistance.

The initial investment typically ranges from £30,000 to £45,000. This includes the store build and fit-out costs, which can amount to £150,000 to £250,000. Additionally, a working capital requirement of around £40,000 to £60,000 is needed.

The cost also depends on the website's complexity. For instance, integrating features like online ordering, shopping carts, digital catalogs, and payment processing software can increase the cost.

Conclusion

This blog outlined the steps, best practices, tips, and even the average cost of developing a website like Greggs. Additionally, you might have also understood the benefits of website development for your bakery business in the UK. 

The potential of the online bakery business has been on the rise in the UK, with people loving the convenience of ordering food in the comfort of sitting at home. So, what are you waiting for now? It’s high time to invest in bakery website development. Just contact Mtoag Technologies and get the price quote and expert consultation for free.