BlueCart is a wholesale ordering tool used by wholesale bakeries across the U.S.. BlueCart provides bakeries' wholesale buyers with 24/7 online ordering, resulting in more sales, fewer errors, and better communication at the point of transaction.
Mollie Sciacca is the Sales Manager of Bellegarde Bakery. Mollie’s wholesale clients include chefs, restaurants, grocers and hotels in and around New Orleans, LA. Bellegarde produces stone-milled flour that goes into every single loaf of high quality bread they bake. Their bread is created with “identity-preserved-grain”, which produces a loud crunch and reveals a spongy center when opened. Mollie uses BlueCart to manage customer relationships and provide online ordering. See why she makes online ordering mandatory, how she set everything up, and why she loves BlueCart!
Before BlueCart, our biggest issue was the functionality of our website’s ordering platform. Using BlueCart simplifies things. We still have our beautiful website, but our customers are directed to BlueCart once they click the ordering link. It’s E-Commerce built for wholesale. Now I can reach out to my BlueCart Account Manager to resolve issues and help my customers, rather than troubleshooting on my own.
Q: Can you walk me through your BlueCart workflow from start to finish?
A: “Customers place orders online or on the mobile app through BlueCart. We then use the daily BlueCart Fulfillment Report to update what we call our ‘cut sheet’. This tells us exactly how much of each batch we need for the day so we can calculate formulas for production. We import BlueCart invoices using BlueCart’s Accounting Report using Transaction Pro for Quickbooks 6 days a week.
Q: What was the Transaction Pro setup like, was it hard or time consuming?
A: “It seemed overwhelming at first, but once I started, it only took a few minutes to set up. Transaction Pro does a pretty good job with guidelines based on our settings in Quickbooks. It took us three days to get everything perfect, but we were using it with real orders on day one. It was easy to set up.
Q: How long does it take on a daily basis to export orders from BlueCart to QuickBooks?
A: “Less than a minute! Before we were entering each invoice manually into QuickBooks, so if there were 50 orders in a day it would take us a few hours!”
Q: What was the initial reaction from customers when you introduced BlueCart?
A: “Most people were excited there was an app for ordering because most customers are ordering from the restaurant, without a computer. The fact they can order on their phone has been really helpful for our customers and has helped our sales.”
Q: What about your customers who are not tech savvy? What do they think of BlueCart?
A: “Once people get over the hump of having to learn something new, they realize BlueCart is very easy. The interface is simple and clear. The majority of our customers are 25-45 years old and have used a computer for the bulk of their careers, so it’s not an issue for them.
Q: What would you say to a vendor who thinks their customers have no desire to use an online ordering method?
A: It did take some legwork in the beginning, we even told customers we would teach them how to use BlueCart but it was probably only 10 customers we had to visit. Now, we make online ordering mandatory and we no longer accept call in orders or email orders.”
Q: Have you ever taken BlueCart to a tasting and walked a customer through the BlueCart setup?”
A: ”Yeah, it’s great! You can sign someone up right there on the spot with their email address. I just pull out my phone, show them what it looks like and how to place an order.”
Q: Did you have any problems managing customers before implementing BlueCart?
A: “Before BlueCart, our biggest issue was the functionality of our website’s ordering platform. Using BlueCart simplifies things. We still have our beautiful website, but our customers are directed to BlueCart once they click the ordering link. It’s E-Commerce built for wholesale. Now I can reach out to my BlueCart Account Manager to resolve issues and help my customers, rather than troubleshooting on my own.”
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Q: How many hours are you saving per week?
A: “We’re saving about 15 hours per week in office work, which makes everyone happy.”
Q: Would you recommend BlueCart to another bakery supplier?
A: “Absolutely. Even customers on standing orders still make situational changes using BlueCart.”
Mollie’s experience proves that a little setup work in the beginning can benefit your business workflows long term. BlueCart drives more sales and creates efficiencies for Bellagarde Bakery; we are proud they chose BlueCart as their technology partner.