Easter moves every year. At a bakery, we know that where it lands matters, a lot.
Sometimes it lands early. Sometimes it gives you a little more runway. But one thing is consistent:
March is your primary selling window.
If you’re still deciding your Easter menu in mid-March, you’re already late.
Not because you won’t sell. You will. But at what cost?
Bakeries that win Easter don’t only hustle harder during Easter week. They sell earlier, streamline smarter, and protect their teams from un-needed chaos.
And that’s the difference between surviving Easter… and running it well.
I can tell you that as a women who works full time, is a wife and mom and now the one who plans our holiday celebrations, I shop where it's easy to shop. I also know I am not alone.
The trend is clear:
Pre-orders are launching 4–5 weeks out, not two.
Families plan Easter early. They’re coordinating travel, church, brunch, and family gatherings weeks in advance.
If your pre-order menu isn’t live and connected to eCommerce, they’ll place their order with the bakery that is ready.
Even your most loyal fans will wish you offered organized, easy pre-ordering. When customers can order ahead clearly and confidently, they show up calmer, more prepared, and easier to serve during the rush. That matters.
Getting your menu up early also gives you time to promote it properly — with direct links to order. Too often, bakeries post beautiful photos of hot cross buns, decorated sugar cookies, and Easter cakes… but don’t make it simple to buy.
Don’t let great marketing stop short of the sale.
Early ordering does three powerful things:
If you want to Conquer the Chaos, open your pre-orders now. Not next week. Now.
Here’s where I’m going to gently challenge you.
You don’t need to make everything for everyone. I know...that feels bold.
So many bakeries (ours included) carry massive product lines. Hundreds of items a day. I spent years trying to convince my dad to trim ours. To remove the bottom two performers in every category: danish, dry pastries, cookies, cakes, European pastries, bread.
Would that have meant the apricot bear claw got cut? Or that the rum ball didn’t make the lineup? Probably.
But small, strategic cuts create meaningful impact on the bottom line. Fewer SKUs mean tighter production, less waste, clearer purchasing, better training, and stronger focus on what actually sells.
When you review last year’s Easter (or any holiday), look at the numbers...not your nostalgia. Identify the lowest performers and remove them without emotion. That’s not harsh. That’s disciplined.
You’re not taking something away from customers. You’re strengthening the business so you can serve them well for the long haul.
Sometimes growth isn’t adding more. Sometimes it’s cutting what no longer earns its place.
Cut 20% of your Easter SKUs.
Not the bestsellers. The “we’ve always done this” items that just don't move.
What’s trending right now:
More SKUs does not equal more revenue.
It often equals more mistakes, more waste, and more production exhaustion.
Families (especially moms) are looking for ease.
Done right, bundles will outperform individual items. Not only are they fun to shop, they’re fun for your team to dream up and build. And they give you the perfect opportunity to feature something you make exceptionally well… but customers haven’t discovered yet.
Bundles also give you strategic pricing power. You can slightly reduce the price of a popular anchor item (that lamb cake everyone loves) while increasing overall sales, because most customers were going to buy those items anyway. You’re simply guiding them to buy them together.
Here’s the truth: they don’t want to scroll your entire menu building a custom cart.
They want a button that says:
“Easter Morning — Done. (And it’ll be super special.)”
When you remove decision fatigue, you increase conversions. When you create ease, you build loyalty.
Make it simple. Make it beautiful. Make it done for them.
Think:
Bundles:
If you’re not bundling, you’re making it harder for them to buy.
And harder for customers to buy = harder for you to scale.
The bakeries that win Easter don’t wing it.
They don’t wait until the weeks leading up to it to finalize menus or post a few last-minute photos and hope for a rush. They make decisions early. They simplify. They systematize. They sell intentionally.
Running a bakery without strong systems is exhausting. Running one with them opens real opportunity. Holidays aren’t just busy days....they are built in profit moments (money trees!)
Humans are wired to gather around something sweet to both celebrate and commiserate. Your job is to make it easy for them to do that with you.
The bakeries that execute well have already:
They didn’t just get busy. They got prepared.
If you’re still finalizing your menu, pause and ask:
Because Easter (or any holiday) doesn’t reward the bakery that works the hardest. It rewards the bakery that planned the smartest.
Be the bakery with a plan.
Communicate it clearly.
Execute it in detail.
That’s how you turn a holiday into a profitable, repeatable system... not just a stressful weekend.