How a Baker Can Double Online Orders with an AI Agent on Instagram

Karim, 38, runs an artisan bakery in Paris's 11th arrondissement. His specialty: sourdough breads and hand-shaped pastries. His main constraint until a few months ago: he had neither the time nor the resources to respond to all the Instagram DMs arriving every day.

The concrete problem

Karim had an Instagram community of 4,200 followers, built over two years through his shaping videos and oven photos. People commented, sent private messages asking if they could order galettes for the weekend, personalised brioches for a birthday, or reserve a loaf for Friday morning.

The problem: Karim is up at 4am and works until 1pm. He looked at his DMs in the evening, exhausted, and replied to half of them at best. According to Meta (2025), 78% of consumers expect a response on Instagram within 24 hours. Karim sometimes replied after 48 to 72 hours, or not at all. Sales were escaping him every week.

The solution: an AI agent on Instagram

We deployed an AI agent using Comet, an agentic web browsing tool particularly suited to non-technical users, coupled with a Make.com workflow for order management.

How the Instagram agent works

The agent monitors DMs continuously. When a message arrives, it identifies the intent: order request, product question, hours question, or other. For order requests, it engages in a structured 3 to 5 exchange conversation to collect the necessary information: products, quantity, desired pickup date, first name.

The tone is calibrated to reflect Karim's personality: warm, simple, with touches of gentle humour. The responses don't sound like a corporate chatbot.

Make.com integration

Once an order is collected, Make.com:

1. Creates a row in a Google Sheet (Karim's order log)
2. Sends the customer a confirmation message with a summary and pickup slot
3. Alerts Karim by SMS if the order exceeds a certain amount or is unusually complex
4. Sends the customer an automatic reminder the day before pickup

According to McKinsey (2024), SMBs that deploy an automated order-taking system reduce their order abandonment rate by 35 to 50% on average. For Karim, that reduction was 41% in the first month.

Results after 60 days

Karim tracked results manually with a simple spreadsheet.

• Online orders before the agent: 28 per week on average
• Online orders with the agent: 57 per week on average
• DM response rate: up from 48% to 100%
• Estimated additional weekly revenue: 400 to 600 euros
• Personal time spent managing DMs: down from 45 minutes per day to under 10 minutes

Karim says: "At first I was worried customers would sense a machine. But I took care to personalize the messages with my own vocabulary and humour. Most customers don't realize it's automated, and those who ask find it impressive."

According to Bpifrance (2024), artisan retailers who adopt an automated social media response tool increase their digital revenue by 25 to 40% in the first year.

What this automation really changes

Karim doesn't have fewer customers to manage. He has more. But he manages his energy better by reserving his human attention for interactions that genuinely require it: complex orders, regular customers who deserve a personal word, newcomers who want advice.

The IMPACT methodology identifies this type of lever: a high-volume repetitive task with low human added value, whose absence directly creates lost revenue. For Karim, setup took one full day and ROI was visible within the first week.

What about you?

If you are an artisan, baker, pastry chef, cheesemonger, or any professional with a social media community but not enough time to respond to all messages, this setup can transform your digital activity.

The TransformAudit identifies the 3 to 5 highest-leverage opportunities for your business in a single session and produces a 90-day operational roadmap. Get in touch here.

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FAQ

Do you need an e-commerce website to set up this system?

No. The AI agent handles orders directly in Instagram DMs. Orders are logged in a Google Sheet. An e-commerce site can be added later but is not a prerequisite.

Can the system handle orders on platforms other than Instagram?

Yes. The same type of agent can be deployed on WhatsApp Business, Facebook Messenger, and Google Business Profile. Karim started with Instagram because that's where his under-40 customers were concentrated.

How does the AI agent handle errors or unusual requests?

The system is configured to automatically forward any out-of-scope request to Karim via a phone notification. He takes over and handles it manually. Fewer than 5% of conversations require human intervention.

What is the total monthly cost?

Around 55 to 75 euros per month in combined subscriptions (Comet or Make.com, LLM model access). For a bakery generating 300 to 500 euros of additional weekly online orders, the ROI is clear within the first month.