Costco Finally Launches App to Order Custom Cakes Online

For decades, Costco customers have relied on a charmingly analog system to order custom cakes: fill out a paper slip, drop it in a box, and hope for the best. Now the beloved retailer is launching an app that lets shoppers customize and order cakes from their phones.

Costco CEO Ron Vachris announced the digital upgrade in a company memo, calling it part of a broader push to modernize "clunky" processes. "We've got ordering cakes and deli trays online coming," he said, noting that early adoption rates look promising.

The old system required customers to visit the bakery in person, handwrite their order details on paper, and drop the form into a box with no confirmation or follow-up. Writer Lucy Huber captured the universal anxiety in a 2023 tweet that went viral: "You write what you want on a piece of paper and put it in a box then nobody follows up and you just show up and hope they made it."

One Reddit user summed up the nerve-wracking experience perfectly: "We did our wedding cakes from Costco, talk about a nerve-racking experience hoping everything worked out." Another called it "drop a paper in a hole and cross your fingers."

The Bright Side

For customers who live far from their nearest Costco, the change is a game changer. "As someone who lives 1.5 hours away from three different Costcos I LOVE this," one shopper wrote. No more long drives just to fill out a form.

But not everyone is celebrating. Some customers feel nostalgic for the low-tech simplicity that somehow always worked. Bakery workers, meanwhile, worry about increased order volume and customers accidentally ordering from the wrong location.

Still, Costco has built its reputation on listening to members and delivering what they want. The paper-in-a-box system served shoppers well for years, but convenience wins in the end.

If Costco's track record proves anything, customers will adapt quickly as long as their perfectly decorated cakes keep showing up exactly when expected.