USA – Domino’s Pizza Inc, the American pizza restaurant chain has stepped up its pizza delivery system with new delivery ‘hotspots’, giving consumers convenience of picking up their products at set-off points.
The initiative allows customers to find the pick-up points with the location services on their smartphones, opening new sales opportunities for the company.
It includes an online ordering for more than 150,000 new delivery ‘hotspots’ at U.S parks, beaches and other destinations that do not have traditional addresses.
The new method is contrary to the traditional system where customers previously could ask Domino’s to deliver to offbeat locations.
According to Russell Weiner, president of Domino’s USA, customers prepay orders, select a location from a menu and have the option to add instructions to help drivers identify them and Domino’s texts them order status updates, including estimated arrival times.
“We know that delivery is all about convenience, and Domino’s Hotspots are all about flexible delivery options,” said Russell.
Domino’s is warming up for another round up of food delivery wars with other restaurant delivery companies including GrubHub Inc, UberEats and DoorDash.
DoorDash, dubbed as UberEats rival raised a total funding of over US$721 million to boost its capabilities in a crowded field for on-demand food delivery.
The segment which was once dominated by national pizza chains like Domino’s, Papa John’s and Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut, is facing battles for US sales from third-party restaurant and grocery delivery services forecast to nearly double within five years, according to Reuters.
Roughly 60% of its orders are digital and Domino’s delivers around 65 percent of overall orders.
Pentallect Inc., US based strategy firm reports that the third-party food delivery industry’s sales are expected to grow from $13 billion in 2017 to $24.5 billion by 2022 with a 13.5% annual growth rate.
The grocery industry is facing competition from Shipt, Instacart and ecommerce giant Amazon, who acquired Whole Foods for US$13.7 billion, adding it hundreds of physical stores.
While Panera Bread Co has spent about $150 million on technology that underpins delivery and other services, Yum, which also owns the Taco Bell and KFC brands, took a different tack earlier this year, spending $200 million to buy a 3 percent stake in GrubHub.
On the other hand, McDonald’s Corp is partnering with UberEats for delivery in the United States.
