Domino’s Pizza is an internationally recognized fast-food corporation specialized in pizza delivery. The company was established in 1960 by Tom Monaghan as a lone pizzeria in Michigan, U.S., and it celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010 in the UK. It is estimated that the company has sold over one hundred million pizzas since it was founded (Domino’s Pizza Inc. 2011). The initial Domino’s Pizza branch in the UK was opened in 1985 in Luton and by 1999, the company had opened over 200 branches. In 2004, UK’s pizza hotspot was the South East which accounted for more than a third of Domino’s sales. Domino’s has one of the largest franchise networks, currently operating in more than 700 stores in different parts of the UK. The passion and proficiency of Domino’s staff in delivering fresh and hot pizza has earned the loyalty of numerous pizza lovers throughout the world, as well as many awards (Clark 2011). This paper reviews the literature of Domino’s pizza UK in line with the project aims and objectives.
According to Veljovic (2012), a majority of consumers in the UK prefer takeaways over eating out and Domino’s rose to the occasion by introducing an online ordering service, which when coupled with their fast and efficient delivery services, has led to significant increases in sales. For example, in 2010 Domino’s sales were £483m; in 2011 the sales rose to £530.6m. In addition, a 3.6% increase in sales has been recorded between the last quarter of 2011 and to date and according to Lance Batchelor, the CEO of Domino’s UK, the growing sales have largely been attributed to Domino’s focus on E-commerce. Online orders comprise of 44.3% of all deliveries. According to Nolan (2012), Domino’s business in the UK is driven by the volume of sales and as a way of coping with the increasing demand for pizza, the company is opening numerous new stores to enable them to be able to make and deliver adequate numbers of pizzas to satisfy all their customers. For instance, the company opened sixty-two stores in 2010, four of which were opened in Germany, which is new territory. The strong brand name of the company coupled with its first-class delivery services has enabled Domino’s UK to penetrate easily into new regions, thus enabling the company to push for higher sales in those areas.
Future Foundations Report released in 2010 stated that Domino’s is dominating in the pizza delivery and takeaway market in the UK and is holding 60% of the UK market shares (Veljovic 2012). Research was done to find out the strategies that Domino’s UK have put in place to increase its market shares revealed the following: the company has taken advantage of technological developments to increase the number of ways of pizza delivery, for instance, in 2007 Domino’s launched a mobile pizza delivery service that allows consumers to make pizza orders via a text message i.e. by sending a text to 61212. The company also launched an online ordering service and the Sky Active interactive television through which customers can make their orders. In addition, customers can make orders by calling the phone numbers of their local stores (Veljovic 2012). Domino’s has also invented various technologies to maintain the quality of the pizza during the delivery period, for instance, Domino’s introduced HeatWaveTM technology to aid in reducing heat loss during delivery. As a promotional strategy, the company introduced a widget for social media (Face book, Twitter, MySpace, etc.) in 2010 that permits users with such accounts to promote Domino’s product and, in return, they are given a cash reward each time a pizza order is made via the widget (Veljovic 2012). According to the report, the company also has had several offers and promotions including the 2010 national promotion in which Domino’s started giving mayors in the UK one free pizza each week as a reward. In addition, the company gives customers two pizzas for the price of one every Tuesday (Veljovic 2012).
The delivery time of Domino’s UK has been reduced from seventeen minutes in 2005 to thirteen minutes in 2010 (Clark 2011). According to Chris Moore, the CEO of Domino’s UK and Ireland, the faster delivery of services has consequently increased customer loyalty and base, which has further strengthened Domino’s market position and given it a competitive advantage over its competitors. According to a survey done in 2008 to determine what UK consumers thought about Domino’s delivery services, 80% of the respondents said that they were satisfied with the fast and efficient delivery of Domino’s Pizza. However, the remaining 20% of the respondents said that they loved pizzas from Domino’s but they were disappointed with the delayed deliveries due to Domino’s drivers sometimes being stuck in traffic jams. To prevent such delays, the company introduced delivery motorcycles to enable Domino’s staff to deliver the customer’s orders on time.
It is a fact that a majority of Domino’s customers praise their delivery services. However, there have been complaints from numerous customers regarding the quality of their pizzas. A significant number of customers say that some ingredients used in making the pizzas are either uncooked or half-cooked. These customers said that they would prefer the pizza to be properly cooked even if it means the delivery period is prolonged. In addition, complaints of Domino’s pizzas having so much grease have been made by both customers who order takeaways as well as those who eat at restaurants (Clark 2011). Improvement of the quality of their pizzas is paramount for Domino’s if it wants to retain its current customers and attract new ones.
While Domino’s UK has several ways of increasing its market shares as discussed above, it seems it is unprepared to cope with the increasing volumes of sales. Opening new stores is a good strategy but it is not enough to cope with the ever-increasing sales. As discussed above, a majority of pizza consumers in the UK prefer takeaways as opposed to eating in the restaurant. Perhaps, if Domino’s made the interior environment more appealing and welcoming to the customers, they would start eating in the restaurants. This is where this project will come in handy; it will not only help Domino’s to improve the indoor decoration of its restaurants but will also suggest new ways of improving the quality of their pizzas. The project will also provide suggestions to Domino’s on the best methods of coping with their volume of sales, as well as better ways of ensuring that drivers spend lesser time on delivery without risking their safety and the safety of others.
It is important to note that in a majority of the past researches on Domino’s Pizza, the research methodology has involved using both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (intercept interviews) methods for data collection.