Earlier this year, Domino’s Pizza was named America’s favorite pizza brand. That esteemed accomplishment is a far cry from where Domino’s Pizza found itself in early 2010.
During his session, How Domino's Uses Digital To Take a Big Slice Out of the U.S. Pizza Industry, at Monday’s Engagement & Experience Expo, hosted by Loyalty360, Dennis Maloney, Chief Digital Officer at Domino’s Pizza, talked to attendees about the drastic brand reinvention that occurred five years ago.
“We were good value and we delivered,” Maloney explained. “But, the food needed to change. It had to be a higher quality. We went online and said our pizza sucked. Consumers stood up and took notice. That honesty and transparency came to the fore.”
At that time, Domino’s quite literally went back to the drawing board, starting with the most important piece of the customer loyalty puzzle: The pizza.
Domino’s reinvented its pizza and totally revamped every ingredient to deliver a higher quality, better tasting product. It used advertising that resonated with consumers and brand news moved from limited time products and promotions to product platforms. Transparency and value were absolutely critical in the brand reinvention, along with technology.
For Domino’s, a company that at one time had zero digital sales, now has 50% of its sales from digital channels.
“We’re not an ecommerce company which sells pizza,” Maloney explained.
Domino’s generates $2 billion annually in the U.S. from digital sales. What’s more, the company’s retail sales grew 33% in the past five years.
“We’re arguably one of the largest U.S. ecommerce sites based on number of transactions,” Maloney said. “The brand as a whole has been on a technological journey. Customers spend more and have higher satisfaction when ordering online. The Anyware platform was a continuation of that story. It’s much easier for a consumer to order. We worked very hard to create the great, engaging experiences that attract Millennials. Carry out is also growing at Domino’s. Within next two years, Domino’s stores will be transformed.”
Two huge technology pieces for Domino’s have been its voice ordering system (‘Dom’) and its Anyware platform, which allows consumers to order by text, tweet, Smart TV, car, Smart Watch, and Voice.
What’s more, the company developed a new delivery car complete with a built-in oven, no passenger seat, and the entire vehicle is branded.
If that’s not enough, Domino’s also launched a new loyalty program where customers receive 10 points for every order of more than $10, which equates to a free medium pizza after six orders of $10 or more.
“We needed to reset everyone’s expectations,” Maloney said. “We fundamentally changed the company. It’s a completely different experience now than it was seven or eight years ago.”