Domino’s Buzz-Worthy Promo Delivers New Members to Loyalty Program

Domino’s Pizza Inc. created a lot of buzz with its Points for Pies promo, which continued through Q2.

As Hospitality Technology previously reported, the promo rewarded Domino’s app users for taking photos of any pizza.  “… While it was a solid sales driver, I am most pleased by the progress toward our additional objectives related to app downloads, awareness and reengagement tied to the loyalty program,” said CEO Ritch Allison in an earnings call with analysts.

The promo lured in new customers for the first time and drove enrollments in its loyalty program, already 20+ million strong.

“A loyalty program is something you do have to feed over time. So there is a need to periodically have news in the marketplace and something interesting to kind of refuel those enrolments,” Allison said, adding “… Once we get that app on the customer’s phone that real estate is incredibly valuable going forward.”

For the second quarter, franchise business was up 3.1%, while company-owned stores were up 2.1%; both were lower than expected. “The comp this quarter was driven by ticket growth,” said Jeff Lawrence, CFO, in an earnings call with analysts. “We continue to experience pressure on the U.S. comp from our successful fortressing strategy, as well as from aggressive marketing of third-party aggregators. On the international front our comp for the quarter was also driven by ticket growth.” The company’s earnings statement is available here.

Driving Innovation

Domino’s is testing voice ordering at 40 stores. 

In October, it will begin using Nuro's autonomous delivery vehicles in Houston to deliver online orders. Customers will be able to track the unmanned vehicle from the Domino's app and will be provided a unique pin code to retrieve their pizza.

Allison said he’s excited about the roll out of GPS tracking technology, later this year, which will “once again put some fantastic technology not only in the hands of our customers to get better transparency into their pizza order, but also … I am even more excited about the additional information that it will give our restaurant operators as they manage the efficiency around their delivery operations.”

The global brand is committed to using data insights across the enterprise to improve.

“Make no mistake, we remain focused on utilizing data with our franchisees to drive transaction growth coupled with smart ticket opportunities where possible,” said Allison. “It is the strategy that got us here, the strategy that is sustainable and the strategy that will help us navigate through challenges in the future.”