It’s been up for debate whether the now famous Domino’s Pizza Tracker is myth or reality. Some claim the employee names and estimated times are thrown in completely at random. But whether fact or fiction, the online ordering system accounts for 28% of their orders and has put them far ahead of their pizza competition, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s. (Despite some recent brand damage due to that not-so-appetizing employee video.)
During June, Domino’s announced the extension of its Pizza Tracker technology into social network sites, namely Facebook and Twitter. This now allows customer to track the progress of their pizza (or other purchased items) from prep to oven to box to belly. Well, maybe not to belly, but that would be a fun feature. Domino’s had already added Tivo support in late 2008, just in time to accommodate the Thanksgiving’s Eve pizza rush.
So does that make Domino’s the most digitally connected pizza chain? Allowing more ordering from more places than it’s competitors…
Pizza Hut would like to boldly disagree. On the same day as Domino’s announcement, the “Hut” put out an offer of free food to anyone who was following them on Facebook or Twitter. Since then their followers have gone from 4000 to almost 15000. Pizza Hut has also been long engaging an audience Domino’s has chosen to ignore… gamers. They own the category, from their partnership with GameFly and its in-game ordering functionality with titles like Everquest II.
And finally, on the mobile front, Pizza Hut wins again. While Domino’s has merely half-gestured at mobile integration by launching a mobile version of their Pizza Tracker (tracking only, no ordering), Pizza Hut has just launched the iHut app which allows full mobile ordering, saving of favorite types of pizzas, and digital coupon integration.
So in the online pizza war, who do you think will come out on top?
Marta Strickland