One thing the pandemic has made certain; we’re not sure what to expect with the new normal. Adapting to new rules and regulations has fostered creative solutions and recent trends. The restaurant industry, in particular, has suffered many blows.
However, one portion of the restaurant industry that has continued to grow is pizza. While the number of diners who ate in restaurants went down, pizza shops have seen increased orders. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a fresh, hot pizza? Even low-cost pizzas are good; they are delicious hot or cold, easy to clean up, and you can savor any topping you like.
It remains to be seen if local pizzerias will be able to compete against well-known giant chains like Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, or Domino’s Pizza. Restaurants like Papa John’s saw a 28 percent rise in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same time the year before. To keep up with this demand, they have 20,000 additional staff with plans to hire 10,000 more.
Pizza Hut has seen some of its best sales during the same time. In fact, they saw their most significant delivery and carry-out sales than in the previous eight years. This is an incredible increase, considering the fact that they have been underperforming for a few years.
However, few pizza chains have been as successful as Domino’s Pizza. According to Bloomberg, Domino’s is up at least 33 percent in 2021, a number that surpassed Wall Street estimates.
How Domino’s Kept Growing
The pandemic triggered many things, including changing daily habits and behaviors. One such behavior includes staying home and ordering contact-less delivery. In many ways, Domino’s took stock of the situation and made the best of it.
Unlike other pizza chains, Domino’s never partnered with third-party delivery services like Uber Eats, Door Dash, or Grubhub. In addition, Domino’s created convenient, customer-friendly ordering apps, so customers could easily customize their toppings and even be notified when their pizza was out for delivery.
Convenience and comfort are crucial elements to customer satisfaction—and business survival.
Other pizza shops may be interested in noting these business models. After all, third-party delivery apps are known to tack on hefty fees, making it hard for restaurants to retain revenue. By investing in your own, company-owned delivery infrastructure, you get more control—and more profits.
If food delivery services continue to grow, customers will be interested in value as much as quality. Delivery services often include hefty delivery and service fees to the customer, making ordering dinner for a large family regularly cost-prohibitive.
By eliminating these unnecessary and costly fees, you and your pizza shop stand a good chance of surviving the rise and fall of industry trends.
