Domino’s CEO Whets Customers' Appetite for Apps

Domino’s has gotten a lot of attention lately for its groundbreaking TV commercials, but now the brand’s CEO wants to become known for something else as well: Mobile innovation.

The big pizza chain posted lower sales and profits during the first quarter, in large part due to some extraneous factors. But CEO Patrick Doyle wants the chain to do a much better job helping its franchisees do well financially.

He wants to set the stage for long-term growth in the U.S. for Domino’s by helping shore up the entrepreneurs who own Domino’s outlets — and helping customers order more easily, via mobile and social apps.

“We know that profitable franchisees make for a healthy system, and the goal is to turn those profits into new stores so our domestic store growth rate improves over the long term,” Doyle commented.

One way Domino’s is trying to help improve unit-level economics is by embracing mobile as a way for customers to place orders. So far, according to Mobile Commerce Daily, 7 percent of total U.S. sales and more than 20 percent of digital orders now take place via Domino’s mobile site and apps, which include an innovative pizza-making game for the iPad. Currently, online orders account for more than 30 percent of Domino’s orders.

Mobile apps also are a leading edge of the brand’s expansion efforts overseas. Domino’s launched its iPhone app in Britain last September, and mobile now accounts for 16 percent of digital orders there. The chain also just launched its first Facebook ordering app, which is being tested in on the Facebook pages for its Australia and New Zealand franchisees.

Doyle’s goal: to pass 20 percent of digital orders in the U.S. on mobile. Another customer-facing innovation: gluten-free pizza, as Doyle explains below: