The Pizza Wars

The worldwide pizza market is a $134 billion industry. The U.S. market accounts for $45.1 billion of that market, generated by sales among the 75,243 pizzerias. That’s a lot of dough.

With all that green up for grabs it’s no wonder why some brands are pulling out all the stops to get your attention and business. They are beginning to innovate in ways that position them as tech companies, not just pizza slingers. Let’s take a look at two brands from one of the top pizza states (per capita), Michigan…Domino’s and Little Caesars, whom also rank as #2 and #3 by annual sales and what they’ve been doing as of late.

Domino’s Hotspots

No longer do you need an address in order to have your pie delivered. Announced in April, the chain now delivers to 150,000 outdoor locations across the nation that consumers can access via the Domino’s app.

Little Caesar’s Pizza Portals

Introduced in September ‘18 and billed as the restaurant industry’s first heated, self-service mobile pickup station the portals allows customers to skip the counter and the line. The company has combined the convenience of mobile ordering and pre-payment with heated self-service pickup to create an entirely new experience for customers

In December, the company won two prominent industry awards for their innovation — QSR Magazine honored them with the Applied Technology Award and the International Franchise Association awarded them with the Marketing and Technology Innovation Award.

And people are loving to share their Pizza Portal experience on Twitter.

Domino’s Dinner Bell

The Domino’s Dinner Bell is an “ordering and delivery experience” available through the company’s app. It enables to group order with just a few taps of their smartphone. Everyone gets notified with the Dinner Bell when the order is placed, and when it’s close to being delivered. This way, everyone knows when and where to show up and chow down.