What makes Dominos such a success in the UK?

Fast food super-chain Dominos Pizza recorded the highest growth stories on the UK high street in 2013. So what are they doing right?

There’s an age-old sales quote along the lines of “sales isn’t about customers needing your product, it’s about making your product needed” (or something like that), and Dominos took to that ethos with gusto when they launched here in the UK in 1985.

Opening an American pizza delivery shop in Luton in the mid eighties chimed directly with the decade’s penchant for everything USA and while the 90s promised more of the same love for American convenience and easy treats, a new wave of health-conscious eating and saturated fat scaremongering led to many disregarding the pepperoni and taking up a more beneficial food hobby.

Of course, we never saw the end of Dominos and even now, almost in it’s 30th year in the UK, the brand continues to be the number one pizza chain worldwide beating compeitiors by a wide margin. Represented at the New York Stock Exchange as DPZ, continuing their global reach through restaurant openings in India and the Far East, everything seems to be working out just fine for the fast food giants.

This success hasn’t come without cost however. In 2009, the chain ranked bottom in a survey on a USA consumer’s satisfaction and taste of their product and this monumental flop was widely publicised on media outlets over the internet. Everyone knew that Dominos Pizzas just weren’t that good anymore.

How did they bounce back?

Rather than shrink from customer criticism, the brand picked up on one tip they really could change – the taste of their pizzas. Working alongside the comments they had recieved, Dominos focused their energies into an internet ad campaign which portrayed the brand as self-criticising and repentant. In December 2009, the same month as the ad campaign, a new pizza was launched and with it 14.3% growth was achieved over the next quarter.

And how are they keeping hold of their sales?

Of course this one-off ad campaign wasn’t enough to secure growth over the next three years but it was a good start. Even with the losses incurred through their German division which has yet to make any positive inroads, their growth in the UK market accelerated 17% in like-for-like sales over 2013.

Targeting budgets, group discounts and providing a wealth of online and mobile options has been, chairman Stephen Helmsley says, the key to their success. “

“At the heart of the group’s story in 2013 is some very powerful growth in our core UK market, where like-for-like sales growth accelerated to 7%, surely one of the strongest growth stories on the UK high street.”

 How is this relevant to us?

Dominos have taught us three major lessons here:

• Learning from losses can improve and increase your sales exponentially
• Online and mobile sales continue to be a main focus while consumers look for convenience and easy to find information on your product
• Knowing how your clients and customers view you as a company, organisation or brand is vital in order to remain in line with their buying habits

Who knew pizza could be so educational?

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