The new Domino’s Pizza branch will offer a “ready to go” option which is designed to tempt Tesco shoppers into picking up a freshly cooked takeaway pizza as they leave the store. In addition to this new menu option, pizzas can also be ordered through the traditional methods, via telephone, online and using the new mobile applications, with pizzas available for in store collection and also delivery.

Domino’s believe the new store opening within a Tesco supermarket presents the company with a “unique opportunity” to further expand the home pizza delivery provider’s customer base, and also target a new market.

As well as enabling Domino’s to reach out to new customers, the introduction of a pizza outlet in the Tesco store will also help the supermarket chain in its continued “price war” with rival stores.

From October 17^th, Domino’s will be serving up freshly made pizzas from their new position inside Tesco in Dudley, in the Midlands. The new outlet will also create 15 new jobs in the area.

If the Domino’s Pizza branch inside Tesco extra Dudley proves popular with shoppers, the pizza and supermarket giant may look to develop this unique partnership in other areas across the UK.

Pizza fans who download the app onto their Android device will be able to order pizza via the app, customise their order, track their pizza delivery and even pay for their order, all through the new Domino’s application.

The Android app pushes ahead of the existing Apple app in that the Android offers a number of extra features including a GPS tracking system which allows users to navigate to their preferred pick up point, and also a pizza tracker widget which will display live updates about the user’s order and also information on the latest special offers, which will appear on the Android status bar.

Domino’s are confident they will see the same sales success as reported following the launch of the pizza giant’s original app for Apple devices which generated $2 million orders in its first three months.

The pizza takeaway provider says they are committed to investing further in their digital platforms as their recent figures demonstrate that 40% of orders at Domino’s are now being made online. The home pizza delivery expert expects this percentage to rise to 60% over the next 2 years, and Domino’s have set themselves the target of having 25% of these online orders being made via mobile devices through their applications.

The results of the survey make for very interesting reading with 23% of the takeaway delivery drivers who took part in the poll revealing that they’ve been greeted by naked customers, while customers answering the door in their underwear or nightwear is a very common occurrence.

Another issue which often arises in the daily life of a pizza, Chinese or Indian takeaway delivery worker is that of “alternative payment methods.” A number of those who answered the Just-Eat poll admitted they’d been offered everything from drugs, drink and even sex as payment for their takeaway order. A further 32% of the takeaway delivery workers also said they had had to drive their customers to cash points to get money to pay for their goods.

One of the perks of being a pizza delivery worker is delivering takeaways to famous faces, with one delivery driver from London revealing he’s delivered to everyone from Sue Barker to Chris Tarrant and Sir Trevor McDonald.

However another downfall of the job of takeaway delivery person is pets with 24% reporting being attacked by animals ranging from dogs and cats to guinea pigs. Drunken customers are also a major pitfall for the intrepid delivery worker with 11% admitting they were unable to make their delivery because the customer couldn’t stand up.

The deal is thought to be worth £1 million and will cover sponsorship of the new family game show across range of platforms including TV, online and also mobile devices.

The new show is the brain child of Simon Cowell and will be fronted by ITV favourites, Geordie duo Antony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. Contestants will battle it out against each other in a game of luck for the chance to win £1 million.

Domino’s prides itself on being a world leader in the provision of home pizza delivery services and so the sponsorship of a major new TV game show is a great opportunity as takeaway pizza is the perfect partner to Saturday night television.

The pizza giant is no stranger to TV sponsorship having previously sponsored another prime time ITV show in the past, Britain’s Got Talent.

Filming for the show, Red or Black? began a few weeks ago in London. As well as members of the public, a number of celebrity faces also drop by to take part in the game show.

Red or Black? promises to be edge-of-your-seat-viewing as contestants gamble in a game of sheer luck to win a jackpot of £1 million.

The survey was conducted by Brand Keys. The company say they set out with the aim of conducting a study which went beyond the usual figures and statistics, to get to the heart of a consumer’s emotional attachment to a brand.

Closely following Domino’s in the rundown of the pizza brands customers are most loyal to was another American company, Papa John’s, followed by Pizza Hut and Little Caesar’s, according to the study.

Chief Executive of Domino’s, J. Patrick Doyle welcomed the findings from the study. The Domino’s boss said that although the pizza giant is always looking to attract new customers, they realise that customer retention is vital to the success of their brand, and so they’ve made a conscious effort to develop brand loyalty over the course of the last few years by improving in store services and extending their menu.

According to one franchise expert, Craig Slavin, brand loyalty is established “from the ground up” and stems from customers receiving a great service from frontline staff members such as pizza delivery drivers and customer service advisers.

The survey aims to predict which brands will be a hit with consumers over the coming year, and so if the results are anything to go by, Domino’s looks set to enjoy yet another bumper year with a further rise in profits.

The pizza giant had previously sponsored the talent show which regularly pulls in massive audience figures. However Domino’s last week announced that they would not be “going forward” with a sponsorship deal with the TV channel this year.

Despite reporting an increase in pre-tax profits by 27% last year to £38 million, the pizza delivery expert decided to pull the plug on a sponsorship deal with Britain’s Got Talent because of the large figure they were reportedly asking for. Domino’s have not revealed exactly how much ITV were holding out for.

The first seven weeks of 2011 have signalled a slowdown in growth for Domino’s to 4.7% which is down on the same period last year when the pizza giant reported growth of 11.4%. It’s been suggested that the slowdown in growth over the last few weeks could have come as a result of the end of prime time Saturday night TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and X-Factor.

Domino’s investment in online services and iPhone apps helped contribute to the increase in profits last year. The pizza takeaway provider is hoping to build on this success in 2011 by launching a number of new online services.

The under 30’s are the group most likely to be found down the pub, or sat in front of the telly on a Thursday evening tucking into a takeaway pizza according to the research from the entertainment website.

The study found that the under 30’s agree that the weekends are definitely starting earlier with 72% of those polled admitting that their weekends start on a Thursday. A further 62% also revealed that they would be more likely to go out on a Thursday night as opposed to any other week day, while 65% said they’d ditch cooking and opt for a takeaway such as a pizza, chips, Indian or Chinese on a Thursday evening.

As well as heading down the pub and calling out for takeaways, the under 30’s are also more likely to do their grocery shopping on a Thursday in order to avoid the usual rush and queues at the supermarket tills on the weekends.

Not surprisingly, Thursday is also shaping up to be an expensive day, with young adults spending up to £158 on takeaways, drinking and groceries on a Thursday.

Are you planning to order a pizza tonight? Is Thursday really the new Saturday? Let us know your thoughts.

Statistics revealed this week found that during the last 13 weeks until December 26^th, orders made via the Domino’s iPhone app jumped by 69% worth a total of £128 million over the course of the year.

Buoyed by the runaway success of the iPhone application which allows customers to customise and place their order through their phone, the international pizza delivery company are developing a similar application for Android phones.

The chief executive for Domino’s, Chris Moore, said the leading pizza delivery company is about to deliver very healthy profits for the year 2010 which will exceed market forecasts.

The strong trading of Domino’s throughout 2010, and over the last few months in particular, is having a knock-on effect on the company’s share prices which are currently at an all-time high.

Takeaway providers such as Domino’s have benefited during the downturn as customers have opted to eat at home instead of going out to a restaurant as the credit crunch continued to bite. The snowy weather conditions at the end of last year, and also the popularity of the X-Factor also had a positive effect on Domino’s as more and more people chose to stay at home and order a takeaway.

Domino’s, the local pizza delivery expert, has opened a new store on Streatham Hill in London, today [Thursday, November 25].  This new store comes as a welcome boost to the area with the creation of around 25 jobs.  
 
Prav Patel, franchisee for this store, said; “We are delighted to open a new store in this town. We have a skilled team of pizza makers, customer service representatives and delivery experts all ready to serve the homes in the area with our delicious piping-hot pizza.”
 
The new store team are looking forward to serving the local residents lots of fresh, hot pizza. The store is open from 11am to 11pm seven days a week.
 
Place an order by visiting them at 114-118 Streatham Hill, London, SW2 4RS or call 0208 678 7778. Alternatively, you can order online at www.dominos.co.uk

Domino’s scooped the Best Retail and Home Shopping Campaign award for its Facebook Superfans initiative and Social Affiliate ‘widget’ which enables website owners to download the widget and receive payment for any pizza orders placed with Domino’s by clicking through it. Over 5,000 downloads of the widget have been made to date while Facebook Superfans helped to create nearly 32,000 followers in just four months.

Superfans and the Social Affiliate widget were developed in association with Domino’s long-standing digital agency, Arena Quantum.

Chris Moore, Chief Executive of Domino’s Pizza, said: “We love winning awards like this. We’ve always been known for leading the way when it comes to digital activity since we launched online ordering ten years ago and we want to make sure we keep it that way.  These new initiatives are just some of the fantastic ideas we’ve been working on with Arena Quantum and interactive orders continue to be a key driver of our business.  Here’s to Domino’s next ground-breaking innovation!”

Dan Clays, Managing Director of Arena Quantum, said: “Domino’s has built on its track record in digital marketing and inventively used social media to regularly talk and listen to customers in a way that has, most importantly, resulted in measurable business growth for their franchisees.  Social media has become a mainstay of Domino’s wider communications strategy and 2011 promises to be even more exciting.”

Celebrating 25 successful years in the UK, Domino’s Pizza currently has 643 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland. For more details, log on to www.dominos.co.uk.