7 Things We Learned About The Improbable Comeback Of Domino’s

Image courtesy of terrypresley

Domino’s committed sins against food, but now the chain has atoned for them, and the market has rewarded the chain. It has improved its pizza and come out with ordering and delivery innovations that are mostly gimmicks for publicity, but they do their job and gain publicity.

In Bloomberg Businessweek this week, there’s a there’s a lengthy story (with fab cover art) and a detailed recounting of the improbable comeback of Domino’s. You should check out the animation, at least, but here are seven important bits of information about Domino’s comeback to carry out from the article.

1. About 97% of Domino’s restaurants are franchisee-owned, and Domino’s corporate earns its money from the royalties that they pay, and from selling ingredients and services to franchisees.

2. Pepperoni is the most popular topping, even though Domino’s now offers 26 other ones.

3. In 2009, when the company’s gross-out video crisis hit, it had 9% of the pizza market. In 2016, it had 15% of the market.

4. When Domino’s steals customers, it takes them from national chain rival Pizza Hut.

5. Tests in 2009 showed that people liked the same pizza less if they were told that it was from Domino’s. The company took the bold step of admitting that its food was terrible, and changed its recipes. The chain also solicited photos of terrible real-world pizzas delivered to customers and admitted that they were terrible.

6. Around the world, 260,000 people work for Domino’s, franchisees, and affiliated chains. Half of them are delivery drivers. For now: The company is testing delivery by drone in New Zealand. Robots are also being tested in Australia and New Zealand.

7. The DXP, the chain’s custom-designed delivery vehicle, is pretty cool, but there will only be 154 of them, not a nationwide fleet. Chevrolet changed the Spark, which the vehicle is built on, which would mean changing the DXP modifications, like the oven.

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