Pizza Delivery Times Are Going Up, Says Domino's
Have you noticed that your orders are taking longer than usual to arrive? Domino’s is working to fix that.
Just like many other restaurant chains, Domino's is understaffed at multiple locations, and this has been causing delivery delays, reports CNN. This is quite a departure from the company's once-famous 30-minute delivery guarantee, which was dropped in 1993 after it was found to create a public perception of Domino's delivery drivers as reckless.
"We've slipped a minute or two," said Domino's CEO Richard Allison about average wait times during a call last week to review the company's second-quarter results. "That is a big area of focus for us as we look going forward." The company is raising wages in order to attract new employees, which could help alleviate the delays.
This staffing issue goes deeper, though, as the lack of workers is not only slowing down pizzas headed for your front door, but also slowing down Domino's plans to open new locations altogether. According to Allison, many of the issues stem from a combination of "store-level staffing challenges and construction, permitting or equipment delays." But overall, the company is still seeing growth, with same-store sales in the U.S. increasing by 3.5% at locations open for at least a year, and same-store sales growing at 14% internationally.
Focusing on delivery is important to Domino's, and the reason comes down to basic math: with rapid delivery comes more opportunities to sell more pizza. "There's clearly an opportunity to continue to grow delivery by driving those service times down," Allison said. "Some of that will come from getting our staffing levels back to where we need them to be."
Domino's brought back The Noid (who I always thought was mildly annoying) earlier this year, probably in order to stoke the fire of nostalgia in customers. Not only did that pesky Noid come back to haunt us with its mere obnoxious presence, it also decided to challenge beloved video game character Crash Bandicoot in a mobile game (Crash Bandicoot, you sold out!) and also kick the ass of Domino's robotic delivery machines for what appears to be no reason. Maybe The Noid should cut it out and pitch in by delivering customers' long-awaited pizzas.