Domino's Pizza has attributed strong growth in online sales to its use
of promotions on location-based mobile application Foursquare and social
media after revealing a 29% surge in pre-tax profits to £17.5m.
Domino's Pizza has reported a 29% surge in pre-tax profits to £17.5m,
buoyed by a strong performance from e-commerce sales and attributed its
link-up with Foursquare as key to its recent performance.
The takeaway company reported a like-for-like sales increase in 553
stores by 13.7% in the 26-week period to the end of 27 June this year.
Domino's now has 627 stores in the UK after 19 new stores were opened
in the period. The company said it was on track for a further 55 store
openings this year.
The group – which is celebrating 25 years of business – highlighted
its e-commerce business as the stand-out performer.
It said sales in its e-commerce unit had grown by 61.4% in the
period and that online sales now accounted for 32.7% of overall UK
delivered sales.
In May this year, Domino's launched a nationwide promotion on
Foursquare that encourages users to check-in at its outlets.
In today's financial results Domino's said it had "led the way with
social media initiatives such as affiliate marketing, our superfans
programmes and the development of a link up with Foursquare, the
location-based social media site".
It added that its web-based activity had afforded it the dual benefit
of "driving pizza sales" and "building customer loyalty".
Chris Moore, chief executive, said: "It is easy to try and attribute
our success to one thing – be it the weather, or Britain's Got Talent,
or the World Cup – but the underlying trend shows a more compelling
picture."
The results confirm the theory that takeaway food brands perform well
in the economic downturn, as consumers opt for less expensive
offerings.
At the start of the year, Robin Auld, the group's sales and marketing
director, announced
that he was leaving the pizza delivery company. Auld was replaced
by former Papa John’s and Pizza Hut marketer Simon Wallis, who started
last month.