Domino’s (DPZ) may be known as a pizza
These days, that means investing resources in research around self-driving cars and drones, CEO Patrick Doyle told Yahoo Finance.
“Our strategy remains simple. Single-minded focus on continually improving every aspect of the experience for our customers and funding those investments by skipping the flavor of the month activity so common in our industry,” Doyle said on the company’s earnings conference call.
Domino’s has long been a leader on the ordering front, with about 60% of its sales coming from digital. Its top-rated app, along with the ability to order through Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR), or text via its AnyWare platform, has boosted sales (the company saw an 8.4% domestic same-store sales growth in its most recent quarter). This quarter, the company announced the ability on Amazon’s (AMZN) Alexa to order from scratch without needing a preset profile or saved easy order.
But the big long-term opportunities remain ahead with delivery. Domino’s August self-driving partnership announcement with Ford (F) reflects a priority for the company, Doyle told Yahoo Finance.
“It’s great when we get attention from doing some of these things, but the point is not the attention that it brings to the brand,” he told Yahoo Fiannce. “The point is that we’re spending a lot of time figuring out how we can improve the customer experience.”
Doyle explained that while much of the timing of technology is dependent on Ford and regulators, he wants Domino’s to be ready as soon as technology hits, which he sees as soon as three years from now.
