Trade wars are hot topics these days, and the latest to pop up is pitting Little Caesars against its much larger national pizza competitors. Once a delivery skeptic, Little Caesars is getting into direct-to-consumer delivery through an exclusive partnership with DoorDash Drive, which the Detroit-based pizza player claims will result in pizzas that are “at least $5 less” than similar orders from Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s.
With a reputation for affordable pizzas that are hot and ready for customer pickup, Little Caesars says its delivered pies will come with the same price, regardless of quantity, compared to customers who come into the restaurants. Using a dash of marketing flash, the company’s CEO, David Scrivano, shined a bright light on this uniform pricing in a release announcing the news.
“We’ve seen such expensive and complex pricing throughout the pizza industry, and we think it’s crazy!” said Scrivano said. “Some chains require a minimum purchase to get their deals, or the discount pricing is only available on carryout orders. We’re excited to bring much needed affordability to delivered pizza.”
Customers using the Little Caesars app or website to order ahead can pre-pay, and then choose pick-up or delivery. The app notifies the delivery driver when the order is ready, which then allows the driver to bypass the store counter and collect the order through the Pizza Portals that are also used for customer pickup orders. Customers can use GPS to track orders from the store to the front door.
Aside from the new pizza tit-for-tat, this deal is significant due to the sheer scale of the Little Caesars chain. According to Franchise Times, it’s the 29th-largest U.S.-based franchise with more than 5,400 locations across the globe, more than 4,200 locations in the U.S. With annual system sales of $4.45 billion, the company is a far cry from Domino’s, which has more than 16,000 locations and $13.5 billion in annual sales.
