Domino's Is Now On Food Delivery Apps, For Better Or Worse
Big news in the world of food delivery: After years of holding out, Domino's has finally joined Pizza Hut, Papa John's, and other major pizza chains in signing on with selected delivery apps. Back in the pre-pandemic era (2019, to be exact), when Pizza Hut first paired up with GrubHub, Domino's was adamant that it was never going to need a third-party delivery service. Well, we've all gone through some changes since then, so perhaps it should come as no shock that the pizza chain is now planning to partner with Postmates and Uber Eats.
This new pizza partnership is launching in just a few test markets at present but is expected to be rolled out nationwide by the end of this year. It seems, though, that the expansion won't stop there. Some 70% of Domino's international locations are likely to fall under the wide-reaching Uber Eats umbrella. To date, both of these global chains operate in 27 of the same countries, so there's no reason not to pursue the partnership overseas, as well. In fact, Domino's has been listed with a UK and Ireland delivery app called Just Eat since May 2022, so this Uber Eats/Postmates pairing may not be such an earthshaking event for the pizza chain, after all.
This move may benefit the company more than the consumer
Under the new agreement with Uber Eats, and Postmates, Domino's drivers will continue to deliver the pizzas since the chain already has its own delivery infrastructure in place. Why, then, would Domino's actually need to use a third-party app? Well, in today's delivery climate, it seems that many would-be pizza eaters are already locked into a food delivery app habit to the point where Domino's may actually be losing business to pizza parlors (chains and indies alike) that are listed on such platforms. Domino's itself expects that this new partnership could potentially result in millions of additional pizza orders worldwide.
As to what such a move may offer the customer, well, we can't think of any real benefits unless you're a firm believer in "no news is good news." The no news is, there won't be any additional fees tacked on by Uber Eats or Postmates for delivery, customer service, website access, or any of the numerous hidden charges they seem so fond of adding. By some calculations, these fees can nearly double the price of the items themselves and Uber Eats, in particular, ain't cheap. The only other possible perk we can think of is that, if you have an Uber Eats or Postmates gift card kicking around, you may soon have the option to use it to pay for your Domino's order if there's nothing else on the app that appeals.