Remember when pizza joints staffed an order-taker whose sole job it was to answer the constantly ringing phone? Back when customers would get off the couch to find a number in the Yellow Pages and dial the phone to ask for a pepperoni pie? Well, now that staffer better be fluent in digital orders. Operators are dramatically changing the way customers reach out for a slice—trading telephones for remote controls and the phone book for a smartphone app.
Modern advances are coming into play to attract a more tech-savvy audience that demands convenience—not just millennials, but Gen Xers and boomers, too. That charge is being led by the nation’s two largest pizza chains, Domino’s and Pizza Hut. This year alone, they’ve both rolled out new ordering platforms that have made it so customers don’t have to stop what they’re doing to place an order.
Which begs the question: What does the future of pizza ordering look like? Soon enough, even apps will be old hat. With the advances in technology, maybe someday an implanted chip will be able to sense hunger and automatically place an order for pizza before the customer can even decide between sausage and pepperoni. Until then, here’s a look at how operators have revolutionized the way we order pizza over the years.
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