Pizza Hut is trying to one-up the competition in the race to offer consumers a variety of ordering options. The Hut's new Total Mobile Access lets consumers order their favorite pizza pie from cell phones via text messaging or mobile Web, and it is promoting the fact it's the only restaurant chain to offer both ordering options on a nationwide basis.
“Text messaging and mobile Web are an integral part of millions of Americans’ lives, and we’re excited that these fast and flexible ordering options can now be used to order Pizza Hut pizza,” said Brian Niccol, Pizza Hut CMO. “Online ordering has become one of the fastest growing segments of our business in recent years, so adding Total Mobile Access is the latest way we can make the process of ordering America’s Favorite Pizza more convenient for our customers.”
Pizza Hut offers this comparison chart, to pit its consumer ordering options against its two biggest competitors:
Pizza Hut |
Papa John’s | Dominos | ||||
| Total Mobile Access | Yes |
Not offered | Not offered | |||
| National Text Ordering | Yes |
Yes |
Not offered | |||
| National Online Ordering | Yes |
Yes |
Yes | |||
| National Mobile Ordering | Yes |
Not offered | Yes | |||
| Carryout | Yes |
Yes |
Yes | |||
| Delivery | Yes |
Yes |
Yes | |||
| Dine-in Restaurants | Yes |
Not offered | Not offered |
Papa John's has been the digital leader of the pizza pack, having offered online ordering first back in 2001, and text message ordering first in November 2007. The mobile Web option Pizza Hut is touting in it's press release means when you go to Pizzahut.com on a web-enabled phone, the site will automatically be modified to fit to the phone’s screen, and Pizza Hut's mobile website has a simplified menu featuring popular orders and a store locator. I'd be surprised if Papa John's doesn't come out with this very soon, and I'd be more surprised if Dominos doesn't get on board the text messaging bandwagon, as that seems to be the quickest and friendliest mobile ordering option.
Pizza Hut's text messaging system works in similar fashion to Papa John's. First, you log in at PizzaHut.com to create your “Pizza Playlist,” of up to four favorite orders. Then, using any cell phone, you send a text order to “749488” (749HUT), which is followed by a confirmation text from Pizza Hut. I wrote an earlier post about Papa John's online and text message ordering system, which allows you to place an order up to three weeks in advance ... say you want to get in front of the line for the mad rush during the Super Bowl. Any way you look at it, for pizza lovers and carryout fans in general, it's nice to see businesses taking their tech up a notch to meet consumers where they are, and in ways they prefer.









