Domino's can find you wherever you are with new Google pin drop tech

• Domino's is using Google Maps tech to launch Pinpoint Delivery.
• Consumers can get pizzas delivered by dropping a pin of their location. No address is necessary.
• Domino's has seen a slowdown in its delivery business due to inflationary pressures on customers.

Domino's is turning to Google to revive its delivery business.

The pizza chain, which bills itself as a tech chain that happens to sell pizza, is leveraging Google Maps technology to deliver pizzas to locations without addresses, such as parks, beaches, and baseball fields. The chain is calling the new ordering option "Pinpoint Delivery." Customers identify their location by dropping a pin in the Domino's app.

"No address? No problem," Christopher Thomas-Moore, Domino's senior vice president and chief digital officer, said in a statement.

So, yes, you can get a pizza delivered while strolling through Central Park or sunbathing on the beach. But the delivery drop-off spot must be within a store's delivery zone, the company said.

The Domino's app takes the latitude and longitude coordinates of the customer's location and finds the best pickup spot for delivery based on where a driver can pull over their vehicle, the company said. Customers have four minutes to meet their driver and retrieve their order.

Restaurant tech expert Carl Orsbourn said this kind of hyper-local delivery "makes a lot sense" for chains looking to offer consumers seamless digital ordering experiences.

"A digital restaurant is about being where your customers are and that often means not in your restaurant. And sometimes it means not in your home," said Orsbourn, co-author of the book "Delivering the Digital Restaurant."

Domino's innovates on delivery amid slowdown

Pinpoint is not to be confused with Domino's Hotspots, introduced in April 2018.

That tech delivers pizzas to outdoor spots like a stadium but it still requires an address.

There's no extra cost for Pinpoint Delivery, which comes as inflationary pressures have hurt Domino's delivery business.

Sandeep Reddy, the chain's chief financial officer, said at the Oppenheimer Consumer Growth & E-Commerce Conference last week that 2022 "was very challenging" for consumers. As a result, the chain's delivery business slid 2.1% in its latest quarter.

"Where we've actually lost a lot of traction on the delivery business is the frequency of transactions," Reddy said, according to a transcript by AlphaSense/Sentieo. "The delivery customer tends to be very interested in convenience, not as much value-oriented."

Domino's, which doesn't use third-party aggregators like DoorDash, isn't alone when it comes to its delivery woes.

Restaurant delivery orders, overall, have slowed down after surging during the pandemic. In May, delivery orders fell 8% compared to a year ago, according to market research firm Circana, formerly The NPD Group.

Another chain innovating on delivery is Wendy's.

Last month the burger chain announced plans to introduce a hybrid delivery/pickup system by using underground tunnels. The fast-food chain is partnering with the startup Pipedream, which uses robot-powered underground tunnels to deliver food to customers' cars.

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