Domino’s announced this week it will expand its GPS tracking technology to roughly a quarter of its U.S. stores by the end of 2019. The chain has been piloting this technology, dubbed Domino’s Tracker, in select locations throughout this year. According to a press release, Domino’s expects “a significant portion of stores” to use it in 2020.
For customers, the Domino’s Tracker offers a more precise time estimate of when their pie will arrive. After placing an order via the Domino’s app, they will be able to access an interactive map of their order and receive an estimated delivery time. Users can opt in to receive text message updates letting them know when their order is on the way, when it is two minutes away, and when it has arrived.
Store managers, meanwhile, can view where drivers (Domino’s refers to them as “delivery experts”) are on the road. The idea is that by having more exact visibility into drivers’ locations, managers can better manage operational elements of the delivery process, such as route optimization and driver safety.
GPS tracking technology isn’t new to the delivery world, and in fact, part of Domino’s motivation behind enhancing its own is to compete with third-party food delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats, who already have such capabilities in place. The move is one of many strategies Domino’s has in place to fight back against third-party delivery dominance.
That’s no small order in a restaurant industry where 70 percent of all delivery orders are expected to come from third-party delivery services by 2022. Hence initiatives like the Domino’s Innovation Garage, a testing ground for new tech that opened in August, an e-bike program to speed up delivery in dense urban areas where cars are inefficient, and partnerships with location-tech companies to pinpoint hard-to-find street addresses.
Earlier this year, Domino’s CEO Richard E. Allison noted that his company faces “headwinds related to aggressive activity from third-party delivery aggregators” and that he did not expect to see this change any time soon. He added the company will continue to invest in technology for the foreseeable future.
Domino’s GPS tracking technology is currently operating at stores in Phoenix, Houston, Salt Lake City, Miami, Las Vegas, Baltimore and Norfolk, Virginia.
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