Pizza delivery chain Domino’s Pizza has launched voice ordering for its iPhone and Android apps in conjunction with Nuance Communications. The platform, in partnership with Nuance, puts Domino’s at the forefront of an intuitive ordering method, a first within both traditional and e-commerce retail.
Domino’s new voice ordering platform is powered by Nuance’s Nina Mobile, a virtual assistant that leverages speech recognition, speech synthesis and natural language understanding technologies. Together, the platform delivers a human-like, conversational customer service experience that allows users to speak an order and quickly add items to their cart. The platform is being launched in beta format, which will allow for additional enhancements as customers become familiar with the new ordering feature.
Commenting on the initiative, Patrick Doyle, President and CEO, Domino’s Pizza, said: “There will be a day when typing on keyboards or with thumbs on mobile devices will come to a close; we want to be the ones who continue to advance the technology experience – hand-in-hand with our customers. Our mobile app users who are a part of this launch are truly helping set the foundation for the innovations of today, that will soon enough become the standards of tomorrow.”
Robert Weideman, Executive Vice President and General Manager, enterprise division, Nuance, stated: “Whether ordering pizzas, booking a flight or transferring money into a bank account – convenience is what translates to increased sales and customer satisfaction. Our Nina platform is enabling organisations like Domino’s to do just that, and we are very proud to be a part of offering this convenience to their growing number of mobile app users.”
The Domino’s ordering apps for iPhone and Android, which have been downloaded more than 10 million times, are both available for free from the App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android devices. Existing iPhone and Android app users will need the latest update to be able to utilize the voice ordering feature.
Founded in 1960, Domino’s Pizza has more than 10,900 stores in over 70 international markets. Domino’s had global retail sales of over $8.0 billion in 2013, comprising nearly$3.8 billion in the US and over $4.2 billion internationally. In the first quarter of 2014, Domino’s had global retail sales of over $2.0 billion, including $0.9 billion in the US and $1.1 billion internationally. It has franchise owner-operators who accounted for over 96 percent of the Domino’s Pizza stores as of the first quarter of 2014. The emphasis on technology innovation helped Domino’s generate approximately 40 percent of sales in the US from its digital channels in 2013, as well as reach an estimated $3 billion annually in global digital sales. Domino’s recently launched its ordering app for iPad, adding to an existing ordering app lineup that covers nearly 95 percent of the US smartphone market. Continuing its focus on menu enhancement, Domino’s launched Specialty Chicken in April 2014.
