It must be tough to be a pizza chain. Pizza is something that most people can’t get enough of, but the market is somewhat saturated. That might be why big names like Pizza Hut and Domino’s have more than just pizza on the menu — they want to be your go-to chicken guys, too.
While I prefer Domino’s out of the two, I can’t help but think of Pizza Hut as a legendary restaurant. A lot of my earliest memories happened there, and their partnership with Book-It! helped me learn to love reading (and oversized novelty pins). For the average millennial, those are hard memories to tarnish.
Domino’s, unfortunately, hasn’t had the best of luck in terms of their earlier years. Remember, this is the company who had an ad campaign stating that they knew they were terrible but were trying their best to do better.
Their most recent effort to do better, however, comes off as being super creepy. They’re so set on making sure your pizza arrives with little complaint that they’re planning on monitoring it with a camera. Franchises in Australia and New Zealand have become familiar with the DOM Pizza Checker. Its main purpose is to make sure you get the topping distribution and temperature you’re hoping for in a pizza.
That means that it’ll be examined while in the restaurant (as it should), but it gets weirder. It’ll also be able to interact with you, the customer, to make sure you’re satisfied with what comes out of the oven.
It almost seems like customers have a little too much control here. Why is the process of getting a good pizza so difficult, especially when there are plenty of restaurants doing it?
Still, Domino’s seems to stand behind their technology. “Pizza Checker is almost like a virtual trainer helping our team members make better pizza for our customers,” their New Zealand website says.
Bring back the old pizza ovens and start making them how they were made before the mid 90s then you will have the perfect pizzas
— Jack (@jack21365) May 28, 2019
“The transparent technology also provides customers with an image of their pizza on the cut bench, which will appear in real time on the Pizza Tracker page of each customer’s order. As part of this process, customers are notified if their pizza has failed the strong quality testing, resulting in a remake,” it continues.
Sure, it’s cool. But again, it almost seems as if Domino’s is investing so much money in a tool because they know their workers are going to screw something up.
Domino's screwed up my order tonight. They didn't put jalapeños on my pizza and they didn't give me the ranch I paid extra for. 😩
— 🌻 Britney (@juicebox07) July 3, 2018
According to Twitter? Well, they’re not wrong.
Domino's messed up our order..then somehow messed up the follow-up order. But they did give us 24 wings, a brownie, and $25 store credit so pic.twitter.com/akOhNxdyo0
— flick (@FlickNickem) October 1, 2017
These innovations always seem impressive at first. Being able to control something like your own pizza is kind of a powerful feeling.
But, you’d imagine the novelty might wear off. Just like the pizza tracker that the company uses. Sure, it’s great in design and makes your pizza feel a little more personalized after knowing who’s making it for you.
Boyfriend was acting weird and looking on his phone, I looked over thinking I would see some butts, homeboy had ordered Dominos and was staring at the pizza tracker. I’m done. pic.twitter.com/AcYpOA3mKV
— Francesca Lyn (@francescalyn) May 26, 2019
But when you realize that “out for delivery” could mean five minutes or 20, it suddenly gets a lot more frustrating. Especially if you’ve got hungry kids in the mix.
Me looking at Domino’s Pizza Tracker pic.twitter.com/0yT5TwXRTS
— Andy Carolan (@NotQuiteAndy) May 28, 2019
Supposedly, “pizza disappointment” is a big issue for Domino’s. It’s a little strange when you think about it. I’m not doubting their market research, but even a sad looking pizza still usually tastes pretty good.
Still puzzled about how this thing works? Luckily, there’s a video that explains it.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ6Z2RyOvVo"]The video was originally uploaded in 2017, and a lot has changed since then. For one, the technology used to be called “DRU.” Now, it’s “DOM.”
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb0nxQyv7RU"]Hopefully, this type of technology won’t be too distracting to Domino’s employees. Can you imagine making a pizza, but getting notifications from the customer that there’s something wrong with it? Or, that they want more cheese at the last minute? Will customers be taking screencaps of the DOM images and comparing them to the actual pizza that arrives at their door?
Sometimes, a pizza is just a pizza. Delivery drivers have tried hard to make sure the cheese doesn’t slide off due to a sharp turn. But, mistakes do happen. It’s part of life.
Even though there isn’t much information out about whether or not locations in the United States will get this technology, it shouldn’t be all that necessary. If anything, it should check to make sure that the online order matches the pizza, but that’s it.
Domino's Pizza customers can now order a pizza and watch it being made online. This way their customers can see exactly what went wrong.
— j O E l (@RetweetJoel) May 3, 2013
I mean, if someone’s ordering a pizza from Domino’s and there’s slightly less pepperoni than anticipated, it’s not like that pie isn’t going to get eaten.
But, hey. If it means more happy customers for Domino’s, perhaps this is all money well spent.
