The food delivery business has seen tremendous growth over the past few years, with Menulog, Deliveroo & Uber Eats amongst the key market leaders. Prior to the emergence of those players however, the delivery duopoly of Dominos and Pizza Hut ruled supreme (pun intended).
In Australia, this duopoly has seen some competition over the years, with Pizza Hut boasting an all-you-can-eat buffet for a while – I must admit to having been a customer numerous times – plus, they also invented the stuffed crust. Of late, Dominos has had the upper hand however, when they re-invented their ordering process and introduced an app, which is an absolute stand-out in simplicity and customer engagement.
And now Pizza Hut is hitting back in the UK by introducing their Hut Rewards program following its successful launch in US and Canada in 2017. Members earn slices based on spend, in a layered model; every 5 slices gets the member a free side, 7 slices get them a free medium pizza and 10 slices get them a free large pizza, at which point the collection of slices resets to zero. This only applies to deliveries ordered via online or app.
This design is smart. To counteract the fact that the member is actually spending a minimum of £100 to reach 10 slices (i.e. £10 = 1 slice), Pizza Hut are giving away 3 separate items, each one better than the last. This feels like there’s plenty of value in the rewards, which is exactly what a good program must deliver.
Broadly, the competition in this industry has certainly been heating up. Recently, Uber introduced a tiered loyalty program (US only at this stage), which rewards members with points for spending across not only rides, but also Uber Eats. The points can then be spent across their entire ecosystem. Their ultimate level entitles the member to a couple of free Uber Eats deliveries too.
Deliveroo has been an earn partner of Qantas Frequent Flyer for over a year now, where its members can earn Qantas Points across all orders. Additionally, they’ve just launched their new beach delivery system, delivering food directly to your beach towel, across 150 different beaches in Australia!
So, whilst Pizza Hut have certainly launched a program that is compelling, they must not rest on their laurels. In this space, customer experience and convenience is likely to remain key, but a well-designed loyalty program remains a great way to close the loop.
Max Savransky is Loyalty Director of Loyalty & Reward Co, a leading loyalty consulting firm based in Sydney. He has 10 years’ experience within the loyalty industry including roles at Mastercard Loyalty (Pinpoint), Silverneedle (Next & Sage Hotels) and Pureprofile. As Loyalty & CRM Manager at HOYTS, he launched the highly successful partnership with Qantas Frequent Flyer, including a world-first Qantas Points in-store redemption proposition. He is an active cryptocurrency trader.
Max regularly contributes to www.blockchainloyalty.io, a global resource centre for everything blockchain loyalty.
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