Ahead of their joint presentation at IRX2013, Paul Skeldon talks to Steve Ash, IT Director at Pizza Hut and Phillip Clement, marketing director at technology vendor Bemoko about how mobile has helped Pizza Hut deliver exceptional customer service – with all the toppings – in the fiercely competitive take away delivery market.
The take away food market – especially where it increasingly involves home delivery – is highly competitive and has become one of the key markets to adopt mobile to gain competitive advantage. Pizza Hut may not have been first to market with a mobile solution, but through its work with technology provider Bemoko, it has created not just a full-featured m-commerce site from day one that works across all devices, but has also had the foresight to weave mobile into a longer term, three year omni-channel strategy – leaving the retailer way ahead of the curve.
What Pizza Hut has achieved with its mobile strategy is to connect customers, whatever device they are using, with the brand and offer them a better all round experience – as well as delivering offers, vouchers and other marketing offerings to drive the business.
From Pizza Hut’s perspective, the mobile strategy is at the heart of an on-going omni-channel development, with mobile delivering rich customer data to the company to help it further shape its business, often on a regional basis.
Steve Ash, IT director at Pizza Hut explains: “Mobile will be at the centre for Pizza Hut, harnessing the power to connect, engage, interact and transact with our customers at all stages of the customer journey. Mobile delivers rich user analytics and is the temperature check of success – with social media acting as an instant feedback mechanism. The ability to deliver regional and feedback driven experiences on the fly will be a highly sought after prize. The deep analytics and Business Intelligence generated by mobile will enable Pizza Hut to anticipate and respond proactively to customer trends.”
Bemoko’s marketing director Phillip Clement, also points out that the move to mobile has not only cemented Pizza Hut’s omni-channel strategy together, but has also helped the company save money, as well as future proof the company digital estate.
“Bemoko and its technology have provided Pizza Hut with agility in the market and at the same time reduced their costs,” he says. “Pizza Hut are now ready for any change and advancement in the mobile and omni-channel space and can plan their business around whatever comes next, be it Internet TV, tablets, Google glasses or any new mobile device.”
And there is much that retailers attending IRX 2013 can learn from Pizza Hut’s experience – not least that DIY and responsive design solutions are just a quick fix and that mobile is at the heart of any omni-channel strategy.
“Mobile is a complex, ever-changing and currently emotive subject. Everyone is doing something and has their view on it,” says Clement. “Pizza Hut have taken a bold and decisive step and are putting in place the strong technical foundations that will future proof them in a constantly changing landscape.”
Clement adds: “Listening to how Pizza Hut has taken a long-term strategic view of mobile, multi-channel and omni-channel – and how they have made technology and vendor decisions around it – is set to be a highlight of IRX 2013.”
