LOUISVILLE, KY - Papa John€™s International Inc., which in 2001 was the first national pizza company to offer online ordering, announced earlier this week that it has surpassed $2 billion in online ordering pizza sales, a milestone that comes less than two years after it became the first pizza company to pass $1 billion in online sales.

While the company had predicted in 2008 that it would take another three years to reach $2 billion in sales, it attributed its accelerated sales pace to continual improvements that it made to its website, including 24/7 online ordering availability, a Spanish version of its Web site and a mobile Web site.

"It has long been a priority at Papa John€™s to not only provide a quality pizza to our customers, but also provide them with quality, convenient high-tech resources to order pizza," said Jim Ensign, Papa John's vice president of digital marketing. "As more and more people become dependent upon their computers and mobile devices to simplify their lives, our online ordering system has kept pace. This latest milestone of reaching $2 billion in online orders within two years of reaching the first billion proves that consumers are increasingly using alternative methods for purchases, and we look forward to growing our technology suite to fit consumers€™ evolving purchasing trends."

Since launching in 2001, Papa John€™s online sales have grown exponentially, growing on average more than 50 percent each year through 2007 and rising steadily since then. Today, more than 25 percent of the company€™s business comes online or via mobile devices, a total that it says could one day surpass those of traditional telephone orders.

Papa John€™s online and mobile notables include:

• A Facebook page, which includes more than 1.1 million fans
• More than $17 million in mobile Web sales since launch in late 2008
• Plan-ahead ordering that allows customers to place orders up to 3 weeks in advance.
• 24/7 online ordering
• "Repeat last order" capability, replicating a customer€™s most recent order with one click.

Coincidentally, just yesterday at NACStech during the "Mixing In Technology to Improve Your Foodservice Offering" workshop, presenter Robert Grimes of Accuvia told attendees that the top three pizza chains €" Papa John€™s, Pizza Hut and Domino€™s €" are best in class at mobile couponing and online ordering.