Pizza Sales Soar

While U.S. restaurant chains have experienced slow traffic this year, pizza restaurants have been going gangbusters.

December 23, 2016

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – If nobody is eating out, who is ordering all the pizza? Overall, U.S. restaurant chains have had very slow traffic, but the same can’t be said of pizza chains, Bloomberg reports. Companies like Papa John’s and Domino’s Pizza have made ordering pies super easy, with online and mobile-ordering apps that provide customers with multiple ways to place an order. Papa John’s says more than 50% of its orders are placed online.

Domino’s same-store sales in the United States jumped 13% in the last quarter, while Papa John’s North American sales shot up 5.5%. “Restaurants that have succeeded this year have been the ones that have addressed convenience,” said Stephen Anderson, an analyst at Maxim Group LLC. “The pizza chains have done a good job at this.”

Aggressive deals have also brought in diners, such as Domino’s two-for-$5.99-each menu and Papa John’s two large pizzas for $8 apiece. “There’s been a lot of competition,” said Ivan Feinseth, an analyst at Tigress Financial Partners. These companies have “promoted the value pricing well, and they have incorporated technology to make the buying process really convenient and fun.”

Healthier pizzas have become more popular as well, with chains like Papa John’s removing artificial ingredients from their pies.

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