QSR May 2023

BRAND INNOVATION

may be considering softening its hardline stance on third-party delivery, the company remains reliant on its drivers to fulfill orders. That means it has had to look within the organization for solutions to the labor challenge. “We found one answer to the delivery driver shortage by looking inside our own franchise operations,” says Joe Jor dan, president of U.S. and global services at Domino’s. “After speaking to some of the franchisees who use their own fleet of vehicles, we found that they provide more opportunity to poten tial drivers who don’t have a car of their own. So, as a brand, we launched a fleet of more than 800 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles.” The move, which gave Domino’s the country’s largest electric vehicle delivery fleet, provided several advantages for Domino’s stores, including ample battery life with the potential to have days of deliveries, zero tailpipe emissions, and lower average maintenance costs than nonelectric vehicles, without the finan cial impact of high gas prices.

Staffing shortages have had a less pronounced impact on Papa Johns, which started working with third-party deliv ery providers in 2019, and Little Caesars, which got into the aggregator game in 2020. Still, both companies have worked to improve operational efficiencies and ease the burden on team members. Patrick Cunningham, vice president of U.S. development at Little Caesars, says the company hasn’t been immune from staffing challenges, but it’s benefited from a business model that requires “a significantly lower level of labor.” “From the back of the store to the front of the store, from delivery of our raw materials all the way through delivery to our guests, the way the store is designed is extremely efficient, and we’ve been able to capitalize on that from a labor perspec tive,” he says. Little Caesars has ramped up investments in technology, emphasizing automation, digital menuboards, and other

proprietary technology that helps further streamline operations. It also increased wages across the board and offered more flexible schedules for team members. “Many people who are at higher levels of the organization started as crew members in the store, so we’ve shown that oppor tunities exist for growth, not only at the restaurant level, but outside of the restau rant level,” Cunningham says. “Those factors have certainly helped us mitigate what’s happening out there right now.” Pizza Hut adjusted its hiring practices to attract more drivers. It also continues to expand its Dragontail platform, which automates kitchen flow and driver dispatch processes. “This AI enables us to sequence how we prepare and deliver pizzas, so it is both more seamless for the Pizza Hut team mem ber while also allowing us to get orders to our guests faster and hotter,” Graves says. “It’s been hugely impactful from an oper ations and team member standpoint and globally, we expect to have Dragontail in over 7,000 stores by the end of 2023.” Domino’s, meanwhile, is leaning into call centers to field phone orders and free up employees in the store to focus on other tasks. Similarly, Papa Johns has continued to leverage its PapaCall initiative, which brought artificial intelligence into its call centers. CEO Robert Lynch says the tech nology has reduced the number of dropped calls and lost orders. Papa Johns also has taken steps to improve its make-line efficiency and streamline its operational models when it comes to dispatching both internal and

PAPA JOHNS WANTS TO PUSH PREMIUM MENU INNOVATION.

PAPA JOHNS (2)

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MAY 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com