9 March 2021
DOMINO’S HELPS THE UK THROUGH LOCKDOWN
Lockdown news from No 10 drove spikes in sales
Halloween surges ahead as one of the biggest treat nights
Customers shift from end of week to mid-week dining
Domino’s, the nation’s best loved pizza, helped boost morale through last year’s lockdowns, as Government COVID-19 announcements and a strikingly different festive period drove the greatest ever spikes in pizza sales and brought in five million new customers.
The first full week of national lockdown in March was Domino’s busiest week of 2020 for delivery in the UK. As supermarket shelves emptied and evening activities were limited, the nation leaned on Domino’s for comfort, ordering over two million pizzas.
March also marked the beginning of Domino’s recognition of key workers across the UK and Ireland with the first of its £4 million pizza giveaways, plus the launch of the Partners Foundation, which provides grants to Domino’s colleagues in times of hardship.
As Boris Johnson concluded his address to the nation announcing England’s second lockdown on 31 October 2020, Domino’s deliveries made up for the lack of doorstep trick or treaters. People turned to pizza to take the edge off the lockdown news, making Halloween Domino’s busiest day of the year for sales – selling 13 pizzas every second and processing 382 orders online per minute.
As 2020 came to an end, pizza fans turned to Domino’s to celebrate Christmas a little differently as they prepared for a brighter 2021. Domino’s had its biggest ever Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, selling 12 and 14 pizzas every second respectively. This helped drive a record sales week in the final few days of the year*.
Dominic Paul, CEO, Domino’s Pizza Group, said: “It was a privilege to play our small part in keeping spirits up and helping the nation stay safe at home during the pandemic. I’m truly grateful to our hardworking teams across the country and our franchisees for making it possible. On behalf of Domino’s, I also want to reiterate our gratitude to all the frontline workers who worked tirelessly to help keep the UK and Republic of Ireland safe. We hope our pizza giveaways went some way towards demonstrating our heartfelt appreciation.”
The pandemic also triggered a change in ordering patterns with many households enjoying an early evening meal together, but fewer late-night orders. Mid-week orders rose, as opposed to the traditional Friday 7pm rush and variety was the spice of lockdown life with the successful launch of Domino’s new Vegan range and Beef Doner pizza, its most popular new product launch ever.
Despite the lockdown ups and downs, today’s annual results show Domino’s has continued to perform well through 2020, with system sales up 11.4%. To view the results, please visit www.investors.dominos.co.uk/media/news/preliminary-results-52-weeks-ended-27-december-2020
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* 28 December 2020 – 3 January 2021
Keep up to date with the latest from Domino’s at:
Twitter.com/dominosukinews
Twitter.com/Dominos_UK
Facebook.com/DominosPizza
Dominos.co.uk/blog/
For further information, please contact:
Tim Danaher, Samantha Chiene - 020 7404 5959
dominos@brunswickgroup.com
For additional photography, please visit the media centre at: http://corporate.dominos.co.uk/media-area
Notes to Editors
Keeping our communities safe
The wellbeing of team members and customers is paramount for Domino’s, even more so in the current environment. The business has introduced measures such as Contact Free Delivery, In-Car Collection and simplified its menu. All team members are trained in Domino’s rigorous food safety and hygiene procedures to ensure hungry customers receive their freshly made, hot pizzas as safely as possible.
About Domino’s Pizza Group
Domino’s Pizza Group plc is the UK’s leading pizza brand and a major player in the Irish market. We hold the master franchise agreement to own, operate and franchise Domino’s stores in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland and Iceland. In addition, we have associate investments in the holders of the Domino’s master franchise agreements in Germany and Luxembourg.