Papa John’s dominates Internet sales of the $36B-a-year industry while Domino’s, others test it out.

For Mike Santonocito, ordering pizza at Michigan State University was as simple as: Point. Click. Pizza. “Online ordering is more convenient,” said Santonocito, now a law student at DePaul University in Chicago. “It’s just popping into the computer, clicking the mouse a few times and the pizza shows up.”

More and more pizza customers in Metro Detroit and across the country are turning to the Internet for home delivery.

Papa John’s is leading the way in online ordering in the $36-billion-a-year pizza industry, with others such as Ann Arbor-based Domino’s Pizza testing the waters. Experts predict that all major chains will offer the option within five years.

About 2.8 percent, or 84 million, of the 3 billion annual pizza orders are placed online, said Jeremy White, editor of Pizza Today, a trade publication. Five years ago, it was only 0.008 percent or 24 million Internet orders.

Online ordering offers advantages: It’s quicker, less prone to errors, provides an up-to-date menu and prices and cashless transactions. It’s just a matter of a few clicks of the mouse and entering your address and credit card number (you can even include the driver’s tip).

“The pizza industry has proven the Internet works well for some,” said Steve Coomes, a former senior editor for PizzaMarketplace.com. “They can’t ignore it or they risk losing customers to other pizza outlets that have it. It’s a highly competitive market that nobody wants to give up even a small percentage of their sales.”

He predicts online ordering will never replace the phone; it’s just another way to connect with the local pizza shop.

Papa John’s is the only chain with online ordering nationwide, including at its 43 Michigan stores.

“The Internet is where most customers live today,” said Chris Sternberg, Papa John’s senior vice president of corporate communications. “Consequently, we want to make it easy for those customers to order out food. There are advantages to the Internet.”

The Louisville, Ky.-based company, which has 2,600 stores nationwide, began offering the service in 2001. Since then, the company has taken more than 25 million online pizza orders. Online ordering has increased by at least 50 percent each of the last few years.

“Many customers don’t like to be put on hold,” Sternberg said. “They want to see the menu and pricing. And they like to move ahead with their order at their own pace. This can be done on the Internet.”

Domino’s Pizza, with 5,000 stores in the United States, sees online ordering as a staple of its future. Some of its stores have been testing online ordering with success, and officials predict it will eventually be used companywide. Online testing is being done in Michigan and in San Diego, New York City and Gainesville, Fla.

“From our experience, offering online ordering will be required of us,” said Tim McIntyre, vice president of corporate communications for Domino’s. “Our consumer base is headed in that direction. People are always looking for convenience and control.

“Online ordering takes a lot of guesswork out of it,” he added. “You are eliminating the mistakes. You are the one doing the clicking as opposed to relying on someone at the other end of the phone hearing you correctly.”

Neither Little Caesar’s pizza, headquartered in downtown Detroit, nor Hungry Howie’s, a Madison Heights pizza chain, has any immediate plans to provide online ordering, officials at those companies said.

Pizza Hut, the nation’s largest pizza chain, began testing online ordering more than a decade ago and is working to get all of its stores wired with the Internet. Last month the company began offering a Spanish language Web site for online ordering.

“It’s more than a test now,” said Chris Fuller, a Pizza Hut spokesman.

Orders routed automatically
Hoyt Jones, 48, has been testing online ordering at his eight Domino’s franchises — seven around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and one near Michigan State University — the past eight months.

Online orders are automatically routed to the pizza preparation area and are integrated into the flow of phone and walk-in orders. During slow periods, bells sound to alert workers that an online order has arrived.

Already, online ordering represents 7 percent to 8 percent of Jones’ business and has proven especially popular with college students. And businesses like online ordering for advance orders, said Jones, who worked in Domino’s franchising department from 1985 until 2002, when he began opening his own stores.

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