Domino’s executives said its Slice Sauce, introduced in April, didn’t resonate with customers | Photo courtesy of Domino’s
Domino’s CEO Russell Weiner homed in on increased order counts during the company’s second-quarter earnings call earlier this week, noting that they fuel long-term growth for both the brand and its franchisees.
“Since I joined the company at the end of 2008, we have more than doubled the number of orders coming through our system, resulting in double-digit market share gains,” he said. “Orders drive our business. Orders bring people into our loyalty program flywheel, and they power our supply chain business … This means that while other restaurants were fighting for orders, millions of new customers came to Domino’s.”
It was a nice distraction from the chain’s smaller ticket sizes during the quarter, which Weiner attributed to a tough lap over last year’s Stuffed Crust Pizza launch, as well as missed expectations from the premium series launch, including the new Slice Sauce, introduced in April.
“This did not resonate with customers the way it needed to. The messaging wasn’t compelling enough. The result was a drag on ticket, which impacted our results,” he said.
“The premium series that was intended to lap the Parmesan Stuffed Crust from last year didn’t give us the results that we needed,” CFO Sandeep Reddy added. “That’s why we had a bit of a shortfall on ticket and same-store sales fell below our expectations.”
Executives are optimistic this “shortfall” is temporary, however, as the company continues to grow its third-party delivery business, expanded just last year, as well as adjust its marketing calendar. The company added its Stuffed Crust to its Best Deal Ever, for instance, which has performed well so far.
“By putting Parmesan Stuffed Crust in Best Deal Ever, it’s a discount for customers, but they’re still paying a good fee for it, and that trial will lead to long-term repeat,” Weiner said. “Putting Parm Stuffed Crust in Best Deal Ever was really important because we know when people try it, they’ll come back again and again, and that’s happening right now.”
Domino’s is also gearing up for a product launch in Q3 that Weiner said is ‘unlike anything we’ve ever offered before.”
Though details are sparse at this point, he said the new product fills a gap in the menu and addresses “an unmet consumer need … with a pizza that is unique to Domino’s.”
“This signature product will give customers a delicious new reason to come to Domino’s while protecting the core pizza occasions that have been key to our success. It’s one of the best-tasting products we have ever tested,” Weiner said. “We believe there’s a lot of incrementality to this.”
Competition “has never been weaker”
Similar to the first quarter, when Weiner told his competitors to “bring it on” with more frequent promotions, Domino’s executives once again reiterated their relative position of strength in an otherwise softening category. According to Technomic, pizza was the only category to experience negative sales in 2025, for instance, though Domino’s sales were up 4.8%.
“Our brand has never been stronger, and our competition has never been weaker,” Weiner said.
Papa Johns and Pizza Hut, for example, are closing hundreds of locations this year, while Papa Murphy’s recently announced the closure of up to 50 domestic locations. Conversely, Domino’s expects to open 175 net new stores this year.
Notably, independents are driving much of the category’s current growth as consumers continue returning to their pre-COVID habits and seek out more dine-in opportunities. Domino’s executives, however, said their company is also taking share from those shops. Reddy said Domino’s has gained nine points of share throughout the past eight years, with three of those points coming from independents.
“Dine-in is obviously something that we don’t compete in directly, but more people coming into pizza is only helpful for us, especially while we continue to grow order counts,” Weiner added. “When I talk about the competition, I’m talking about relative to us. We weren’t always the number one pizza brand and now we are (and) the distance between us and our competition is greater than it’s ever been. I know what wins in this category. It’s scale.
“You can drive volume if you have the biggest ad budget, which we do. We’ve never had greater scale, and our competition never had less scale, and those two things add up well for us to continue to drive share.”
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