Pizza Hut Uses ‘iTechnology’ to Promote Effortless Ordering

Technology continues to offer QSRs innovative ways to both attract new customers and offer appealing interactivity to loyals.  And with its latest tech push, Pizza Hut is moving ease of ordering to center stage for IPhone and IPod users.

On July 15, Pizza Hut announced a new application for the IPod and IPhone that allows customer to order pizza, pasta and other menu items, quickly, from their handheld device. 

“The Pizza Hut app brings fun and convenience to ordering pizza,” said Bernard Acoca, senior director for Digital Marketing at Pizza Hut, in an e-mail interview with QSR Buzz. “Ordering from Pizza Hut should be convenient, and creating a new app delivers that convenience to iPhone and iPod Touch users while creating a fun, interactive experience.”  Acoca also confirmed that the application is available for customers to use nationwide at all Pizza Hut locations.

The application’s interactive features include the ability to “pinch” the devices’ touch screens (the way that all die-hard Apple handheld users know how) to increase or decrease, and then select a customer’s desired pizza size; drag-and-drop capability for moving around toppings; and an image that represents the finished product.

Similarly, for fans of WingStreet — Pizza Hut’s chicken-wing counterpart that joined the chain in 2003 — iPhone and iPod users can customize orders by selecting sauces and shaking the device to “cook “ the wings.   A virtual waiter on the application will even take orders for Pizza Hut’s Tuscani pastas.

In addition to ordering, the app has an interface for selecting and using special offers that are displayed as coupons on a refrigerator door.  And as if there weren’t enough to do, a game called “Pizza Hut Racer” helps customers pass the time while waiting for their order:  Depending on the angle and movement of the device, users are challenged to successfully deliver a pizza while avoiding road obstacles.

According to Acoca, extensive nationwide testing solidified the app’s launch, which likely helped to perfect this on-the-go tool for quick ordering from the country’s first national pizza chain.