Domino’s Pizza charts out aggressive growth plan for India

For the US based Domino’s Pizza Inc, India has always been a very significant market. Globally, India happens to be the second largest market for Domino’s after the US. Now it is planning to go aggressive on Indian markets. It plans to significantly ramp up its retail store network in India to capitalize on the growing appetite for its products. Just to give a rough idea of their broad game plan, Jubilant Foodworks (which is the master franchisee for Domino’s Pizza in India), plans to add another 1,300 stores across the country. This will take its total store count to 3,000. It will also substantially expand its presence from its existing spread of stores across 371 cities across the length and breadth of India.

To stamp its commitment to the Indian market, Domino’s recently announced the formal launch of its 20-minute pizza delivery model in India. It has been introduced on a test basis across 20 zones in 14 Indian cities. How will this time compression be done? It will be through a mix of a wider network of stores, optimizing in-store processes, technology upgradation and introducing operational efficiencies. The bet is that quicker delivery of pizzas will significantly grow sales volumes. At the same time, it will also become a talking point over competition and help to increase consumer retention and order frequency.

Globally, the brand of Domino’s is present in 95 markets across the world. They already have 19,000 stores globally and are going on 20,000 stores. In a sense, Domino’s is preparing itself for intense competition in India’s fast food market. Domino’s already has the largest retail network for a fast-food chain in India, but the market is growing at a salivating pace. For instance, India’s quick service restaurant (QSR) market is forecast to grow from Rs. 145 billion in FY21 to Rs. 534 billion by FY25. However, of late, several indigenous pizzas are making a mark as they aggressively customizing to local flavours.

The next big challenge for Domino’s will be the supply chain infrastructure to feed these stores. As a result, Jubilant is also investing aggressively in setting up new supply chain centres and infrastructure. Apart from being the master franchise for Domino’s in India, Jubilant Foodworks is also the master franchise for Domino’s Pizza in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. In FY22, Jubilant had reported total top line revenues from operations of Rs. 4,331 crore. Clearly, this is one areas that is truly happening and Jubilant appears to be all revved up to take on the challenge.