The Domino’s Pizza Tracker Theory of Everything

Kenny Malone (0:01)

Hello, Planet Money listener, it's Kenny Malone. So, there's been this odd thing happening, and we're hoping that you, like you personally, could help us fix this, perhaps. You probably know that we wrote a book, we made a game, and thanks to you, a lot of those have been sold, and this is great. But, given how well they've been selling, our partners for both the book and the game have pointed out a mystery.

There simply are not that many reviews or ratings on sites like Barnes and Noble or Amazon compared to what you would expect given the sales numbers. So, first of all, I mean, thank you for even just coming along with us on our many zany adventures and for spending your hard-earned money on a Planet Money book or a Planet Money game. Like truly, we cannot thank you enough. Secondly, though, we realize now, perhaps in hindsight, we were maybe too proud to ask for this. But if you bought either the book or the game, or if you plan to, giving us a rating or a review on whatever site or with whatever store you bought it from really, really helps us at the show, especially in this age of algorithms. If you didn't buy either, that's okay too. We're glad to just hang out with you.

To everyone listening, just thank you. Thank you for listening.

Shuya Gong (1:26)

This is Planet Money from NPR.

Nick Fountain (1:31)

I hate waiting.

I think we all do. But recently I heard a theory about how our relationship with waiting has been totally transformed in the last 20 years. It was a story about how an IT department of a pizza restaurant completely changed how we wait and how we feel when we wait. I heard it from none other than Alex Mayyasi. Take it away, Alex.

Alex Mayyasi (1:57)

Okay. For all intents and purposes, the story starts when David Halbin Stricker got a job at Domino's in IT.

And at the time, the company was in a kind of crisis. See, for a long time, Domino's was known for one thing.

David Halbin Stricker (2:12)

They were known for their fast delivery. It was like, if you wanted your pizza fast, you ordered it from Domino's.

Nick Fountain (2:20)

If you want a good pizza.

David Halbin Stricker (2:21)

If you wanted a good pizza, there were other places you would go.

Nick Fountain (2:26)

They were so into their speedy delivery thing that for many years they even guaranteed it.

David Halbin Stricker (2:31)

If they didn't get the pizza to your door in 30 minutes, you'd get it free.

Alex Mayyasi (2:35)

But the guarantee led to problems. It pushed delivery drivers to be reckless. People died. There were lawsuits and eventually Domino's had to give up on the guarantee.

David Halbin Stricker (2:46)

And all the industry pundits said Domino's is now dead.

Nick Fountain (2:51)

Wow.

David Halbin Stricker (2:52)

They were basically saying without the guarantee, who's going to order Domino's pizza?

Nick Fountain (2:57)

Right.

David Halbin Stricker (2:58)

You know?

Nick Fountain (2:59)

Yeah, David says losing the guarantee was bad. They were ceding market share to the likes of Papa John's and Pizza Hut.

And David had this theory of the 30 minute guarantee, which is that it wasn't just popular because it got people their pizzas fast. It was popular for a slightly squishier reason. It had given people a sense of control.

Alex Mayyasi (3:25)

This idea was backed up by evidence.

Around this time in the early 2000s, Domino's had actually commissioned a study that mapped the way people felt when they ordered a pizza. And what they learned was it was a psychological roller coaster.

David Halbin Stricker (3:40)

Yeah.

You're desperately hungry. And so you're like, I want pizza. I want pizza. And so you go and you place your order. And it's like, oh, yes, I've got pizza coming. And you're excited. I've done it. I've ordered pizza.

Nick Fountain (3:55)

This was the top of the roller coaster. And things really went downhill after that.

David Halbin Stricker (3:59)

It's completely out of your control at this point. You're like, where is it? Where is it? I'm hungry. Where is it? Especially with kids, you know, where is it mom? Where is it mom? Where is it mom? You know, it's coming. It's coming. You have no idea where it is. Have they lost my order, you know?

Nick Fountain (4:18)

Regardless of how long getting a pizza actually took, customers just hated the process, the experience of waiting. To solve this problem and to stand out in a crowded pizza market, David and his IT colleagues cooked up a tool that would help Domino's beat their competitors on a kind of novel front, managing their customers' emotional journeys.