Sainsbury's vs Domino's Pizza: Unexpected competition

When you think about competition, think not just about current rivals but also about potential rivals. Sainsbury's, for example, is testing a new pizza takeaway service that aims to add convenience during the busy holiday season. And this is the kind of unexpected competition that Domino's Pizza has to consider when writing a marketing plan and conducting SWOT analysis.

'By giving our customers the chance to pre-order personalised hot pizzas and pay at the counter, we are saving them time and giving them a great value takeaway experience', says a Sainsbury's exec.

To streamline the in-store preparation process, the grocery chain is initially offering only two sizes of pizza, with multiple toppings available, in three branches. Customers order in advance and then pick up in the store, paying at the pizza counter rather than joining the queue to pay. All in line with Sainsbury's strapline, live well for less.

Grocery retailers like Sainsbury's typically offer frozen pizza or ready-to-bake pizza, but it's not usual to sell made-to-order takeaway pizzas. Yet adding takeaway pizza makes sense because so many shoppers like to buy premade meals to eat at home. Will consumers get into the habit of buying pizza where they buy milk, juice and nappies?

Sainsbury's is popular on social media, with 1.6mm Facebook likes, 505k Twitter followers, 96k YouTube followers, 171k Instagram followers, and 39k Pinterest followers. Comments about the pizza trial on these social media sites will help Sainsbury's gauge interest, in addition to tallying sales.