New Apple CarPlay integration helps improve Domino's pizza ordering — from customer dashboards

What if ordering food in the car didn’t mean contending with a slow-moving drive-thru lane?

That’s the premise of a new offering from Domino’s Pizza that can turn cars themselves into ordering devices via Apple CarPlay. Domino’s is the first pizza chain to have integrated an app with CarPlay, which turns a car’s infotainment screen into a connected iOS device. Other restaurants on the system include Dunkin' and Panera Bread.

The technology allows motorists to order a pizza with a few taps on the screen. While providing the convenience consumers demand, Domino’s stands to benefit by giving them a reason to carry out their orders, which is more efficient and profitable than delivery. Orders through the app also provide Domino’s with valuable first-party data.

The new spot from WorkInProgress shows a family waiting in their car at the end of a long drive-thru line at a burger restaurant. They decide instead to order a Domino’s pizza using CarPlay as the restaurant implodes.

Fifteen- and 30-second versions will run across linear, connected TV and digital through mid-June, and will be accompanied by social videos, the brand said.

Domino’s customers using CarPlay need to be signed into their existing Domino’s account and have a saved “easy order,” including payment and fulfillment information, such as a preferred pick-up site or delivery address. Panera, which launched with CarPlay last year, and Dunkin' work in a similar manner.

The CarPlay app also allows Domino’s customers to order by phone.

To entice adoption, Domino’s is offering CarPlay users large one-topping pizzas for a discounted $7.99, carryout only.

“We know how frustrating it can be to wait in a drive-thru line just to place an order. Domino’s app on CarPlay is a great alternative to that, as customers still have the convenience of staying in their car, and can place an order from wherever they are, without waiting in a long drive-thru,” Christopher Thomas-Moore, Domino’s senior VP and chief digital officer, said in a press release.

Domino’s has pioneered a variety of novel ways customers can order pizzas, including a “mind ordering” app it launched last year as a tie-in to the Netflix show “Stranger Things.”

Domino’s calls its suite of delivery apps “AnyWare,” and are meant to allow customers to order from wherever they are, using whatever device they prefer. This list now includes Alexa, Google Home, Samsung smart TVs, Apple and Android smartwatches, Slack, Twitter, Facebook Messenger, voice ordering on the Domino’s app, text using the pizza emoji, and a “zero-click” app that automatically orders a pizza 10 seconds after the app is opened.

The pizza chain's previous auto tie-ins include a partnership with automotive commerce platform Xevo Market announced in 2019 for an app for the touchscreens of connected cars allowing people to tap a few selections to order for pick up or home delivery while they're driving. In 2014, Domino's brought voice ordering to the Ford Sync.