Dodo Pizza hits out at half baked contactless delivery initiatives

Dodo Pizza has taken a swipe at some of its competitors’ coronavirus-related contactless delivery services.

“Putting out a statement is easy. Even updating websites and apps isn’t that hard. What’s hard? Implementation. Changing the procedures in hundreds of locations reasonably, quickly and consistently,” Dodo Pizza’s Max Kotin said in a LinkedIn post.

Some competitors (he named no names) have announced contactless delivery while their units went about business as usual with no visible changes, Kotin claimed. Contactless delivery also isn’t a cure all, he added.

If a driver sneezes in their hand and then leaves a box on the customer’s doorstep, the customer is not protected. If the person who assembled the order in the kitchen failed to wear a mask, contactless delivery is pointless.

“If you see the whole kitchen crew wearing masks, it doesn’t mean anything at all. Maybe they just put them on and you’re good. Maybe they’ve been wearing them for hours (which, as we know, reduce their effectiveness drastically),” Kotin said.

“I’m saying all this not to spread panic. Adapting to the new reality is the greatest challenge our industry has faced in decades. I’d hate to see this downplayed by vacuous and comforting statements and little action making a difference in reality,” he concluded.

Hitting 600

Dodo Pizza recently opened its 600th store. This is situated in China and is its second cashless "pizzeria of the future" in Hangzhou (payments go through its app on WeChat). The unit is just 20 square metres in size (kitchen - 7 sq.m.).

“We invested, and it's hard to believe it, only $16,000. With such CAPEX, if this shop manages to reach its financial targets, we'll be able to grow our brand in China really fast,” CEO Fyodor Ovchinnikov said on LinkedIn.

“The opening is the result of a big team effort. I'm extremely proud of our China team. Guys, you showed character, were determined in pursuing our goals and put a lot of work into this project. You're amazing!” he concluded.

Dodo Pizza is headquartered in Russia and has outlets in that country, Kazakhstan, USA, UK, China, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. As for the tech side of things, the venture has developed Dodo IS, an online application that provides management with real-time data