If you are running a shoestring pizzeria, you probably can't afford a cool, fancy, easy online ordering system. Which kind of sucks, because (a) that's increasingly the only way to survive, and (b) the people who are doing it well are Dominoe's, et al., whose "pizza" is pretty sucky.
Bottom line is, most pizza is ordered for delivery. And people don't want to find a flyer, decide on a combination, and then phone the pizzeria. They want to go to the site (on a computer or phone), click-drag-click, and be done with it. Most small pizza places, no matter how good, aren't going to be able to survive if they don't support that.
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That's why they're using sites like Grub Hub.
To be honest, there aren't many places that can make a good pizza, period. To those who appreciate good pizza, it is sufficiently rare that a phone call is not a barrier.
In other words, this is only a barrier to entry for small pizza places that are as awful as Dominos.
Also, now I want good pizza. This is all your fault, +Dave Hill!
I think that article is using the term independents really loosely and missing the point because of it.
They make statements like "After a quick review of the 50 U.S. pizza chains with the highest 2014 sales" not realizing that an actual small pizzeria doesn't even compete in the same park as the Dominoes or even Unos of the world.
An independent pizzeria is a neighborhood establishment. If they make pizza their neighborhood likes, they'll flourish, whether they have a mobile app or not.
The same can be said for the corner deli vs Subway or Quiznos. Or your favorite Chinese place vs P.F. Changs.
Huh, I'm old fashioned and like to call in my order, plus I hate all of the national chains (little seizures, dominos, black jack, Pizza Hut, papa johns, cpk, UNOs, cici's, papa murphys, sbarro). I get my pie from local Indy places or local chains (Abo's, Old Chicago's).
Generally, if I want good pizza, I'm gonna dine in. If I'm ordering pizza, it's because I don't have the time/energy to make dinner and I could use the leftovers. So yeah, a convenient website is gonna get my business in that situation over other concerns.
+Scott Randel But I suspect such sites, though useful, are going to be less flexible and tailored than a bespoke pizza ordering site. At least that's been my experience for the few I've encountered that way.
+Gary Roth The reason that national chains get away with the dreck the crank out is that the majority of the consuming public is willing to consume it in exchange for the convenience of not thinking about it. So, yes, it is an issue for the smaller shops.
And, yes, it's hard to write about pizza without thinking about … mmmm, pizza.
+Nick McIntosh I think that's the neighborhood pizza place is going be under less stress in areas where "neighborhood" makes sense. But, again, there seem to be plenty of people for whom pizza means Dominoe's, or Little Caesar. Will some indies survive that way? Probably. But the number will be fewer, as it's a smaller piece of the pie.There are decent neighborhood burger joints left, too, but certainly fewer than before McDonald's et al. carved out the "fast food" niche.
There are decent neighborhood burger joints left, too, but certainly fewer than before McDonald's et al. carved out the "fast food" niche.
I'd argue that there's just as many neighborhood burger joints. They're just not only burger joints. They're pubs, breweries, sandwich shops and diners. There's also the Smashburgers, Five Guys and In'n'Outs that have thrived in spite of McDonalds. And places like Cherry Cricket and Park Burger have become legends by upping the burger game.
Pizza places won't be any different. Actually, they have a leg up on those burger joints. Many independent pizza places are also full Italian restaurants. Eat in and have some awesome garlic bread with your penne rigatoni or just have that pizza delivered.
Fat Sullys is, by a long stretch, the best NY pizza in Denver. It's also a coffee shop and bar. Anthony's Pizza has the audacity to make full 18" pizzas with fresh ingredients and they keep opening new locations. Piccino in Littleton makes some of the best wood fired pizza I've tasted. Rock Pizza in Belmar is a close second. And we won't go into the plethora of pizza food trucks. They're all thriving despite the cardboard pizza chains.
The chains survive, not because they have an app, but because there's no better way to feed 30 coworkers, or 5 adolescents immersed in an RPG, than with 10 $5 pizzas; taste, quality, and nutrition be damned.
I think what it comes down to, there's fast food and there's good food. Some people don't see the difference. I think most people do.
+Nick McIntosh You may well be right. And for pizza places that set themselves up as actual dine-in places, that puts them in a different category than a place that does a large percentage of their business as delivery; those places need to make ordering as simple as possible so that there's minimal inconvenience vs the local Dominoe's.