Domino’s becomes official food of Saturday nights as UK sales smash £1bn


Domino's proved to be The Official Food of Saturday Nights In last year, as people increasingly dropped eating out for a 'Big Night In' with friends and family.

The group's 10 busiest days across the UK were all Saturdays, with most also coinciding with big reality shows or sporting events on TV, demonstrating the growing trend for combining ordering in with home entertainment.

The busiest day of the year across the UK was 2 December 2017, the start of the X Factor Final with sales leaping 22% compared with the average Saturday for the year.

Findings emerged as Domino's announced its Preliminary Results for 2017, showing UK system sales smashed £1bn for the first time. The new sales high was helped by a record 95 new store openings - around one every four days - which created more than 3,300 jobs.

Britain's best-loved pizza chain continued to steal market share from competitors in the pizza delivery market, selling the equivalent of one pizza every three seconds and increased its proportion of digital sales via channels, such as the Domino's app and Amazon's Alexa, to a record 75%.

The group's performance was further strengthened by the success of Domino's new brand campaign, 'The Official Food of Everything', which saw brand recognition running at three times the level of previous campaigns and a record level of unprompted awareness at 84%.

David Wild, Chief Executive Officer, said, 'Our social lives are rapidly changing. Pubs and nightclubs are closing, millennials are seeking community experiences such as festivals, and the early 2000s proliferation in casual dining is being squeezed.

'Technology innovations have created quality home entertainment, and the ease of ordering food in means people can come together to have a high street dining experience in the comfort of their own home.

'We've had a great year with UK sales smashing £1 billion for the first time in our history. Domino's is The Official Food of Saturday Nights In, especially when there's big event TV such as X Factor, Strictly or a major sporting occasion.'

Wild continued, 'We're predicting 2018 will be another bumper year for friends and families as they get together for events Brits love to share, such as the FIFA World Cup. The royal wedding in May promises to be huge, especially as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are tying the knot on the same day as the FA Cup Final.

'Before that, we're also looking forward to the England v Ireland clash on St Patrick's Day, the final day of the Six Nations rugby union championship. Fans may disagree on what's the best sport to watch on TV but they all agree there's no better food than our freshly handcrafted pizzas to watch it with.'

The busiest day of 2017 in Scotland was St Valentine's Day, which saw sales rocket 65% compared with the average Tuesday north of the border.

The Irish were rather less sentimental. Saturday 26 August 2017, the night of 'The Money Fight' between boxers Floyd Mayweather and Ireland's Conor McGregor, was the busiest day of the year, with sales up 28.5% on the typical Saturday in Ireland.

In Wales, the busiest day of the year was 30 September 2017, the day of the annual family fun run in Cardiff. Joggers refueling helped lift sales 22% compared with the average Saturday in Wales.