Pizza Pilgrims targets further grow outside of London

Speaking as part of a panel exploring the role of tech and delivery at last week's inaugural Omnichannel Foodservice Conference,​​ head of marketing Ruth Carpenter said that the brand’s at-home DIY Pizza in the Post kits had given the pizza restaurant group the confidence to expand beyond the capital and also the data to find the right locations to target.

“Pizza in the Post was a big driver for our expansion across the UK,” she said. “Before, we were keeping to our London-centric hubs and looking at neighbourhood pizzerias, but it gave us better insight that we would be successful in other territories.”

Pizza Pilgrims currently operates two venues outside of London. It opened its first non-London restaurant in Brighton in July ​​followed by a second in Cambridge.

While many businesses have discontinued at-home kits post-pandemic, Carpenter said Pizza in the Post continued to be a significant source of revenue, with more than 250,000 kits sold so far. She revealed it is “here to stay,” with plans “to grow that into other new avenues in the years to come.”

“There’s something magical about getting your hands dirty at home…we’ve invested a lot of time, money, and marketing into it and are still looking to see how we can change the experience.”

The evolution of omnichannel

Pizza Pilgrims has also evolved its omnichannel approach by expanding its loyalty scheme to include offers that can be used in-store, which has boosted sales and kept customers coming back, according to Carpenter.

She was joined by fellow panellists Nick Liddle, commercial director at Vita Mojo, and Ellie Starr, senior strategic partnerships manager for Just Eat. Starr similarly discussed changes in consumer habits on delivery platforms post-pandemic, with growth in breakfast and dessert categories as well as grocery and convenience.

“We’ve seen frequency has slightly decreased [post-Covid] but average basket size has increased,” she said. “There are more occasions now; before the pandemic, it was very much a late night offering.

“It’s not just day parts but also habits…we’ll see a huge increase in on-demand grocery, which will be a key part of our strategy next year. It’s also about where alcohol and tobacco comes into this.”

A key demographic that Just Eat is looking to tap into is Gen Z, with recent advertising campaigns as well as late-night alcohol sales.

Liddle also discussed how Vita Mojo has used data to understand changing consumer habits and create simplicity for omnichannel businesses.

“As soon as you add multiple channels, it adds complexity,” it said. “Tech is a great enabler. It’s never the full solution but it reduces some of that complexity.

“Data helps put a face to your customer so you know who they are. You can understand them, and indeed understand your own business and how they consume it.”

Liddle spoke about the omnichannel journeys of brands such as Leon, explaining the transition as “turning a restaurant brand into a food retail brand that happens to have restaurants.”

“The future is about change, adapting, and keeping tech up to date…it’s the ability to use tech to create a flexible brand.”