Retail Project on Pizza Hut Essay Example for Free

Retail Project on Pizza Hut Essay Pizza Hut is one of the flagship brands of Yum! Restaurant Int. which also has KFC, Taco Bell, AW and Long John Silver’s under its umbrella. It is the world’s largest pizza chain with over 12,500 restaurants across 91 countries. Pizza Hut was started in 1958, by two brothers Frank and Dan Carney in Wichita, Kansas. They had the idea to open a pizza parlor. They borrowed $600 from their mother, and opened the very first Pizza Hut. In 1959, the first franchise unit opened in Topeka, Kansas. Almost ten years later, Pizza Hut was serving one million customers a week in their 310 locations. In 1970, Pizza Hut was put on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PIZ. In 1986, Pizza Hut introduced delivery service, something no other restaurant was doing. By the 1990s Pizza Hut sales had reached $4 billion worldwide. In 1998, Pizza Hut celebrated their 40th anniversary, and launched their famous campaign The Best Pizzas Under One Roof. In 1996, Pizza Hut sales in the United States were over $5 million. The first Indian outlet was opened in June 1996 in Bangalore. In India, Pizza Hut has 139 restaurants across 36 cities. Pizza Hut has been voted the â€Å"best family restaurant† for the second year running at the 2007 Tommy’s Parent Friendly Awards. Pizza Hut is known for quality, innovation and category leadership. 2 RETAIL ENVIRONMENT Out of all the existing pizza chains such as Dominos, Smokin Joe’s, Papa John’s, Pizza Corner, U. S Pizza, Pizza Hut has a dominating market share of 48% of the total market share. However, this forced competitors to look for new methods of increasing their customer bases. They all try to come up with some newer, bigger, better pizza for a low price. But Pizza Hut has always had the first mover advantage. Their marketing strategy in the past has always been to be the first. One of their main strategies, that they still follow today is the diversification of the products they offer. The market has become greatly competitive and the customer has become more discerning and adventurous. This however has not affected Pizza Huts comfortable reign over the Indian pizza industry and the ever increasing number of loyal customers who have made it possible for Pizza Hut to aggressively extend its presence. Pizza Hut is always adding something new to their menu, trying to reach new markets. For example, in 1992 the famous buffet was launched in Pizza Hut restaurants worldwide. They were trying to offer many different food items for customers who didnt necessarily want pizza. Another strategy they used in the past and are still using is the diversification of their pizzas. Pizza Hut is always trying to make a pizza into something slightly different so that customers will think it’s a whole new product. E. g., in 1983, Pizza Hut introduced Pan Pizza, which had a guarantee of being ready to eat in 5 minutes when dining at Pizza Hut restaurants. In 1993, they introduced the BigFoot, which was two square feet of pizza cut into 21 slices. In 1995, they introduced Stuffed Crust Pizza, where the crust would be filled with cheese. Currently, they are marketing The Big New Yorker, trying to bring the famous New York style pizza to the whole country. 3 POSITIONING Pizza Hut was among the first multinational brands to enter the food retail sector in India. When the first Pizza Hut restaurant opened in Bangalore the quick service industry was at a nascent stage and the pizza category was dominated by a sole regional player who had a marginal presence. Pizza Hut went on to play a significant role in pioneering and developing this category in India. Worldwide and in India, Pizza Hut has come to become synonymous with the best pizzas under one roof. This is because at Pizza Hut the belief is that every pizza has its own magic, thus making it a destination product – which everyone seeks. It is this belief that has ignited the passion to create, innovate and serve the finest product the industry has to offer, while setting standards for others to strive to replicate. Pizza Hut is committed to providing uncompromising product quality, offering customers the highest value for money and giving service that is warm, friendly and personal. A critical factor in Pizza Huts success has been its unique dining experience. Crewmembers at Pizza Hut strive each day to provide customer mania the kind of service that ensures that every visit of the customer is a memorable one. Pizza Huts constant endeavor to provide extra value – whether it is pizzas which are available to suit every price range, new promotions or the introduction of innovative product ranges that puts a Yum on every customers face has allowed it to increase its presence in India to the current 139 restaurants across 36 cities. 4 MARKETING STRATEGY Pizza Hut’s marketing strategy is very simple: â€Å"we want to satisfy our customer by offering them the best. † Pizza Hut has always valued customer service and satisfaction. In 1995, Pizza Hut began two customer satisfaction programs: a 1-800 number customer hotline, and a customer call-back program. These were implemented to make sure their customers were happy, and always wanted to return. Another big strength and even a competitive advantage is the fact that they have a full service restaurant as well as delivery services. Most of Pizza Huts competitors do not have restaurants. Because of the restaurant, Pizza Hut can market to different segments that other pizza chains cannot. For example, Pizza Hut can market to families much easier than Dominos or Little Caesars. Pizza Hut offers a sit-down, conversational type restaurant where families can take their children for birthday parties for example. Pizza Huts broad selection of products also makes it easier for them to market to different market segments. The other two strategies followed by Pizza Hut is C. H. A. M. P. S (Cleanliness, Hospitality, Accuracy, Maintenance, Product quality and Speed) and 3F’s (Fun, Friendly and Familiar). These two strategies have really helped Pizza hut to evolve out as a market leader with a competitive advantage. 5 PRODUCT ASSORTMENT Pizza Hut will offer a new product called The Extreme pizza. The Extreme is a twenty-inch pizza with twice as much cheese and toppings as Pizza Huts other pizzas. This new pizza will have many different competitive advantages. The first competitive advantage of The Extreme is that it is the largest pizza on the market. No other pizza restaurant offers a twenty-inch pizza. The second competitive advantage is that it has more cheese and toppings than any other pizza on the market. Another competitive advantage is the Pizza Hut brand name. Pizza Hut has built a brand name that means quality products and services. Since Pizza Hut will be introducing The Extreme, customers will automatically think this is a high quality product. The final competitive advantage is that this product will be the first pizza to target Americas youth. The Extreme pizza will target Generation X and Generation Y or people between the ages of 12 and 30. This market purchases a lot of pizza each year, but very few pizza restaurants actually target them. The Extreme will be introduced on Super Bowl Sunday, 2001. During the introduction stage of the product life cycle, Pizza Hut will try to establish a market for the product and persuade early adopters to buy. During the growth stage, Pizza Hut will try to build sales and develop a preference for the product. Pizza Hut will try to seek differentiation during the maturity stage. The Extreme is expected to begin to decline after one year on the market. 6 PRICE POSITIONING In the past, Pizza Hut has successfully used the high/low pricing strategy when setting the retail price of its products. The high/low retail pricing strategy allows Pizza Hut to charge a price that is above the competition, but also promote frequent sales to lower the price below them. The retail price of The Extreme pizza should be set at $9. 99, which is higher than Pizza Huts competitors. Several sales promotions and coupons will be used to lower the price below those competitors. Since both Pizza Hut and the beverage Mountain Dew are Pepsi subsidiaries, bundle pricing will be used. Customers can purchase The Extreme for $9. 99 and receive a two-liter bottle of Mountain Dew for free. Pizza Hut will be able to sell two products together at a single price to suggest a good value. The high/low pricing strategy has several advantages. First, this pricing strategy will help segment the market. Different groups of customers are willing to pay different prices for the same product. Pizza Hut can sell The Extreme to the customers who will pay the higher price to be the first to buy and also to the bargain hunters. The high/low pricing strategy will also create excitement. Customers will be able to try something new when they purchase The Extreme and this exciting experience may bring those customers back to purchase other products. Finally, this strategy will emphasize product and service quality. Pizza Hut sets a high initial price for its products to send a signal to customers that its products are quality and the service is excellent. 7 CUSTOMER PROFILE This target profile provides a comparison of Pizza Hut’s customers compared to: a) Total Population 14+ b) Total Purchased from Fast Food Places/Restaurants in the Last 4 Weeks. This target profile provides you with instant access to some of the worlds most insightful, robust consumer research, with unmatched accuracy, integrity and sheer power. Armed with a complete picture of your customers or your competitor’s customers, you are in the best position to fine tune you product strategy, focus your communication, and thereby optimize your marketing budget. Don’t rely on unconfirmed reports; buy this target profile to get all that data, over 400 variables, everything from attitudes and activities to media consumption. 8 CONSUMER PULL FACTORS †¢A critical factor in Pizza Huts success has been a menu that has constantly evolved and expanded to cater to the changing needs and specific preferences of customers in different parts of the world. In having understood the pulse of the customers in India, Pizza Hut has clearly established itself as a brand with an Indian heart. †¢Besides offering an extensive range of vegetarian pizzas, it was the first pizza chain to open a 100% vegetarian restaurant in India in Surat and later in Ahmedabad and Chowpatty, where it offers a Jain menu sans all root-based ingredients. †¢Over the years Pizza Hut has also developed and successfully introduced a range of products especially suited to the Indian palate. These products like Chicken Tikka, Spicy Korma, Spicy Paneer and the Masala and Tandoori pizzas have been a tremendous success. What has also given Pizza Hut a competitive edge is that in addition to an extensive range of internationally renowned pizzas like The Italian, the proprietary Pan Pizza and Stuffed Crust, in India the menu offers the option of a complete meal. It includes appetizers, a Salad Bar where the customers can make their own fresh salads, a range of soups, pastas and desserts. †¢Pizza Hut has a unique tradition. A bell hangs at each Pizza Hut restaurant, which is rung by customers who as they leave wish to thank the servers for yet another memorable visit. 9 COMPARISION 10 LONG TERM PROGNOSIS. With competition being so strong in this industry the threat of imitation products will surely be a problem to be dealt with. Pizza Hut will however have the first mover advantage with this product. With the entry of imitation products into the market, Pizza Hut will have to adjust its mixes to accommodate change. The promotions may have to be bigger and better than the competition, or the product may need to be altered to give it that little bit of an edge over the competition. For example stuffing the crust with cheese or giving a free topping with the purchase would help give Pizza Hut an edge over the competition. Pizza Hut is moving beyond big cities. While consolidating its presence in the metropolitans, this aggressive expansion will involve Pizza Hut entering smaller cities like Cochi, Nasik, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow and Madurai . It is strengthening its roots in the Indian market by tying up with local and popular brands such as Reliance Communication. Apart from this it is also developing local supply chain. Basically, Pizza Hut will need to remain flexible in the maturity stages of the product life cycle in an attempt to continue to be the market leader. Overall, this is a product that is not much unlike any of the other new pizzas that Pizza Hut has introduced. What makes this new product so exciting is the marketing plan that is directing the product at a new segment. We are taking a large pizza with a lot of toppings and marketing it as an Extreme Pizza to a generation of younger adults that are consumed by this marketing tool. This is what will make this a success. The mix of promotion and advertising we will be using will target a very profitable.