`
`Page 1 of 2
`
`Domino's app lets you voice-order pizza
`
`Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY
`
`11:21 a.m.EDTJune 17,2014
`
`Watch out, Siri. Domino's today, became the first major fast-food chain to offer a phone app that lets you order
`by voice.
`
`When the app for iPhone or Android is launched, you just touch and talk to "Dom," a computer-enhanced male
`voice. He currently responds only to English.
`
`The ordering platform is powered by Nuance Communications, which specializes in voice-assisted ordering.
`
`(Photo: AP)
`
`The move by Domino's — much like one by Starbucks last week to begin installing wireless phone chargers —
`is about appealing to Millennials by staying one step ahead of the tech curve. Domino's current mobile app is
`its fastest-growing ordering vehicle, now at about 18% of sales.
`
`"There will be a day when typing on keyboards or with thumbs on mobile devices will come to a close," says Patrick Doyle, CEO at Domino's, which has
`10,900 stores in 70 world markets. "We want to be the ones who continue to advance the technology experience."
`
`Within the $37 billion U.S. pizza market, tech is a place in which chains need to differentiate, says Chris Brandon, a Domino's spokesman.
`
`Fast-food chains are fast devising ways for consumers to order food without interacting with a human being. Ultimately, the app could help Domino's cut
`jobs, but Brandon says "it will definitely be a while until that is substantial and widespread."
`
`Two tech gurus, however, are impressed by the new app from Domino's, which was among the first with digital ordering in 2008 and launched its first
`mobile app in 2011.
`
`"If this isn't being part of the culture, I don't know what is," says Rebecca Lieb, industry analyst at researcher Altimeter Group. "Siri got her own feature
`film," she says in a reference to Her, a film about who guy who falls in love with the synthesized voice on his mobile phone.
`
`What's more, Domino's app is new for the retail world, says Artemis Berry, vice president of digital retail at the National Retail Federation. "I'm not aware
`of anything as sophisticated as this."
`
`For several years, Brandon says, Domino's had been upgrading the brand. "We fixed the pizza. We fixed the menu. Next: How do we upgrade the
`technology?"
`
`Brandon says Domino's wants to hear from consumers and knows the app will need "some tweaks."
`
`Although Domino's picked a male voice, that could change, says Brandon. "What we're mostly concerned about is Dom does his job. Maybe somewhere
`down the road, we'll have multiple characters."
`
`Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1q5FwlL
`
`LOOKING FOR A JOB?
`
`++
`(/story/money/cars/2014/07/14/tesla-megna-lemon-
`law/12642475/)
`
`
`
`Domino's app lets you voice-order pizza
`
`Page 2 of 2
`
`Keywords
`
`Location
`
`Select Job Category
`
`Find Jobs
`
`POWERED BY
`
`USA NOW
`
`(/media/cinematic/video/12663663/deadly-
`Deadly Moscow train derailment injures
`more than 100 |USA NOW
`moscow-train-derailment-injures-more-
`Jul 15, 2014
`than-100-usa-now/)
`
`++
`(/story/money/cars/2014/07/14/tesla-megna-lemon-
`law/12642475/)
`
`