Domino’s Pizza Inc is looking up to India’s digital leadership and take learnings from the country to its other global markets for quicker delivery of its products, the company’s global CEO Russell Weiner said on Tuesday. The company, which operates in India through its master franchise Jubilant Foodworks Ltd, on Tuesday launched 20-minute delivery for its pizzas to consumers across 20 zones in the country.

“When I look at markets around the world, and their command of digital, India is a leader in two ways. One is digital for the customer, different ways for customers to order, but also how they’re using technology back of house, to drive efficiencies,” Weiner told PTI in an interview.

He further said, “The reason we can do in Domino’s India, even talk about doing 20 minutes (delivery) is because of all the technology and all the back of house efficiencies. It’s about the algorithms that have led to store density that allows us to do that.”

When asked what sort of learnings the company had from India, its largest market outside the US in terms of number of stores, he said, “Well, I think what they’re doing now with 20 minutes is big, because when the biggest market outside of the US with the most number of stores says that they can deliver in 20 minutes, it lets us go to other parts of the world, including the US, and say, why can’t we?”

This will result in a better experience for customers in India, he said, adding, “pun intended, the Domino effect of all this is really global.”

Although Domino’s can deliver pizza in 20 minutes in other markets, he said it is the first time anywhere in the world that the company is openly promising to its customers about delivering it within that time range.

Domino’s Pizza has 1,701 restaurants as on September 30, 2022 in India across 371 cities. In the medium term, it has stated that the country has a market potential to have around 3,000 stores. On the growth potential of India, Weiner said, “When you just look at the population here in India and their ability to penetrate, not just tier one and tier two, but other markets, a lot more potential pizza eaters (are) here.”

While the US has about 6,700 stores and a “lot of stores to still open” there, he said India will also continue to grow its store count.

Asked about the reasons for being bullish on the Indian market, he said it is about looking at the past and thinking about the future, a market which the company entered in 1996 and has become its biggest market outside of the US.

“They (India) have a great track record,” he said, adding as far as the future growth was concerned, Domino’s Pizza has the scale in India that other restaurants do not and the brand is recognised by the consumers.

Weiner further said, “The growth potential when we open up a Domino’s (in India), people are already waiting for it, which is very different than if you’re a new brand. It’s looking at the past and thinking about the future that makes me so excited.”