Debonairs, one of the country's leading pizza delivery franchises, is launching the ‘Pizza Lover's' customer reward card at its 221 South African restaurants today, 22 September 2008, with an offering of over R100 million of value to customers. The introduction of the loyalty card follows on the recent installation of a special 'Hot-Holding Oven' in a growing number of the restaurants that aims to slash over-the-counter service time with its new, almost ‘instant' pizza.
“This reward card concept and technology is a first for South Africa, while the new oven will revolutionise the pizza industry by introducing ‘pizzas to go' without the wait,” says Linda Thomas, marketing executive for Debonairs Pizza.
The complimentary Pizza Lover's Card allows customers to choose from eight different offers, worth a total R100 of free value.
“We are offering over one million cards to our South African customers, with an innovative new peel-and-stick adhesive technology perfected for us by our print solutions partner,” says Thomas.
The second innovation, the Hot-Holding Oven, fresh from trials and already in several restaurants, has cut in-store waiting time by a whopping 85%.
“Once the customer's order is placed and the till transaction complete, a hot, fresh pizza will be supplied immediately - no more waiting for your favourite pizza!” says Thomas.
Initially the ‘pizza to go' will apply to a limited range of the top five pizzas and will only be available in selected restaurants, with the first phase of the new oven rollout in 70 restaurants to be completed by year-end.
Terry Boardman, operations executive, explains that the new oven is proudly South African and unique to Debonairs Pizza, designed and developed to fit a range of the brand's exact specifications.
“'Hot' and 'fresh' were our key and absolutely non-negotiable requirements,” says Boardman. “The delighted reactions of customers during trials have already confirmed the success of the new oven and our hot, fresh ‘pizzas to go'.”
