Pizza Hut goes cold on Web ordering

Pizza Hut's Australian operation has shut down its "clunky" customer-facing Web ordering system after more than half a decade of operations.

The Australian marketing director of Yum Restaurants International -- which owns the brand locally -- said the system's front end was old and unpopular.

"The reason we pulled it was that it was probably a couple of generations old in terms of the front end," Simon Sproule told ZDNet Australia.

"And it wasn't very consumer friendly. We thought until we could do better, to pull it out until we could update it."

"It was very unpopular. It was a very small percentage of transactions. And a lot of that had to with the fact that it was very clunky."

The system -- often utilised by ZDNet Australia -- allowed customers to place orders via the Web and kept a record of customers' previous orders so they could easily be repeated.

Sproule said it had been launched in 1999 or 2000.

But the executive said there was still a place for a replacement system.

"I think for the majority, the phone system is handier, but there's definitely a place for Web ordering," he said.

"Depending on where priorities lie, at some stage we'll consider re-opening it."

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Talkback 5 comments

    Lack of Support Amoscowdog -- 15/02/06 (in reply to #120129273)

    Hey, okay so it was a bit old but it worked okay, I used it a couple of times. I think the problem came from the requirement to manage the follow through once the order had been submitted!

    Advertising Anonymous -- 16/02/06

    It amazes me that in this day and age, companies add a web based srvice and completely and utterly fail to advertise it to the most effective audience. And then they wonder why it fails. I had not heard of Pizza Hut's web ordering system and a quick ask around our office - full of 20-40 y.o's who order out a lot and have a network connection at home - shows that they had never heard of it either.

    What's the deal? Anonymous -- 16/02/06

    Umm... unless you're a mute, why is ordering a pizza over the phone such a drama? It's cheap, quick and reliable -- and most importantly you get HUMAN confirmation of your order immediately. It's a trusted way to get your pizza delivered to Zedder HQ without any dramas. What's the motivation to use an online ordering system?

    Why order Pizza online Renai LeMay -- 16/02/06 (in reply to #120129311)

    Hi there,

    well I can't speak for anyone else (or even the other Zedders), but I used to order Pizza Hut pizza online all the time because it took two clicks and was always reliable. Whereas if you call them up you might stay on the phone for 20min before you even get to talk to anyone.

    Cheers,

    Renai LeMay
    (the author)
    renai.lemay@zdnet.com.au

    Pizza Hut online ordering capability should be restored! Philip Argy -- 18/02/06 (in reply to #120129311)

    The best feature was the ability to save your favourite combinations and re-order your last order with just a few keystrokes.

    At peak times like Saturday nights when 9481 1111 didn't always answer, this was great.

    If there were so few users, why not just leave it running for those of us who liked it?

    What maintenance did it require? I'll bet it just interfaced with the call centre's system anyway in terms of communication to the franchisee's kitchen.

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