No doubt you’ve heard about the unique DXP delivery vehicle rolled out by Domino’s Pizza last year – a vehicle customized explicitly for the task of transporting pizza and other foods to customers.
The company already has almost 100 of these unique vehicles on the road and plans to add another 58 this summer – bringing its total DXP fleet up to 155 units.
[Here’s a behind the scenes look at the design process that brought the DXP to life.]
Russell Weiner, president of Domino's USA, noted in a statement that the DXP – based off a Chevrolet Spark car chassis – incorporates a number of special features, including a built-in warming oven, a reconfigured interior that holds up to 80 pizzas, and special compartments to hold side items and sodas.
"The DXP has caught the eye of our customers and franchisee alike," said Weiner. "It's real, it's functionally superior, it's gorgeous and no other brand has anything like it. So when people ask, 'Did Domino's really build a car made just for pizza delivery?' I say, 'Oh yes we did.'"
This seems to be no glorified marketing stunt, either, as Domino’s sees such vehicles as an extension of its “digital strategy” for making pizza ordering simpler for customers.
Its “ordering app” for example is now available on nearly 95% smart phones in the of the U.S., and its recently introduced other “ordering platforms” for the Ford SYNC in-car computer system, Samsung Smart TV, Apple Watch and Amazon Echo, as well as Twitter and text message using a pizza emoji.
The DXP also seems to offer a better connection to the company’s physical assets as well – some 12,600 stores in over 80 international markets. It’s worthy to note that Domino’s global retail sales exceeded $9.9 billion in 2015, with more than $4.8 billion in the U.S. alone.
That’s another reason why operating a fleet of unique, easily-recognizable, and custom-designed pizza delivery vehicles seems like a pretty smart idea.
Tell you one thing, though: I think Sammy Hagar would still have trouble driving the legal speed limit in one these DXPs.