Domino’s rolls out repeat discounts for vaccinated customers

Domino’s Pizza, the leading pizza chain of Jubilant FoodWorks, is offering discounts to (COVID) vaccinated customers in India. This offer can only be availed on the Domino’s app. It is a bid to drive traffic and transactions to the app, rather than third-party food aggregators like Swiggy/Zomato.

The campaign is titled #HaathBadhao #VaccineLagao India. As a part of this scheme, the customers can avail a total discount of ₹400, which can be claimed on four orders, with an individual discount of ₹100 that can be availed on each order.

According to a report published in The Mint, as of March 31, 2021, Domino’s Pizza had 1,360 restaurants across 293 cities in the country. As of the quarter ending March 2021, the pizza chain had 57.3 million app downloads.

Both in India and abroad, Domino’s joins an array of brands which are incentivising vaccination by offering discounts, freebies and more. To sweeten the deal and make the country a little healthier, some companies have been offering gifts, freebies and discounts as an incentive for people to get vaccinated. These brands include McDonald’s, Uber, Chaayos, Godrej Appliances, boAt headphones, and more.

Well intentioned, but is there more to the initiative?

N Chandramouli, CEO, Trust Research Advisory (a brand intelligence and data insights company), begins the conversation by laying out the facts. Domino’s, as a company, has been doing better than other QSR chains and outlets, despite the pandemic. It would not set Domino’s back to put out an offer like this one in India.

“It’s a good initiative, but make no mistake – it’s not a CSR initiative. It’s a moment marketing initiative. The ingredients don’t cost that much, and I’m glad Domino’s is doing this. It will propagate the news that vaccinations are good, which is the message that we need to be spreading. It also helps that it makes vaccinations more fun, in that sense.”

Suman Srivastava, a brand consultant, and founder and innovation artist at Marketing Unplugged, points out that Domino’s is one of many brands offering discounts for those who are vaccinated. This is the company’s way of going with the flow.

“Sales are down, footfalls are down, and overall businesses are down. So, this could be a way to bring the customers back into the fold and get them to consume again.”

Srivastava adds that another benefit that these offers bring is that they help overcome vaccine hesitancy – an important step in getting the masses vaccinated. “It’s a way to sweeten the deal, so to speak.”