When deciding which vendor to buy pizza from, taste is invariably the most important factor. Today I will not argue against what I consider to be common knowledge: Dominos tastes nicer. They just do. For some reason I’ve always found Pizza Hut much more bland, with rubbery cheese that doesn’t sit well either on the base or in your stomach.
But taste is not the only factor – price plays a major part in deciding where to buy. Buying pizza from either is pretty expensive – usually around £15.00 for a large, with an extra £2 for a different crust or additional toppings. When even a really fancy store-bought pizza costs no more than £5-6, they really need to be offering something more than just delivering to your door.
I won’t buy a Dominos without a voucher code (or discount code, coupon, whatever you want to call it), and this is where I really struggle. Dominos issue so many voucher codes, which are time-limited and very often regional such that you can only use it in a few local outlets. When the savvy consumer is searching the internet for a discount, it’s always a struggle to find one that works properly.
Not so with Pizza Hut – the codes for them I’ve seen have very long viability (usually around 3 months), they work nation-wide, but more critically, they abide by proper ‘minimum spend’ rules. What do I mean by that?
You have not reached the required minimum spend of £25.00
is what I always see when trying to use a Dominos code. This is confusing as I always have £25 of stuff in my basket. The critical factor is, when Dominos say ‘minimum spend’, they mean PIZZA ONLY. Drinks, sides, and desserts don’t count. This is a big problem. If I’m feeling fat, I could buy a large, with a drink, a side, and an ice cream pot for just over £26. The voucher I’m most likely to use is one that is £10 off £25, or possibly £10 off £30 spend, but when Dominos wants me to buy £30 of pizza, I just can’t do it! I have no use for two large pizzas in one go and then to get my discount I’d have to spend around £40 – far too much for a meal to myself and not good value for money.
I have turned away and closed the Dominos site so many times because I couldn’t find a voucher code that played ball. But Pizza Hut DOES count EVERYTHING in your basket towards the minimum spend, so recently I got a large pizza, nacho starter, and tub of ice cream for £26, and then had £10 knocked off with a very easy to find voucher, making the total spend £16. I’d say the pizza was only two-thirds as tasty, but it was still good, and I got my starter and dessert for the price I wanted – and for me that will be the winner over any competitor.
Sort it out, Dominos.