Dominos adds 134 outlets during Pandemic year!

Same store Sales Growth for Dominos Pizzas declined 17.7% in FY 20-21 over the previous year while total business declined only 8.7% like for like for stores that were not closed during the pandemic period, according to the recently released annual report for Jubilant Foodworks, the parent company of Dominos in India and which also runs Dunkin Donuts and Hong’s Kitchen which was commissioned last year.

The company shut down 109 Dominos Pizza stores across India during the same period while it’s Online Orders during Q4FY21 was 98.2% compared to 88.6% during the same period in FY20. The company opened 3 new stores in Sri Lanka and 5 in Bangladesh too. Gross Margins grew from 75% in Fy20 to 78% in FY21. This could be due to lower dependence on store operations and perhaps a higher focus on home delivery due to the pandemic, especially with kids and youth holed up at home.

Commenting on the performance for Q4 and FY21, Mr. Pratik Pota, CEO and Wholetime Director, Jubilant Foodworks Limited said, “I am pleased with our performance in Q4FY21 and FY21. We returned to growth during the quarter, opened a large number of new stores, improved our operating margins and expanded our portfolio of brands. The quarter rounded off a challenging year where we were tested like never before, and I could not be more proud of the way our teams rallied around to serve our customers and our communities and to deliver an outstanding performance during the year. We are confident that our sustained investments in Digital, Supply Chain, Brand building, Innovation and Portfolio expansion will continue to be a source of competitive advantage for us and help drive hyper-growth.”

With continued lockdown acorss many states in India during Q1FY22, and a slow recovery for retail in the coming months, we could say that home delivery is perhaps the model for QSR companies such as Dominos. Further, it would be interesting to see if the company would convert / modify many of their stores into “Cloud Kitchens” without a dine-in facility, thereby shrinking the store sizes as also reducing Opex significantly which includes rent and staff costs.