It entered the country in 1995, and since then it's expanded rapidly.

There are over 1300 dominoes across 282 cities in India and its

footprint continues to grow.

Domino's has market share of more than 70 percent.

Domino's in India is even testing delivery in 20 minutes or less.

That's made it difficult for Pizza Hut and Papa John's to compete.

Even local Indian pizza rivals haven't been able to match Domino's

success. So what is Domino's doing that is so different from the

competition? It's localized its product offerings, but probably the

biggest differentiator, ust like in the U.S., Domino's is winning the

pizza war in India because it offers fast delivery and sophisticated

ordering technology.

Domino's success has made it more difficult for other chains to

flourish. Papa John's left India in 2017, closing 66 doors, according

to its 2017 financial filings.

And Pizza Hut footprint has stayed relatively small compared to

Domino's, despite its early entry to the market.

On March 24th, 2020.

India announced a 21 day lockdown during the Corona virus outbreak

instead of closing its stores across the country.

Domino's India offers zero contact delivery and pickup to its

customers, according to the chain's website.

Domino's India has taken strategic steps to stop the spread of

coronavirus by making sure company employees pass medical checks,

temperature screenings for employees before entering restaurants,

sanitizing protocols for equipment, bags and delivery boxes every

four hours. And employees must wash their hands every hour.

Pizza Hut has offered similar contactless delivery, but the brand is

still outnumbered by Domino's store count.

It has across the subcontinent.

So how has Domino's won India's pizza war?

The pizza market in India is valued at over $1.5 billion.

That's small compared to the U.S.

market, which is worth $46.7 billion dollars.

Still, the market is huge considering the huge population that India

has. But when Domino's and Pizza Hut started operations in India in

1995 and 1996, respectively, the pizza market was much smaller.

It wasn't until July 1991 that India's leaders decided to open up its

economy, marking the beginning of globalization.

India removed subsidies on some items, lowered some import duties and

invited foreign competition in.

With globalization came American brands like Coca-Cola, McDonald's,

Pizza Hut and Domino's.

When international pizza chains entered India in the 1990s, some

experts say it wasn't immediately compatible with local tastes.

Pizza in India strikes a delicate balance between being too foreign

and not foreign enough.

They've been able to kind of walk the tightrope or the balancing act

between localizing to an extent that is definitely needed to be

successful in the Indian market.

But again being able to balance that with, you know, being perceived

as, you know, that the top pizza brand in the U.S.

and globally, not just in India.

That brings a lot of credibility to the brand and is why a lot of

people want to want to have it in comparison to others.

Domino's success is also thanks to India's huge millennial population.

In general, millennials are more likely than their older counterparts

to eat food from a restaurant.

Use technology, travel and embrace new foods.

Millennials account for about two thirds of the population in India.

And research shows that Indian millennials love eating out, spending

three times as much on restaurant visits than other forms of

entertainment. Nielsen research found that middle income urban

millennials spend roughly 10 percent of their food budget on eating

at restaurants. That's significantly higher than the 3 percent spent

by their Gen X counterparts.

As pizza's popularity grows, Domino's has found a huge market in

India as of the end of 2019.

India is Domino's second largest market after the U.S..

It's a different story for Pizza Hut.

Its business in India makes up a small fraction of Pizza Hut.

Overall business, the country accounts for just one percent of system

sales. China, on the other hand, accounts for 17 percent of Pizza Hut

sales. More and more local restaurants are starting to offer pizza,

too. Let's say the top 10 cities in India, you would have at least

seven to eight brands of pizza which are there and would offer at

least about who would operate at least five stores in that city.

But experts say no Indian chains are on the verge of becoming national

chains. Most are small and privately held, so they're not competing

on a national level with American chains.

In India, there appears to be a lot of room for growth in the pizza

industry. Domino's local franchise Jubilant FoodWorks had sales of

$510 million in fiscal year 2013, 18 percent higher than the previous

year, according to FactSet.

In fact, Jubilant FoodWorks sales have seen double digit growth for

13 out of the last 14 fiscal years.

Jubilant FoodWorks also runs Dunkin in India and operates its own

Chinese food chain.

But Pizza is the company's most profitable business segment by far,

making up 78 percent of its revenue, according to FactSet.

Domino's footprint in India is huge compared to its rival Pizza Hut,

which has 430 restaurants, according to its Web site.

Domino's has 1,325 stores across 282 cities as of December thirty

first 2019.

And it's been adding stores steadily across new cities.

They are adding about 200 plus cities in India.

And if I look at the potential, they have the potential of expanding

to about 500 cities in the country.

So that's fairly substantial.

Papa John's entered India nearly a decade and a half after its rivals,

Domino's and Pizza Hut had come onto the scene.

By the time Papa John's expanded into India, some experts say it was

already too late.

By the time Papa Jones entered the Indian industry, Domino's hand-up

is ahead have already established and therefore brand in.

Many of the consumers used to prefer Domino's Pizza Hut to whip up

business because of the affordability, but Papa John's was prized

higher. Papa John's tried to close the gap in 2014 by acquiring Pizza

Corner, a south Indian chain.

At the time of the deal, Papa John's had 15 stores through its master

franchisee for the region, a company called Ohm Pizza and Eats Papa.

John said the acquisition of Pizza Corner would expand its presence

by at least 40 restaurants.

Papa John's had restaurants in 11 Indian cities, according to its

Twitter account. Its stores were concentrated in the southern and

western parts of the country.

But some experts say it was a mistake not to branch out to more rural

cities. India is a massive country, it both population and size part

of Domino strategy to familiarize Indians with the brand was expanded

to smaller cities and rural areas, not just one region.

Developing a restaurant network at a national level in India is

challenging due to its huge size and cultural differences between

states. But Domino's made it work.

But Domino's has invested heavily in rural areas and not just the

cities. And I do think that is an important point as to why they have

been successful in particular in comparison to their competitors,

their main competitors, such as Pizza Hut and Papa John's having

access to something like pizza is like having access to the rest of

the world feeling like you're a part of global consumer culture and

that you can try something that's different.

It has a tremendous amount of symbolic value, and I think Domino's

has recognized that and that people are willing to kind of pay for

that. Papa John's shut its indie operations in 2017, according to

local media reports, experts say.

Papa John's just couldn't stand out against the competition.

In the U.S., dominos one, the pizza wars thanks to delivery and tech

innovation. It's a similar narrative in India.

India has a huge population of Internet users, second only to China.

That number is expected to grow, fueled by the declining cost of data

and smartphones in developing economies like India.

Smart bombs are cheaper option than personal computers.

All this means that the Indian market is perfect for smartphone apps.

Domino's franchisee Jubilant FoodWorks says it was the first food

service company to launch online and mobile ordering nationally in

India. Analysts agree and say that Domino's introduced the online

ordering culture. And as of January 2020, nearly 30 million people

downloaded Domino's mobile ordering app.

If you look at a market like in India, Internet is mostly used through

mobiles. So mobile administration is a very high compared to that of

a laptop or desktop.

So Domino's were very quick to launch a mobile app and they also see

high ordering retro mobiles in 2013 online in mobile orders

contributed about 17 percent of delivery sales at Domino's by the end

of fiscal year 2019.

Online ordering contributed seventy five percent of delivery sales.

Domino's has stood out in the Indian delivery market guaranteeing

customers free pizza if a delivery takes 30 minutes or longer.

Domino's even tested a 20 minutes or less delivery guarantee in some

Indian cities and offers all night delivery in multiple cities.

While Domino's has succeeded in delivery and with its mobile app,

experts say Pizza Hut was focused more on dining in just like it has

in the U.S.. Some consumers prefer that, but it means that Pizza Hut

needs to rent large and usually more expensive real estate to offer

seating. I may have to travel to a particular point in the city just

to eat at a Pizza Hut or a Pizza Express that at times it takes away

from, though, you know, the desire to go there or you're not just

ordering, then you're more comfortable.

While many fast food brands look to China for growth, Domino's has

struggled there. The company attributes that to the fact that cheese

and bread aren't part of a traditional Chinese diet.

In India, the pizza chain hasn't had that problem.

Domino's tries to make sure its menu is well-suited to every country.

It expands into.

In addition to offering American staples like sausage and veggie,

Domino's, India serves pies topped with familiar ingredients like

chicken tikka paneer cheese and red paprika.

Chicken is the most popular meat in India.

And Hindus don't eat beef, which is why chicken dominates the online

menu at Domino's.

It's even hyper localized its products by region etting menu items

more suited to tastes in certain states.

For instance, in 2014, South Indian customers got a spicy banana

pizza. Green bananas are often used in traditional South Indian

dishes. Domino's localize more than its menu.

It tailored each restaurant to local conditions, too.

In small cities where people eat out as a family, the restaurants are

larger and have space for customers dining in.

In another huge differentiator, Domino's offers pies at a lower price

than Pizza Hut see when they launched in the 1990s.

Not very many people wanted to have a pizza.

So you had to bring them to the level of acceptability that, you

know, you come in and have a pizza or you order a pizza.

Also, if you look at the kind of prices that are there, Domino's does

awful pizzas, which would be for I think if I have to put it across

an American dollar terms, which would be less than a dollar.

Middle class consumer spending is on the rise in India.

That means they'll be spending more on food and beverages two times

more, according to World Economic Forum estimates.

India's Domino's second largest market behind only the U.S.

and its business is growing fast there.