An e-bike with an oven? A deep dive into It’s Friday’s innovation for Domino’s
True innovation is not a common occurrence in advertising, but It’s Friday has proved it is possible with the world-first Domino’s Future Delivery e-Bike launch.
After eight months of testing and executing, parting ways with Domino’s during that time after a year on its creative roster, the e-bike launched globally last week.
Described as “so advanced it delivers pizzas hotter and in one piece like never before”, the new bike features a G-force stabilisation suspension system and a built-in fan forced oven, pioneering the future of pizza delivery.
The new e-bike
“It’s a game-changer,” said CEO of It’s Friday, Pete Bosilkovski. “We were quite excited to have an opportunity to develop something, and have Domino’s back us.”
Bosilkovski told Mumbrella the idea came from customer insights, including the most regular complaints the delivery industry receives.
“It was developed via customer complaint data that we saw on social media – the things they didn’t like,” he explained.
“Everyone is watching their pennies these days, so there is nothing worse than having something delivered and it turns up not in one piece, or soggy and cold, or there’s stuff stuck to the lids. It feels like a waste of money when that happens.
“But, there’s kind of an explanation for that.”
He said that when food is being delivered, not just pizzas, it can experience up to 10.2 units of gravity. To put that into perspective, a fighter jet pilot reaches up to 9.2 units of gravity during an extreme manoeuvre.
“G-force on pizza, that’s where it gets really interesting. Like, who talks about that?!,” he remarked.
“But when you think about it, your delivery bike would go over the gutter, or a speed bump, or stop suddenly and there’s a lot of force there for your food.
“That’s where we thought it’s time to shake things up and deliver a different customer experience. It was the biggest ‘aha’ moment for us.”
The oven storage
So, the solution to the customer complaints? An e-bike with stabilising suspension and a built-in oven with a temperature reading.
“From an environmental view, it’s an e-bike, so we’re being more agile and using environmentally friendly vehicles. Then, on a traditional bike, the food storage is just bolted on. So it relies on the bike’s suspension. But now, the oven storage has its own suspension built in to keep the delivery smooth and lessen the G-force the pizza endures,” Bosilkovski explained.
“After testing, the suspension cut 67% of the G-force impact, which is huge.
“Then the oven itself is fan forced to keep the temperature of the food at a certain level, so when it arrives at a customer’s doorstep, it’s exactly the same, or nearly the same temperature as when it just came out of the oven. It sucks the moisture out too, so the pizzas aren’t soggy when they arrive.”
The testing process found that 68 degrees Celsius was the optimal temperature to keep pizzas hot, so every e-bike is temperature-controlled.
The oven sits at 68 degrees Celsius
As for the future, Bosilkovski said: “People will probably end up doing their own version of it.
“When Domino’s launched a pizza tracker, that was the first of its kind. And now you can track your delivery on almost any platform,” he added.
“I think if this innovation really takes off, and other food delivery businesses see the experience shift for customers, then absolutely they will follow suit.”
The e-bike will be rolled out in 12 global markets, including Australia and New Zealand.
Got a tip?
Lauren McNamara is a journalist at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
Linkedin
Have your say