Today, Domino’s — which calls itself a technology company, not a pizza company — has two announcements. One is a little bit silly, but the other one is just about the best thing ever in the existence of humanity.
The first announcement is that Domino’s is launching ‘DRU Assist’ — a “transactional virtual assistant”, an artificial intelligence that lets customers “get a great deal” while ordering their pizzas faster and while also finding out what’s new. It’s essentially the equivalent of a Facebook Messenger bot for ordering a stuffed crust BBQ Meatlovers.
It’ll work either over text input on Domino’s website, or voice recognition through the company’s various mobile apps on iOS and Android. DRU Assist has a “cheeky, fun personality”, too — just great. Domino’s pizza AI will become available today in beta for public consumption. We think that’s a bit silly, to be honest.
What is genuinely useful, though, is Domino’s new Anywhere delivery service. It’s simple in concept — Domino’s Anywhere will let customers drop a location pin pretty much anywhere within range of a Domino’s store, even if it doesn’t have a street address. Think of parks, beaches, rivers — anywhere you might be chilling out and therefore interested in a piping hot slice of pizza.