The final day of NRFtech 2011 kicked off with a mobile strategy presentation by Pizza Hut CIO Baron Concors.
The chain, Concors said, “has a history of taking calculated risks. We don’t mind being the first mover on something, or making an investment early. Our goal is to be where our customers are.”
Pizza Hut launched its first mobile site for ordering in 2007; it has had a presence on Facebook and Twitter since 2008, and launched its iPhone app in 2009. “Just recently,” Concors said, “we launched apps for the iPad and Android, and any day now we’ll have one for Windows Mobile 7.”
The decision to launch an iPhone app evolved from several sources. One was the company’s awareness of the ubiquity of mobile communications; another was the rapid adoption of smartphones by the general public. In corporate America, Concors pointed out, people have been carrying these hybrid telephone/Internet devices around for years. “Now it’s not just the corporate sector,” he said, “it’s everybody. People want access to web pages, they want video and they want apps.”