Pizza Hut Launches Hong Kong’s First Mobile Ordering iPhone / iPad Application

Oct. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- (Hong Kong, 19/10/2010) Green Tomato Ltd. (GreenTomato), a leading mobile solutions consultancy, developed Hong Kong’s first mobile ordering iPhone / iPad app for its client Pizza Hut.  Customers in Hong Kong can now place both delivery and takeaway orders directly via this application. Using the app, customers can also access both the combo and a la carte menus of Pizza Hut.

Launched on Oct 14, Pizza Hut iPhone / iPad app aligns with its strategy to proactively expand its customer base. Mobile ordering on iOS devices can also effectively increase the brand loyalty from the mobile-savvy generation. Besides being an ordering platform, the app is linked to Pizza Hut’s Rewarding Treats Program so that after each order transaction, members can immediately see their updated “Rewarding Treats” points balance. More membership features will be added in future versions. Customers also get to enjoy great mobile online discounts.

“Pizza Hut app plays a crucial role in our multiple-channel strategy,” says Richard Leong, Marketing Director of Hong Kong & Macau Pizza Hut. “ We are experiencing an exciting new digital innovation to reach Pizza Hut fans. As the competition in Hong Kong’s takeaway and delivery business gets more competitive, we want to be innovative and step ahead on clever new mobile/online ordering using a more effective, engaging and convenient approach to reach to our broad base of customers. In addition to placing orders by phone calls and through our websites, iPhone and iPad users can better understand our wide menu and other exciting offers.”

Richard added, “The audience landscape is getting more and more dispersed. To better engage them, we need to go where they go and hence we recognize now is the golden moment to extend our ordering services to mobile. This also reinforces the statement made by Pizza Hut U.S. two months ago that mobile is to account for 50% of future orders. It is going to revolutionize the way Hong Kong people order on mobile and online”

“Since this is the first mobile ordering iPhone / iPad app in the market, we needed to make some breakthroughs in terms of design and technology. Localization is the key. While similar application in the West focuses a lot on functionality such as customizing pizza from crust to size to toppings, we localize the mode of ordering so that it now accommodates a variety of combo selection, which is very popular among customers,” says May Cheng, Business Development Director of GreenTomato. “This also means that we have to deploy a mechanism that handles constant data updates and full integration with Pizza Hut’s existing backend ordering management system.”

Pizza Hut HK already reached the 6th place in Hong Kong's Apple App Store (and no. 1 in the Lifestyle category) in less than 1 week, based solely on word of mouth promotion. Pizza Hut is now looking into the opportunity offered by other mobile operating systems to extend their mobile ordering channels in the near future.

Pizza Hut iPhone app is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad requiring iOS 3.1 or later.  The app can be downloaded for free from Apple’s App Store by searching “Pizza Hut HK”, available at
itunes.apple.com/hk/app/pizza-hut-hk/id393514825?mt=8.

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Established in 2003, GreenTomato is a leading mobile solutions consultancy and the creator of the award-winning iPhone app, Hong Kong Movie. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the innovative and energetic team focuses on the emerging Mobile Internet Market. GreenTomato helps corporate clients expand their presence and user community on the mobile space through mobile platform solutions, mobile contents generation and mobile application development projects (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, J2ME, Symbian, and Windows Mobile). GreenTomato has launched over 150 WAP services serving more than 3 million subscribers and over 50 iPhone apps for its clients since 2009. Along with numerous international and local awards, GreenTomato is a Red Herring Global 100 company, as well as the Best Rising Star recognized by Nokia Award 2005.