Pizza App Slice Rebrands to Fill Local Shops' 'Tech Gap'

The app-based delivery space is more crowded than ever, so pizza ordering platform Slice is expanding its brand mission to cater to the tech needs of Luddite-leaning local dough slingers. This b-to-b stance is Slice's way of taking a bite out of the estimated annual $160 billion in pizza sales. As it continues to shine a light on independent pizzerias, Slice is shifting its marketing and brand focus from the b-to-c space as an online ordering service to a b-to-b strategy that centers on the solutions the brand provides to local pizza places. Slice works with more than 18,000 independent pizzerias on specialized technology, marketing, data insights and shared services. A College Football Rivalry Helped Walmart Show Off Its Drone Delivery Service "Our mission has always been to keep local thriving, which is all about essentially keeping all those mom-and-pop pizzerias and everybody's neighborhood afloat," Terrence Morash, vp, head of creative at Slice, told Adweek. According to restaurant consultant Aaron Allen, pizza chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's record twice the volume in sales that local pizzerias do. Of that increased volume, half of the difference is attributed to digital sales. Morash recalled being shocked at how many local pizzerias used fax to receive orders. The key change was the pandemic, when food delivery apps such as Uber Eats, DoorDash and GrubHub flourished. For local shops to catch up to major pizza chains, digital advancement is a must. That's where Slice comes in. The brand often gets lumped in with food delivery apps by local pizza clientele, Morash said. But Slice does not provide any actual delivery services. It offers a solution for local shops to manage deliveries and take orders online. "We are more akin to what a Domino's provides for its franchisees," Morash said. "We knew we needed to start making a change partly with redefining our positioning, understand exactly who we are, and then having that filter into both our visual and our verbal identity." Slicing marketing costs The b-to-c model is far more expensive, Allen said. That's because more dollars are required from a marketing perspective to gain awareness with a large consumer public. A b-to-b model shrinks how many end users Slice would have to reach. "Instead of targeting 325 million Americans, if you concentrate on 60,000 pizzerias, you're still going to [reach] almost every American by those 60,000 pizzerias," Allen said. "You don't have to market to 325 million if you can effectively market to 60,000, and then within that give them tools that improve their business and level the playing field between them and chains." Slice largely marketed to consumers last summer through television ads. It was effective, but expensive at the same time. Now, Slice allocates minimal advertising spend for consumer outreach. Slice has shifted its marketing focus from consumers to local pizzerias. One of Slice's major selling points to local shops is the price it charges for pizza sales compared to delivery apps. According to Morash, most shop owners are paying a flat fee of about $2.50 per order regardless of price. An order under $10 is free of charge. "We want to make sure that we are only essentially getting paid for the work that we're being able to do for them," he added. Slice also has a "support local" fee to consumers using the app at a cost of 95 cents. Third-party delivery apps have faced criticism for fee charges to local restaurants that have sometimes reached 30% of an order. Several cities such as New York and San Francisco put a 15% cap on delivery charges, but have been sued by third-party delivery apps looking to raise fees. Adding extra cheese Visually, the brand recently altered its saucy red color to a cheesy yellow. Its website was also redesigned to feature more of the independent pizzerias on the platform. The brand moved to a yellow palette because, as Morash put it, the food tech industry was already dominated by "very red brands." Yellow differentiates it in the marketplace. Aside from the color change, Slice kept its font design the same. "We actually considered changing our mark altogether," Morash added. "But we ultimately realized that we've built up enough equity in the existing mark that we didn't want to go too far from it." Taking the initiative Formerly called MyPizza, Slice had a $43 million Series C investment in 2020 and last year raised $40 million in Series D funding. One of Slice's latest initiatives is a supply chain for local shops. The platform wants to create a program that provides supplies like pizza boxes, paper bags and other consumables at better prices. Last year, Slice committed $15 million to its Slice Accelerate program, which provides select local pizza shops with $15,000 worth of technology and services, among other benefits. To celebrate its local pizzerias, Slice also started a podcast hosted by its CEO and founder Ilir Sela to promote the stories of its pizzeria clients. "We see their success as our success," Morash said. "If we're doing our job, they are doing well." A Restaurant Creates a Catalog Full of Odd Gifts Inspired by Pizza

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Hold the Fax? Pizza Ordering App Slice Rebrands to Fill Local Shops' 'Tech Gap'

The platform is also striking at the misperception that it's just another delivery app

Rafael Canton

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Rafael Canton