Domino’s Trials F-Commerce in UK with New Product Launch

Last Monday we noted that the popular household cleanser in the UK, Cillit Bang, had launched a Facebook exclusive pop-up store to offer its new multi-use version in advance of a nationwide launch in stores.

Recently, Domino’s Pizza UK followed suit with a Facebook exclusive product launch of its own. The pizza company offered its 400,000+ Facebook fans a sneak peek of it boneless ribs, which is a new addition to its side order menu. Facebook fans were able to preview and order the dish at a discounted price seven days prior to the national launch.

Simon Wallis, sales and marketing director at Domino’s said, “We’ve now got over 400,000 fans on our UK Facebook page and to thank them for coming back to our page time and again, we wanted to give them a sneak preview of our new Boneless Ribs and enjoy them at a very special price. Our Facebook fans are very knowledgeable when it comes to our menu so we can’t wait to see what they think of this tasty new addition.”

A study published jointly by the CMO Council and Lithium found that 67% of consumers “like” a brand on Facebook because they want rewards and deals, and 79% say they are using social media to take advantage of special offers and discounts. Consumers also have high expectations that social brands will offer unique experiences, savings and promotions as part of their social engagement. Both Domino’s and Cillit Bang must have read the study because each did exactly that.

The lesson here is that brands who wish to play in Facebook’s sandbox have to appeal to consumer interests, and providing exclusive, fan-only offers is one way to do so. There is a natural tendency to think that, if something is scarce (i.e. an exclusive, limited offer) it must be worth taking advantage of. That rule is proving itself to work as well on Facebook as anywhere.