Order Domino's by tweeting the pizza emoji

Picking up the phone or logging onto a website is just too difficult when you need pizza in a hurry. But have no fear, because soon tweeting the pizza emoji to Domino's is all you'll need to place an order.

Launching in the US on 20 May and hopefully spreading internationally soon after, the system requires a regular customer to tweet the pizza emoji icon from their smartphone to the Domino's US account. Chief executive Patrick Doyle called it "the epitome of convenience" and told USA Today: "We've got this down to a five-second exchange...it's pretty darned easy."

Domino's explained to IBTimes UK how the system will work:

"Customers who add their Twitter handle to their Domino's Pizza Profile will be able to re-order their Easy Order by simply tweeting #EasyOrder or the pizza emoji to @Dominos. Domino's will then send their Easy Order through an automated direct message, which customers must confirm. Customers who do not have a saved Easy Order will be prompted to set it up in their Pizza Profile."

Tweeting for coffee

Starbucks briefly let customers "tweet coffee to a friend," while the Miami Dolphins American football team experimented with the Tweet-a-Beer in-stadium promotion to deliver beer to fans' seats. But unlike these experiments, the Domino's tweet-for-pizza service isn't being billed as a test or promotion, and will instead become part of the company's purchasing options.

Upwards of 50% of its sales already take place digitally, so it's no surprise that Domino's has extended its online order options to include Twitter; capitalising on the current popularity of communicating with emojis (small, colourful pictures) instead of words will only bolster the service's appeal, especially among younger customers.

To keep up with how digital services are used to order food, Domino's has increased the technology team at its Michigan-based headquarters from 50 employees to 250 since 2004.

For Twitter, being used by a high-profile food service is further indication that the service can be used for much more than engaging with friends, following celebrities and sharing news. "Our hope is that advertisers will keep innovating this way," Twitter spokesperson Genevieve Wong told USA Today. "Twitter is the best platform to be creative like this."

If the new system is a success, Domino's is expected to extend onto other social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram. Regarding Twitter, Doyle said: "This certainly will not be our last platform."

IBTimes UK asked Domino's UK when the tweet-to-order service will be available here, but was merely told to "watch this space."