DETROIT, Sept. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — The next generation of HOT-N-READY^® is here as Little Caesars, the pizza chain known for the $5 HOT-N-READY pepperoni pizza, has completed the installation of its proprietary Pizza Portal^™ pickup in nearly all of its U.S. stores*.  Little Caesars breakthrough Pizza Portal pickup is the FIRST heated, self-service mobile order pickup station in the restaurant industry. The company has combined the convenience of mobile ordering and pre-payment with heated self-service pickup to create an entirely new experience for customers, proving once again that Little Caesars will stop at no end to innovate to always offer value, convenience, and quality for its customers.

“We are constantly striving to enhance the guest experience for all customers no matter how they choose to access Little Caesars,” said David Scrivano, President and CEO of Little Caesars. “We remain deeply committed to our core pillars of value, convenience, and quality, and are continually researching to understand what customers want, both now and in the future. We’re using our Pizza Portal pickup and mobile app to expand our offerings, as well as evolve our business model in an increasingly diverse and digital marketplace.”

Following a successful nationwide rollout, the mobile app and Pizza Portal pickup are emerging as the easiest way for Little Caesars customers to order ahead, then pay and pick up their purchases – providing busy customers with an alternative way to get their favorite menu items. Customers can choose their favorite menu item or create their own pizza via the “custom pizza builder” on the Little Caesars mobile app, where they also pre-pay. The app will notify customers when the order is ready. When customers arrive at the store, their order is ready for them to pick up.  They bypass the counter and go directly to the Pizza Portal pickup and input a 3-digit pin or scan a QR code. Then, the door on the secured compartment opens, and they take their hot, fresh order. It’s that simple.

The Little Caesars mobile app is built with pizza-loving customers in mind. Most recently, Touch ID/FINGERPRINT and Face ID login functionality have been added. Other app features include:

• Mobile payment, including Apple Pay^® for iOS users.
• Store locator that automatically detects the closest store to you and allows search.
• “Custom pizza builder”: an interactive drag and drop experience. Users “make” their pizza by choosing from any available crust, then dragging and dropping their choice of toppings on to the pizza. Toppings can be place on the entire pizza, or half.
• Order scheduling: Orders can be placed up to six days in advance.
• User-friendly, clean interface and minimal clicks per transaction.
• Save favorites for quick ordering later.

The Pizza Portal pickup’s proprietary technology has been co-developed with Apex Supply Chain Technologies^®, the world’s leading provider of automated dispensing system, exclusively for Little Caesars.

*Pizza Portal pickup and the Little Caesars Mobile App are available in participating U.S. locations
Apple Pay is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries

About Little Caesars^®
Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, Little Caesars^® is the largest carryout-only pizza chain in the United States*. Founded in 1959 as a single, family-owned restaurant, Little Caesars® has become the third largest pizza chain in the world** with stores in 23 countries and territories worldwide, including in each of the 50 U.S. states.

Known for its HOT-N-READY^® pizza and famed Crazy Bread^®, Little Caesars® has been named “Best Value in America” for eleven years in a row***. Little Caesars® products are made with quality ingredients, like fresh, never frozen, mozzarella and Muenster cheese, dough made fresh daily in the stores and sauce made from fresh-packed, vine-ripened California crushed tomatoes.

An exceptionally high growth company with more than 59 years of experience in the nearly $135 billion worldwide pizza industry, Little Caesars^® is continually looking for franchisee candidates to join our team in markets around the world. In addition to providing the opportunity for entrepreneurial independence in a franchise system, Little Caesars^® offers strong brand awareness with one of the most recognized and appealing characters in the country, Little Caesar.

*Largest carry-out only pizza chain in the US – based on net number of stores in 2017
**Third largest pizza chain in the world – based on net number of stores in 2017
*** Highest-Rated Nationally Distributed QSR Chain – “Value for the Money” based on a nationwide survey of quick-service restaurant consumers conducted by Sandelman & Associates 2007 – 2017.

SOURCE Little Caesars