Domino’s Sales Growth Slows After World Cup Boost as Chicken Range Holds Up

Domino’s Pizza’s post-World Cup sales lift has faded, leaving the company with slower growth in both sales and orders. Sales rose 2.3 per cent in the three months to the end of September, while order growth was 1.5 per cent. The company says it remains on track to meet its full-year earnings targets, but the latest figures show that its strong start to the year has been harder to sustain.

The sales growth rate was 5.2 per cent in the first quarter and 4.5 per cent in the second. Growth in the latest period also sat below the 4 per cent increase recorded year to date. That comparison matters: the third-quarter slowdown pulled the recent pace below the broader performance so far this year, even as Domino’s continued to report growth.

Domino’s said the World Cup delivered “positive benefits” at the start of the third quarter. The boost did not last long enough to repeat the acceleration seen earlier in the year. A major sporting event can prompt more takeaway occasions, but that kind of lift may be temporary. For a chain whose sales depend on repeat orders, the challenge is to keep customers coming back once the event-driven reason to order has passed.

Fewer orders, slower sales growth

Order growth slowed from 2.2 per cent to 1.5 per cent in the latest quarter. The figures suggest that the softer sales growth came alongside a weaker increase in customer orders, rather than reflecting sales growth alone. The source does not break out how much of the change came from order frequency, average order value or other factors, so the figures offer a clear signal of deceleration without explaining its precise cause.

Domino’s had pointed to two sources of momentum earlier in the year: the World Cup and its newer fried-chicken-style range. In August, it credited both with helping revenue reach £354m in the first half. The latest trading update leaves the company balancing that earlier progress against a slower third quarter. It does not say that the chicken range has stopped performing; instead, management says customer response remains positive.

The company said its “chick’n’dip” products are continuing to perform well, with “customer feedback [being] highly positive and advocacy levels [being] strong”. Those comments describe customer sentiment, while the trading figures show the overall pace of orders and sales. The distinction matters: favourable feedback on a product line can support a growth strategy, but it does not by itself show whether that line is large enough to offset a slowdown across the wider business.

Chicken as an adjacent growth category

Domino’s move into chicken follows a difficult debate about the direction of its offer. Former chief executive Andrew Rennie left the group last year, shortly after warning that British consumers were nearing “peak pizza” and wanted chicken instead. The change in leadership has not removed the strategic question: how far can Domino’s extend its menu while keeping its established pizza business at the centre?

New chief executive Nicola Frampton has described the expansion as a disciplined entry into fried chicken. Earlier this year, she said chicken was “a large adjacent category” that Domino’s could enter through its existing system, without building a new one or making significant additional capital investment. Using existing operations could limit the resources needed to test a new category. The commercial test is whether the products bring in additional demand and fit the company’s established model.

That approach gives Domino’s a way to pursue growth beyond pizza while drawing on infrastructure it already has. It also makes execution important: the company needs to maintain its core business as it develops the newer range. Frampton said its year-to-date performance reflected an organic growth strategy and a focus on the core Domino’s model. Her comments frame the chicken expansion as part of a wider plan, rather than a replacement for pizza.

Full-year confidence meets a softer update

Domino’s said it was on track to meet its earnings targets despite the slower sales and order growth. Frampton said the year-to-date performance gave the company confidence in achieving its expectations for the full year, while building foundations for growth in 2027 and beyond. That is management’s assessment; the available figures do not provide a new earnings forecast or explain how the company expects to bridge the gap between the latest quarter and its full-year targets.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets called the update “decent”, while also asking whether the market had hoped for a stronger like-for-like sales figure after the first two quarters. Their response captures the tension in the update: performance remained positive, yet the latest rate was slower than the earlier momentum might have led some to expect.

Domino’s shares fell by as much as 4.5 per cent on Wednesday morning. The move came as investors weighed the slowdown against management’s confidence in its full-year targets and its claim that the chicken range is resonating with customers. The figures to watch are whether order growth stabilises, whether the newer products contribute to sales beyond positive feedback, and whether the company can sustain growth as the World Cup boost recedes.