Night Owl Pizza is a Georgia-based pizzeria, with locations in Kennesaw and Marietta. Offering both in-store options and delivery, the restaurant serves Italian and American foods and is open late until 3 am and 4 am during the week and weekend, respectively. Night Owl Pizza operates within the restaurant industry, specifically for Italian and American cuisine. The restaurant sells physical products and is a privately held, for profit company. According to data obtained from the Wayback Machine website, Night Owl Pizza has been saved more than 70 times since 2004. When online ordering, the user will select the restaurant, create the order, and check out with their personal information.
1000 Degrees Pizza is a direct competitor to Night Owl Pizza. Operating in Marietta, Ga., as well as several other cities in the United States, 1000 Degrees Pizza serves primarily Italian-style pizza as well as salads. Like Night Owl Pizza, 1000 Degrees Pizza is in the restaurant industry serving physical products—Italian pizza, salads and appetizers. The restaurant is a for-profit company and not listed on stock exchanges; it is privately held and franchised in several states including California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, etc. According to information from Wayback Machine, 1000degrees.com has been saved more than 100 times between 2002 and 2019. Online, there is an “order online” option, which prompts the user to find a pizzeria location by state. Once found, it goes directly to the store’s website, where the user can order for takeout or delivery, set a time, and place their information. The user can choose from a number of pizza, salad, appetizer, dessert and drink options.
The Porter’s Five Forces model analyzes the competition of a business through five criteria: industry competition, potential of new entrants into the industry, the power of suppliers, the power of customers, and the threat of substitute products (Chappelow, 2019). For both Night Owl Pizza and 1000 Degrees Pizza, which are smaller scale pizza restaurants compared to national chains such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s, etc., the analysis of the five forces yield similar, if not the exact same, results. Regarding competition, the restaurant and pizza industries are ripe with competition on several scales, such as smaller, local stores and national chains, as discussed.
The larger number of competitors in an industry means a greater number of options for a customer and the less power that a company has. However, on this smaller scale, the choice of customers to go with local and regional pizzerias over larger chains signifies an appreciation and desire for food closer to home, creating an emotional connection with a business. The restaurant industry is wide and as such, the potential for competition in the industry is high; there are little to no barriers to entry for direct or indirect competitors to Night Owl Pizza and 1000 Degrees Pizza. In relation to competition, there is a high threat of substitutes for both companies, as well as high customer power. Customers can not only choose different chains, but a different style of cuisine entirely, or even choosing to prepare food at home instead of getting takeout or delivery. The power of suppliers is a low force for the companies, as there are many that serve the industry.
Porter’s Competitive Strategies include cost leadership, differentiation, cost focus and differentiation focus (Kuijk, 2018). Given the information, Night Owl Pizza has likely chosen the differentiation strategy, as it serves both Italian and American cuisine to its customers, which allows it to cater to different individuals and groups with varying tastes. 1000 Degrees Pizza, on the other hand, has chosen a cost focus strategy. In comparison to Night Owl, its prices are much lower, which gives customers the benefit of saving money for what appears to be more pizza than Night Owl offers.
- (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://web.archive.org/web/collections/19960101000000*/1000degrees.com.
- Chappelow, J. (2019, October 18). Porter’s 5 Forces Definition. Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/porter.asp.
- Kuijk, A. (2018, May 11). Porter’s Generic Strategies, a great strategy tool. Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://www.toolshero.com/strategy/porters-generic-strategies/.
