KUALA LUMPUR: Domino’s Pizza, an expert in the pizza delivery services, aims to increase the number of its  outlets to 50 by the end of this year.

Dommal Food Services Sdn Bhd's chief operating officer, Ba U Shan-Ting, said they were confident in achieving the target as they have been adding four to five outlets per year in the past few years.

“Five new outlets were opened last year. This has brought us to a total of 43 stores in 2009,” he said.

Each outlet costs about RM500,000. Ba said the company has been achieving a steady 20 to 40 per cent  increase in sales since 2007. The opening of new stores has been one of the contributing factors.

“We have always kept consumer sentiments as our top priority, and we will move along those lines this year,”  he said.

Domino outlets are located in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor Baru and Penang and Ba said they intend to  open new outlets in other towns.

“We see potential in places like Ipoh, Kuantan, Malacca and Kuala Terengganu,” he said.

Indicating that the Klang Valley is the strongest market, Ba added that the expansion beyond the current  market and creating brand awareness play a big role.

The company also has long-term plan to make their  presence felt in East Malaysia in the next five years. However, the focus is still in the Klang Valley.

“We will continue to push aggressively  as we have a target to cover all the major towns in Malaysia. There is still room for growth,” he said.

Speaking on its delivery speciality, Ba said Domino’s has secured market acceptance and has been seen as  the market leader in the sector.

Currently, two-thirds (about 66 per cent) of their customers choose the delivery method to get their meals to  them while the remaining 34 per cent are takeout customers.

“Our demographic focuses on the middle and upper income group. We are a company of a decent size and we  focus mainly on the takeout and delivery market,” he said.

This year the company is also looking at boosting the online sales of the company.

"The business model for  this year will focus on the Internet ordering system. Online has a huge growth  potential although currently the  company has only achieved less than 10 per cent of total order through online bookings. We want to improve on those numbers.”