A Peak-Day Delivery Playbook for Pizza Brands
How enterprise pizza brands prepare delivery for Super Bowl weekend, National Pizza Day, Valentine's Day and Pi Day, with practices from Giordano's and Lou Malnati's.
A few dates each year bring more pizza delivery demand than a normal week. Two Chicago deep-dish brands, Giordano’s and Lou Malnati’s, run those days with Cartwheel. Their approach comes down to six practices: an in-house fleet first, overflow rules set in advance, time-based forwarding, more than one provider, branded tracking and automatic dispatch.
The peak calendar
| Peak day | Date |
|---|---|
| Super Bowl weekend | Early February |
| National Pizza Day | February 9 |
| Valentine’s Day | February 14 |
| Pi Day | March 14 |
| Deep Dish Pizza Day | April 5 |
Super Bowl weekend and National Pizza Day fall within days of each other, so February is the most demanding stretch of the year for many pizza brands.
1. Keep in-house drivers as the primary fleet
Lou Malnati’s runs in-house, third-party, catering and hybrid delivery. In-house drivers handle orders first, and third-party services join only when the brand needs more capacity. That keeps the brand’s own service standard on as many orders as possible.
2. Set overflow rules before the day
Peak-day decisions are too fast to make by hand. Brands that perform well set their rules in advance: which orders stay in-house, when an order moves to a third-party provider, and which provider receives it.
3. Use time-based forwarding to protect pickup timing
Giordano’s uses time-based forwarding, which sends an order to a third-party provider based on timing so it is picked up when the food is ready. Food does not sit on the counter waiting for an in-house driver to return.
4. Keep more than one provider available
Third-party capacity changes during a peak hour. Giordano’s stores can switch between providers as capacity shifts, which keeps orders moving when one provider runs short of couriers.
5. Keep tracking branded on every order
When in-house capacity is full and a third-party courier takes the order, Giordano’s guests still track it on a page in the brand’s own digital environment. The guest sees one brand, whoever drives.
“Cartwheel gives our store teams the control they need to make smart delivery decisions in real time.”
Nick Scarpino, CEO, Giordano’s
6. Let auto-dispatch assign orders
Lou Malnati’s relied on Cartwheel’s AI-powered auto-dispatch to assign and route orders through Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day and Pi Day volume. Store managers oversee the operation instead of assigning each order by hand.
“Cartwheel’s technology has transformed our delivery operations.”
Matt Stern, VP of Operations, Lou Malnati’s
Peak-day checklist
- Confirm in-house driver schedules for each peak date.
- Review routing rules for order value, distance and driver availability.
- Set time-based forwarding thresholds for each store.
- Confirm at least two third-party providers are active in every market.
- Check that branded tracking applies to third-party deliveries.
- Review delivery performance after each peak day and adjust before the next.
Frequently asked questions
Which days drive peak pizza delivery demand?
Pizza brands plan for Super Bowl weekend, National Pizza Day, Valentine’s Day, Pi Day and, for deep-dish brands, Deep Dish Pizza Day.
What is time-based forwarding?
It sends an order to a third-party provider based on timing, so the order is picked up when it is ready rather than waiting for an in-house driver.
How do pizza brands handle delivery overflow?
They keep in-house drivers as the primary fleet and route overflow to third-party providers through rules set in advance.
To prepare your stores for the next peak day, book a demo with Cartwheel.