Donatos Pizza, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, has deployed a voice-ordering AI system at most of its restaurants with the goal of improving the customer’s order-by-phone experience. How did it work out? Well, it’s safe to say we wouldn’t hear about it if the system had flunked the test.
In fact, it has been getting strong results, including nearly 100% order accuracy, the brand has reported.
Donatos partnered with Revmo AI on the project, which kicked off in April 2025 and eventually rolled out across 174 locations in June through a seven-wave process. The AI technology is integrated directly into Donatos’ proprietary POS system.
Since the deployment, AI has handled more than 301,000 calls through August, leading to thousands of reallocated labor hours and a “measurably better guest experience,” according to a press release.
Related: The Response to Donatos’ Robotic Location Has Surprised the People Who Built It
Key results from the deployment (through August 31) include:
- 71% order conversion, up from a prior benchmark of 58%
- 301,388 calls handled, which absorbed roughly 13,500 hours of conversation time
- 99.9% order accuracy, meaning roughly 1 in 1,000 orders required correction
- 4,840.8 labor hours reallocated in August 2025 alone
“Our focus was simple: Deliver a better guest experience on the phone and increase order conversions across the system,” Kevin King, president of Donatos Pizza, said. The AI technology, he added, “is natural to talk to, processes payments securely and flows straight into our POS.”
Altogether, King said, the roll-out “met our expectations on both customer experience and revenue.”
PMQ’s 2025 DELCO Report, a collaboration with research firm Intouch Insight, included a close look at the efficiency of AI-driven voice ordering technology from the consumer’s point of view. That report was based on 660 mystery shop transactions, evenly split between 12 different brands—10 pizza chains and two convenience store chains that sell pizza. Donatos was one of the brands highlighted in the report, but it implemented its voice-ordering system after the DELCO Report study was conducted.
The DELCO Report found that DELCO order accuracy hit 88% when the entire call was handled through automation compared to 97% accuracy when the order was taken by an employee. Essentially, robots got more than one in 10 orders wrong. Additionally, order accuracy was 92% when a call was initially answered by an automated service but then transferred to and completed by an employee.
Click here to download the free PMQ Pizza DELCO Report.
Donatos clearly saw better results with Revmo’s system. In the joint press release, the companies said AI voice ordering improved operational efficiency and enhanced the customer experience by reducing wait times and decreasing abandoned calls.
The increase in order conversion also had a “material revenue impact.” The 99.9% order accuracy rate “reduces [order] remakes and improves customer satisfaction,” according to Donatos and Revmo.
From a staffing perspective, the automation of high-volume calls allowed Donatos to reclaim nearly 4,841 hours in August. The saved time was “redeployed for tasks such as on-floor hospitality, throughput and manager coaching,” the companies said.
“I’ve done several launches, and this was by far the smoothest and most collaborative one yet,” said Ben Smith, Donatos’ director of operations development. “Stores got immediate relief on the phones, and our people could put those minutes back into accuracy checks, speed on the make-line and hospitality.”
Donatos has 179 restaurants across multiple states with additional non-traditional locations. The brand debuted the country’s first fully autonomous, robot-operated pizzeria at the Columbus airport in June 2025. The system uses sensors and data science to measure every ingredient within 1% variability. Customers can place orders ahead of time and retrieve their pizza from a heated locker.
