The phone isn’t going anywhere, but for most pizzerias, it could be one of the most expensive pieces of equipment in your shop.
If you’re running a shop making between $750K–$1.25M a year, the phone probably rings constantly. Phone orders, questions, changes, repeats. It feels productive and probably needed.
But the truth is: The phone is costing you lots of money.
And you might not even realize it.
The Hidden Cost of Phone Orders
For the average pizzeria, about 70% of all orders still come in by phone.
What this really means:
- Staff is pulled away from the make line
- Orders are repeated, clarified, corrected
- Payment is handled manually
- Mistakes can require refunds or remakes
Every phone order takes real, paid time.
We looked at Slice data and found that shops save 80–100 labor hours per month once ordering friction is reduced and more customers shift away from phone orders to digital ordering.
Doing the math, that’s 960–1,200 hours per year.
How the Labor Costs of Phone Orders Adds Up
Assume labor costs average $15 per hour.
Now multiply:
- 960 hours × $15 = $14,400 per year
- 1,200 hours × $15 = $18,000 per year
That’s real money you’re paying just to manage phone orders.
Why Online Orders Change Everything
Online orders don’t interrupt your staff. They don’t require repetition. They don’t slow down production.
Also, online orders are bigger.
The average online order is $42.
The average phone order is $28.
When customers shift from phone orders to digital:
- Labor goes down
- Order value goes up
- Mistakes go down
- Staff stress goes down
That’s operational relief.
How Slice Reduces Phone Order Friction
No one is going to “eliminate the phone.” That’s unrealistic.
Instead, what we’ll help with is:
- Moving repeat customers away from phone orders and toward digital ordering
- Making online ordering easier than calling
- Handling payments, reorders, and marketing automatically
- Reducing the volume of low-value phone order interactions
- Handling your phone calls for you
The result?
Phone calls that matter.
What Owners Notice First After Reducing Phone Orders
Pizzerias that make this shift don’t notice the revenue first.
They notice the calm. The time they get back.
Fewer interruptions. Shorter lines. Less chaos at peak hours.
Then they notice something else:
They don’t need to staff as heavily just to survive rushes driven by phone orders.
Why Reducing Phone Orders Is About Sustainability
You never want to have to cut staff.
All you want is for your time to not be wasted.
Saving $18,000 a year in labor doesn’t mean layoffs.
It means:
- Shorter shifts
- Less burnout
- Fewer mistakes
- More focus on quality
And for owners, it means fewer fires to put out.
Getting Time Back From Fewer Phone Orders
If someone offered to give you back 1,000 hours a year, what would you do with them?
- Take a vacation?
- Perfect a new recipe?
- Learn piano?
Because that’s what this comes down to.
You’re already doing the hard work.
You’re just paying too much to manage the phone orders.
And that’s a choice you don’t have to keep making.
Ready to get time back in your life? Let’s chat.