Papa John's surpasses $1 billion in online pizza sales

That's because orders are rolling in through the Internet.

"It's pretty amazing not to hear a phone ring on a busy night," said Freitas, an operating partner with the largest Papa John's franchisee in the Washington, D.C., market.

In the past seven years, Louisville-based Papa John's International Inc. has made a lot of dough from online ordering -more than $1 billion to be exact.

The nation's third-largest pizza delivery chain trumpeted the $1 billion milestone Wednesday, noting that its U.S. online sales have been growing at an average clip of more than 50 percent per year. In 2001, the chain's online sales totaled $20.4 million. Last year, its online sales approached $400 million.

"It took us seven years to reach our first billion in online sales, and at our current pace and growth rate it will take us less than three years to hit our next billion," said Jim Ensign, vice president of marketing communications at Papa John's.

Other chains in the fiercely competitive pizza industry are tapping into the technology craze to give customers ways to order pies other than through the standard phone call or trip to a restaurant.

Dominos Pizza Inc. put its own twist on online ordering early this year by introducing a "Pizza Tracker," which lets customers keep tabs on the progress of their orders. Consumers can find out when their pies are in the oven, when they're on the way, and even the first name of their delivery person.

The tracking system has given a "big bump" to the growing online business, said Jenny Fouracre, a spokeswoman for Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Domino's. She declined to disclose specific online sales numbers.

Domino's also lets customers place orders from Web-enabled mobile devices.