The company’s further expansion into mobile comes as it is looking to build on that success and give customers even more ways to order from it. The Pizza Hut France iPhone app is available for free download in Apple’s App Store.

“In fact, much of Europe outranks the United States in terms of smartphone market penetration,” said Wilson Kerr, Boston-based mobile marketing consultant. “In the fourth quarter of 2010, the U.S. was listed 24th in a list of countries ranked by percentage of the population with mobile broadband subscriptions.

“Japan is even farther ahead. So, as long as U.S. brands carefully consider the cultural nuances of regional mobile consumer behavior and how well their technology will translate, rolling out language or country-specific apps is a smart move,” he said. “France has eight officially recognized languages, for example.”

Mr. Kerr is not affiliated with Pizza Hut. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

Pizza Hut did not respond to press inquiries.

Pizza lovers
The Pizza Hut France app lets consumers browse their favorite meals such as the Cheezy Crust and Pan Pizza and order them via their mobile device.

The app also features a store locator that lets users find the nearest Pizza Hut location.

Consumers can log-in to their Pizza Hut account or register for one to view the entire menu.

Additionally, the app lets consumers reorder their favorite meals as well as browse special discounts and offers.

Pizza lovers can also browse their order history.

Pizza Hut is smart to roll out an app to other markets. Many companies have a mobile app for just U.S. users and expanding that helps marketers reach a broader audience.

Slice of mobile
In the past year, Pizza Hut has been ramping up its mobile strategy.

Last year, the company expanded its mobile offerings with applications for the iPad and Android platforms and updated its existing iPhone app at the same time (see story).

Most recently, Pizza Hut ran a targeted mobile ad campaign that aimed to drive the company’s mobile sales by encouraging consumers to order through their handset.

The company ran the mobile ads via Pandora’s iPhone application (see story).

“Country-specific commerce-enabled apps must be able to handle local currency, obviously, and brands should leverage local mobile agency talent and production help to offset complications that can arise when they discover their U.S.-born app user interface does not travel well,” Mr. Kerr said.