Laying the Digital Groundwork for Gong cha 2.0 with First Fan Program
Gong cha Japan Co.
Applied Services: Fannaly, Food & Beverage, CRM Integration
Date Published: AUG 2025
Gong cha is a global tea café brand with over 2,000 stores worldwide. As of August 2025, the company operates 205+ locations in Japan, with a target of 400 stores by 2028. With approximately 30 million annual customer visits, and 30% of customers visiting monthly (a segment that represents 90% of revenue), Gong cha Japan set out to build deeper relationships with its most valuable fans.
Fan Passion Without Data Insight
Despite impressive visit volumes, Gong cha lacked the digital infrastructure to understand and act on customer behavior across channels. Three disconnected sales systems — in-store POS, self-service kiosks, and mobile ordering — collected data in silos, making integrated analysis impossible.
"30% visit monthly; that core group accounts for 90% of our business. We want to be a brand that grows together with the fans we already have."
— Eiichi Kurita, Head of Gong cha 2.0 Promotion Division
Challenges Before the Project
- • Three disconnected sales systems prevented integrated customer insights
- • Paper and digital loyalty programs created inconsistent experiences
- • High-frequency customers (dozens of visits monthly) were not identified as a segment
- • No cross-channel tracking capability for personalized marketing
Fast-Track Development Project Completed in Just 18 Months
The My Gong cha project launched in January 2024 with an aggressive 16-month development timeline to the May 2025 launch. Classmethod's Business Consulting Team and Prismatix coordinated weekly meetings across five parties — Gong cha and four vendors — using Backlog for project management throughout.
Revolutionizing the Customer Experience Through Unified Systems
Classmethod integrated all three sales systems via APIs using the Prismatix SaaS platform, replacing dual loyalty programs with a single unified digital membership. A LINE Mini App became the customer-facing interface across all 400+ planned store locations.
"For customers to feel the benefits, it needed to function consistently across every sales channel. Digitizing is only a means — what comes first is how the customer experience will change."
— Eiichi Kurita, Head of Gong cha 2.0 Promotion Division
Results Achieved
- • 1+ million My Gong cha members acquired within the first month of launch
- • 1.5 million members within three months
- • Automated age-verification streamlined operations across all channels
- • New customer segment insights revealed high-frequency customers previously unrecognized
- • Unified digital membership replaced two separate loyalty programs
Speed and Success Driven by Company Culture
The project's speed was enabled by Gong cha's integrated IT and Business organizational structure, and a corporate culture that emphasizes experimentation without fear of failure. Classmethod's dual expertise in business consulting and SaaS platform delivery proved to be a decisive factor.
Evolving into a Next-Generation Brand
With the fan program foundation established, Gong cha is now building deeper one-on-one customer relationships at scale. The data insights from unified channels are already reshaping how the brand thinks about customer segmentation, product launches, and store expansion decisions as it works toward its 400-store target by 2028.
This case study uses the Fannaly CRM Platform.
Classmethod's Prismatix Fannaly platform integrates POS, kiosk, and mobile ordering systems via APIs, enabling unified customer loyalty programs and data-driven marketing for food and beverage businesses across Japan and Southeast Asia.