GOPIZZA banks on tech commercialization for new revenue

This strategy could potentially increase sales point to 100,000 globally.

Retail partnerships are common in the QSR industry, but GOPIZZA has taken an unconventional approach by building compact pizzerias inside convenience stores.

In his speaking session during the QSR Media Conference & Awards 2024 powered by RedBull, Jay Lim, Global CEO of GOPIZZA said that aside from traditional franchising, the tech-enabled pizza brand is selling its machines as turnkey solutions to maximise its footprint and competitive advantage.

One such example is the AI system Lim developed for topping quality control. According to him, it would take approximately US$1.5k to $2k for it, separate from the cost of establishing a new GOPIZZA restaurant.

“And then you will have to subscribe to our service, ‘x number of dollars per month’ to use the service,” he added. “In terms of CapEx, It's nothing much. You just have to pay some small fee to maintain the service.” 

Their first major client was CJ CGV, the largest cinema chain in Korea. With around 200 cinemas in South Korea, CJ CGV aims to sell pizza as fast as they sell popcorn. 

In the next few years, GOPIZZA opened 20 stores within CJ CGV cinemas. However, Lim sees another opportunity similar to CJ GGV which is convenience stores.

GOPIZZA partnered with GS25, one of the biggest convenience store brands in South Korea.

“There are 70,000 convenience stores in Korea, and the number one player is GS25, which is a conglomerate in Korea, and also our investor,” said Lim.

Through their partnership, GOPIZZA and GS25 successfully opened 1,000 GOPIZZA inside GS25's convenience stores just in the last four months alone.

“And if you imagine the potential of these convenience store chains, gas stations, hotels, airports, cinemas, supermarkets. You know, we believe, within five years, maybe we can have 100,000 sales points globally,” said Jay. 

Alongside the brand's company-owned restaurants, GOPIZZA also has a turn-key solution restaurant for franchisees called XGOPIZZA which includes a mini GOVEN, signage, and fully assembled 'ready-to-bake' pizzas for US$5k.

“And maybe it's a solution for extreme countries like Korea, and also a very effective way to go overseas,” he said. “So we think the robotic stores, it's a bit early now, but there’s no harm preparing.”

Aside from that, Lim said they are currently working to improve their pizza recipe to be able to launch it for delivery which he estimates will be done by the end of the year.