Australians Use Franchises Every Day. They Just Don't Love Them.
What the first Australian Franchise Outlook reveals about consumers, would-be franchisees, and where franchise growth is heading next.
Australia is one of the most mature franchise markets in the world. It has more franchise systems per head of population than the United States. Around 1,300 franchise networks and 90,000 franchised businesses generate A$174 billion a year and employ more than half a million people. About 60% of franchisors have been operating for more than a decade, and franchisees stay in their businesses for seven years on average.
So when the Franchise Council of Australia and Octomedia published the inaugural Australian Franchise Outlook 2026 (AFO), I read it for one reason: a mature market shows you, early, the problems a younger market will face later.
The report rests on two surveys, one of 516 Australian consumers and one of 70 prospective franchise buyers, plus roundtables with executives from brands such as Anytime Fitness, Jim's Group, Gong cha, El Jannah and Poolwerx. Here is what stood out.
1. Franchises are used, not loved
The usage numbers are strong. In the month before the survey, 71.9% of consumers bought from a food and drink franchise, 64% from a retail franchise, and 61.6% from a franchised café or bakery. Nearly 80% agree franchises contribute positively to the economy and local jobs.
Then the emotional numbers arrive.
60.5% say they trust franchises and independent businesses "about the same."
49.2% say they prefer to support independents.
The Net Promoter Score for franchised businesses is -11.1: 18.2% promoters, 29.3% detractors, and more than half sitting in neutral.
The main reason people choose a franchise is convenience (32%). Only a small share choose on brand strength.
In other words, consistency has become table stakes. Australians expect the same coffee and the same price in every outlet, and they get it. But consistency does not create loyalty. It only prevents disappointment.
What would move them? 77.5% say they would be more likely to support a franchise that uses local suppliers, and 75.2% one that offers local employment and training. Yet price is still the top trigger for regular use (74.6%). The message is subtle: consumers want responsibility built in as standard, not sold to them as a premium.
2. The desire to own is there. The money is not.
Nearly 40% of consumers have considered owning a franchise, 9.5% of them seriously. The reasons are consistent across both surveys: be my own boss (76.5% of consumers who considered it), better income potential, and the stability of a proven model.
The barrier is just as consistent. Cost of entry is named by 82% of those consumers. Among prospective buyers, start-up costs (49.3%) and uncertainty about earnings (45.2%) top the list.
Look at what buyers can actually spend. 24.7% are comfortable investing under A$50,000, and another 23.3% between A$50,000 and A$100,000. That is nearly half of the buyer pool below A$100,000. Only 1.4% would go above A$1 million.
The executives feel the same squeeze from the other side. Brooklyn Donuts says funding has always been the hardest part of recruiting in food. Sushi Sushi points to stricter lending and longer pre-approval times.
So franchisors are starting to share the cost. Gelatissimo's regional package halves its franchise fee from A$50,000 to A$25,000, waives the A$10,000 property leasing fee, and halves royalties up to A$15,000 in value. Soul Origin reduces its initial fee, pays a new franchisee's first month of rent, and adds a food and beverage credit for the first 30 days. It is the same playbook U.S. brands such as WOWorks are now using: when the buyer's wallet is the bottleneck, the franchisor pays part of the entry ticket.
3. Buyers trust peers, and increasingly, AI
Asked what would make them more confident, prospective franchisees did not ask for better brochures. They asked for people:
56.2% want mentoring from current franchisees
53.4% want help understanding legal documents
43.8% want financial planning or funding advice
The recruitment roundtable confirms it. Poolwerx says "the traditional sales funnel is dead"; its webinars now put existing franchise partners front and centre, followed by observation days in the business. Jim's Group runs a podcast that has become its main filter for candidates.
And then there is the line every franchisor should pin to the wall. Joel Kleber of Jim's Group says prospects in training now tell him they asked ChatGPT whether a Jim's Mowing franchise was a good idea. "They're not going to go on a website to compare your franchise, they're going to go to an AI tool."
That changes the job of franchise marketing. Your brand's reputation is no longer only what your website says. It is what an AI model says when a stranger asks about you at midnight. Jim's now works to make sure the information surfacing in large language models is accurate, and uses its own AI assistant in the recruitment process.
4. Growth is moving to the edges
With metro markets saturated, the report tracks three growth paths.
Regional Australia. Snap-on says two-thirds of its top 50 franchisees by sales are regional. Gelatissimo reports its regional stores outperform the metro network's average annual sales. Lower costs and families moving out of the capitals are doing the work.
International. The most honest story in the report comes from Foodco. Muffin Break entered the UK in the early 2000s and only reached strong profitability in 2021, twenty years later. The lesson from its executive chair, Serge Infanti: a 2–3% overseas royalty "will quickly be eroded by the support you need to put into it." Either invest directly and properly, or find the very best local partner you can.
Multi-unit, multi-brand (MUMBO). At ConceptEight, 40% of its 165 sites are held by multi-unit franchisees and 15% of franchisees run more than one of its brands, often side by side, covering different parts of the day. The U.S. is further ahead: Frandata counted 42,205 multi-unit operators in 2024, more than 6,000 of them running multiple brands. Frandata Australia calls this "the logical next step" for the market.
What Vietnam should take from this
Vietnam's franchise market is far younger than Australia's. That is an advantage, because we can see the road ahead.
Consistency will not be enough. Once customers get used to reliable franchises, they stop noticing reliability. Brands that want loyalty need a visible local story: local sourcing, local jobs, a real role in the neighbourhood.
Design the entry ticket around the real buyer. Most would-be owners have less capital than franchisors assume. Incentives work best when they support the first year of operation, not only the signing.
Your franchisees are your best recruiters. Put them in front of prospects early and often.
Check what AI says about your brand. Candidates, and soon customers, will ask a chatbot before they ask you. Make sure the answer is current and correct.
Going abroad is a long game. If an Australian brand needed twenty years to crack the UK, Vietnamese brands heading overseas should plan for patience, capital, and a partner they would trust with the brand itself.
One caveat: the buyer survey covers only 70 people, so read those percentages as direction, not precision. But the direction is clear, and it matches what I see in markets across Asia. The model still works. What has changed is how people choose it, how they pay for it, and where they first hear about it.
Source: Australian Franchise Outlook 2026, published by Octomedia in partnership with the Franchise Council of Australia (franchiseexecutives.com.au).
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