Survey confirms steadily improving outlook for franchising

The New Zealand Franchising Outlook survey is conducted annually by Franchize Consultants (NZ) Ltd and in 2026 represents the attitides and views of 47 franchisor respondents and 12 service providers to the franchise sector. 

In 2026 the Franchising Outlook highlights a steadily improving outlook for the year ahead, with franchisor confidence strengthening across key indicators to a net 68% despite ongoing structural pressures.

The survey and its associated Franchising Confidence Index, continues to track closely against other national business surveys, showing that the concerns of franchising are aligned to those of many other businesses across New Zealand.

More franchisees needed 

The survey found that franchisors demonstrated high confidence in general business conditions, system growth prospects, and topline sales for their franchisees. However, as their number one challenge, franchisors in general are crying out for suitable franchisees to join their systems and there are still concerns about franchisee operating costs and access to capital.

For prospective franchise buyers that means a wider range of business options to choose from, but it will be important to ensure that the franchise systems you are considering are well focused on protecting unit economics (the ongoing profitability of their franchisees).

Resilience and recovery

Franchising covers a wide range of business sectors within New Zealand, with 500+ franchise systems and almost 30,000 franchisee-owned units, employing over 110,000 people. Franchisors from across the spectrum, in trades and construction, hospitality, tourism and retail, health and beauty were all seeing early recovery signals and showing good resilience.

The Franchising Outlook reports that the home and commercial services sector, which provides entry level business ownership options for large numbers of franchisees, especially in commercial cleaning, is experiencing a unique set of challenges, with "intense price pressure, increased competition and customer consolidation, [and] structural and ethical concerns raised."

Key opportunities

Franchisors represented in the survey identified key opportunities for system development in the following areas:

• economic stabilisation
• improving consumer confidence
• digital transformation
• structured network expansion

Dr Callum Floyd of Franchize Consultants says that, "AI and technology adoption are increasingly viewed not as disruption, but as practical tools to enhance efficiency, marketing capability, and decision-making across networks.

"Mega trends such as economic pressures, digital transformation, marketing evolution, and workforce challenges will continue to shape the future of franchising, requiring commercial discipline, adaptability, and stronger system alignment. As economic conditions gradually stabilise, franchisors appear cautiously confident that 2026 can convert improving sentiment into sustainable, measured growth."

In summary, says Dr Floyd, "while challenges persist, the franchising sector in New Zealand appears to remain resilient, commercially focused, and well-positioned to evolve and capitalise on emerging opportunities in a dynamic and increasingly complex business environment."