The quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry is shifting faster than ever before. From rising input costs to evolving consumer expectations and new regulations, franchise systems face the dual challenge of protecting the business today while investing for tomorrow. As we look toward 2026, key structural changes demand attention now not later.
This article walks through the major challenges, trends and strategic priorities that franchisor presidents and executives should focus on, complete with real-world data and examples to help you act.
1. The New QSR Reality: Rising Costs, Margin Pressure & Slowing Visits
Even in markets where sales are holding up, profitability is under serious pressure.
A survey by Restaurant365 found that 89% of restaurant operators reported rising labor costs in 2025, with 82% of those seeing increases of 1–5% and 15% seeing increases of 6–14%. Food cost inflation remains similarly intense. Restaurant365
According to a 2025 QSR Operational Index report, labour cost increases averaged about 6.3% year-over-year in 2024 for QSRs, nearly double the national average. PAR Technology+1
On the traffic side: despite modest sales growth, consumer visits remain under pressure. For example, labour, food and occupancy cost challenges were flagged as top concerns by restaurant leaders. Restaurant Dive+1
What This Means for Franchisors
Menu optimisation needs to be elevated: you should focus explicitly on margin per ticket not just average ticket size or unit volume.
Labour planning must become a strategic discipline: scheduling, cross-training, forecasting all require sharper tools and processes.
Franchisee support models must evolve: franchisees are facing cost pressures; your support must help them act, not just inform them.
Executive Checklist
Establish a baseline for margin per ticket across channels (dine-in, drive-thru, delivery).
Audit labour cost by store and region, benchmark against 20–30% of revenue (industry norm for many restaurants) per recent data. 7shifts
Engage your franchise advisory group: share cost pressures, set shared targets.
2. Technology Consolidation: One Platform to Run It All
Over the last decade, restaurant technology has exploded delivery platforms, loyalty apps, kiosk hardware, third-party integrations. Now, many franchise systems are consolidating around fewer, more capable platforms.
According to a recent report, 80% of consumers say that “good technology” is important when choosing where to eat in a QSR. Nation's Restaurant News+1
From “2025 State of Digital Restaurant Report”: 62% of brands are using or adding kiosks to ease labour pressures and increase efficiency; that share is even higher for QSRs (≈ 80%). Qu
Implications for Franchisors
POS must become the backbone of your system: online ordering, loyalty, kitchen management, analytics, all should feed into one consistent data layer.
Open APIs matter: as you plug in delivery partners, mobile apps, loyalty systems, the flexibility of your architecture will determine speed to market.
Speed of onboarding becomes a competitive advantage: new franchisees expect fast deployments and plug-in integrations; lagging behind becomes expensive.
Action Items
Audit your current tech stack: how many systems are involved? What’s the integration latency and failure rate?
Define your “minimum tech stack” for franchisees: POS + loyalty + delivery feed + analytics.
Set standard metrics around uptime, integration failures and data latency.
3. Regulatory & Compliance Pressure: Digital Reporting, Real-Time Data
If you operate in markets such as Quebec, you’re already familiar with the rollout of the WEB-SRM style reporting, and this is increasingly a global trend.
For example, Canada’s digital sales reporting regimes are forcing greater standardization across chains and franchisees.
While specific Canadian national data is less published, the broader principle is clear: regulators increasingly expect real-time or near real-time transaction data, higher granularity, and transparency.
What Franchisors Should Do
Choose POS & back-office systems that are certified (if relevant) and built for flexibility to adapt to multiple provincial/regional rules.
Build a compliance playbook for franchisees: audit frequency, technology standards, supported integrations.
Start now to integrate transaction & financial data so that when new reporting regimes arrive you’re ahead of the curve, not reacting.
4. Off-Premise, Delivery & Format Flexibility
The hybrid model for QSR, dine-in + drive-thru + delivery has become the new normal. Franchise systems must design as if off-premise is primary rather than secondary.
According to Snap-partnered research: AI + mobile delivery are now key drivers in consumer decision-making for QSRs in 2025. For example, 73% of consumers agreed AI makes it easier to discover new places to eat. forbusiness.snapchat.com
From the QSR industry: ghost kitchens and delivery-only models are gaining traction as growth vectors for QSRs. Ellianos Coffee Franchise
Strategic Implications
Separate P&L by channel: dine-in, drive-thru, delivery all have different cost structures. Your franchisor model must reflect this.
Menu design for delivery: fewer modifiers, robust packaging, repeat order modelling.
New formats: micro-format stores, ghost kitchens, dual-brand pods franchisors should build flexible growth models that incorporate these.
Immediate Actions
Map current channel mix for your system and model contribution margin by channel.
Pilot 2–3 “delivery-first” units to test delivery-optimized menus and packaging.
Create SOPs for delivery packaging, hold times, driver handling, to ensure brand consistency.
5. The Labour Challenge: Retention, Training & Tech-Enabled Staff
Turnover in QSR remains extremely high and is arguably the most persistent operational challenge.
According to Paytronix, QSR turnover rates in 2025 exceed 130% annually in many cases. Paytronix
The 2025 QSR Operational Index reports turnover dropping from ~139% in 2023 to ~122% in 2024 but that’s still extremely high. PAR Technology
What This Means for Franchisors
You must treat labour retention as an operational discipline, not just a cost line.
Consider mobile-first training, micro-learning modules, digital onboarding, and tools that make the job simpler and status transparent.
Empower franchisees to build local recruitment pipelines (schools, training programs), incentives for referral, and career pathways.
Actions to Prioritise
Standardize training modules across the system, aligned with your POS & digital tools.
Develop a “time to competency” metric: how many hours/days until a team member is fully productive?
Build a “front-line engagement” dashboard for franchisees: turnover rate, average tenure, scheduling adherence.
6. Data-Driven Decision-Making Becomes Table Stakes
If you haven’t already, your franchise system must shift from monthly reports to real-time operational intelligence. The brands that win will be those who act quickly on data, not just report slowly.
According to Forbes, one of 2025’s top QSR trends is data-driven personalization and global-flavour innovation. Forbes
Numerous tech reports show QSRs deploying kitchen dashboards, real-time inventory tracking and mobile analytics. Canopy+1
Implications for Franchisors
Your POS + back office must feed into a data warehouse or business intelligence layer.
Key metrics should drive action: e.g., margin per ticket, churn rate of loyalty, SKU profitability, delivery order accuracy, equipment downtime.
Benchmarking across franchisees: identify top quartile performers and build playbooks to close the gap.
Action Checklist
Define your “top 10 KPIs” for franchisee dashboards (weekly and monthly).
Build a “data governance” policy: roles, access, data definitions (so that all stores speak the same language).
Include analytics in your franchisee launch playbook: their first 90 days should include analytics training.
7. Customer Experience: Speed + Personalisation = Loyalty
Consumers expect quick, personalized, low-friction experiences, especially in QSR.
From the 2025 State of Digital Restaurant Report: nearly 70% of brands cite order accuracy as their biggest efficiency challenge (up from 64% previous year). Qu
An industry survey found four out of five consumers say technology influences their choice of QSR. Nation's Restaurant News+1
For Franchisors, the takeaway is clear
Loyalty programs must be built into the POS architecture and deliver behavioural insights (repeat rate, frequency, basket size).
Digital ordering, kiosk, mobile app flows need to reduce friction: fewer taps, fewer failures, faster checkout.
The physical store still matters: integrate digital and in-store seamlessly (kiosk, order ahead, drive-thru pickup etc).
Practical Items
Audit your digital ordering flow end-to-end: mobile app → POS → kitchen → fulfilment.
Set a benchmark for order accuracy and aim for continuous improvement (eg: reduce voids/refunds).
Launch loyalty A/B tests: reward behaviors that align with your margin and growth goals (e.g., higher margin items, off-peak visits).
8. Sustainability, Transparency & Brand Values Matter
For younger consumers, brand values and transparency are no longer optional, they influence decisions.
Franchise-industry commentary notes health-conscious menus, sustainability, and global flavours are top trends in QSR. Ellianos Coffee Franchise
Although direct data is still evolving, many systems now track packaging, sourcing, and waste as part of their corporate and franchise communications.
Why it matters for the franchise system
Sustainability and transparency initiatives can become differentiators in a crowded marketplace.
They can also unlock premium pricing, enhance loyalty and improve your franchise brand reputation.
For compliance and investor readiness, many franchisors are beginning to standardise reporting of waste, carbon footprint and ingredient sourcing.
Recommended Actions
Start integrating sourcing data into your POS/ERP: e.g., ingredient origin, carbon footprint, packaging type.
Pilot 1–2 plant-forward menu items or packaging upgrades, track performance and margin impact.
Communicate sustainability efforts to franchisees and build marketing assets they can use locally.
9. Expansion & Real-Estate Strategy: Growth Needs Flexibility
As franchise systems plan for new store growth in 2026 and beyond, format diversification and real-estate flexibility will become critical.
Delivery-optimized formats or “dark kitchens” (ghost kitchens) are increasingly part of growth strategies. Ellianos Coffee Franchise+1
Smaller footprint stores, drive-thru-only formats and dual-brand pods help manage fixed cost and speed into markets.
Strategic Considerations for Franchisors
Create unit economics models for multiple formats: flagship, micro-store, delivery-only.
Adjust franchise‐investment packages and ramp-up timelines depending on format.
Ensure the tech stack (POS, delivery, mobile) works across all formats; standardization is key.
Actionable Steps
Build a “growth format playbook” for franchisees: cost model, ramp timeline, marketing strategy.
Establish a CAPEX/ROI threshold for new formats (for example, < 36-month payback).
Pilot a micro-format or ghost-kitchen location in 2026 to validate unit economics before full roll-out.
10. What Lies Ahead: Emerging Trends to Watch in 2026
While many of these are still early, they’re worth monitoring now so you’re not caught off-guard:
AI in kitchen operations: from demand forecasting to fry-station automation, brands are expanding beyond front-of-house AI. Future Today Strategy Group+1
Voice-AI drive-thrus: still experimental, but major chains are testing at scale. Intouch Insight+1
Menu localisation by micro-market: using data to tailor menu variants by geography and consumer profile.
POS vendors consolidating: fewer platforms will dominate, making your standardization and contract decisions critical.
Partnership ecosystems: POS, delivery, loyalty, finance/HR systems linking up as modular services franchisors who build frameworks early will win.
Final Thoughts
2026 isn’t a year of incremental change, it will reward franchise systems that are disciplined, tech-savvy and growth-oriented simultaneously. That means:
Hone operational excellence (costs, labour, margins).
Make targeted, clearly-defined technology investments (not just chasing “shiny objects”).
Provide franchisees with the tools, metrics and support to win locally.
Keep the human side at the centre after all, technology enables the experience, the team delivers it.
At MYR, we’ve worked with multi-location restaurant groups across Canada and the U.S., helping them build the backbone (POS + integrations + analytics) that enables all these strategic priorities. If you’re preparing your group now for 2026, we’d love to start that conversation.
Ready to prepare your franchise system for 2026? Learn more about how MYR POS supports multi-location QSRs
References
“The 2025 Restaurant Tech Report”, Canopy, Nov 2025. Canopy
“Restaurant Workforce Report 2025”, 7Shifts. 7shifts
“2025 QSR Operational Index”, PAR Technology, Apr 2025. PAR Technology+1
“Top 2025 QSR Trends: AI, Global Flavors, And Experiential Dining”, Forbes. Forbes
“2025 State of Digital Restaurant Report”, Qubeyond. Qu
“Quick‐Service Restaurant Industry Trends in 2025”, Ellianos Franchising blog. Ellianos Coffee Franchise
Paytronix blog: “4 Statistics About Restaurant Staff Turnover [2025]”. Paytronix
Restaurant365 “Midyear State of the Restaurant Industry” survey. Restaurant365
“Order Up! The QSR Trends Driving Consumer Decisions in 2025”, Snapchat/Publicis/NRG. forbusiness.snapchat.com
“Report: 80% of consumers believe good technology is important when choosing a QSR.” Nation’s Restaurant News. Nation's Restaurant News
