franchising council of australia (fca)
Business optimism on show in 2022 The first quarter of 2022 showed much more optimism in business than 2021 and I attended the IFA Annual Convention in San Diego, California in March to hear from leading international business experts and entrepreneurs re the post-COVID business landscape. The International Franchise Association’s IFA Convention is always one of franchising’s biggest yearly events, bringing together the true heavyweights of the international franchising community and providing a range of global perspectives on the year ahead. Taking place over the course of five days, the IFA convention featured countless meetings, seminars, and educational sessions and, along with 20 other Australian delegates, I tried to attend as many as possible with topics relevant to franchising in Australia. As well as robust education content and the opportunity to engage face-to-face with the franchising community, the atmosphere at the convention was extremely optimistic and attendees were buzzing with ideas about maximizing business development in 2022. A key theme was the use of technology to drive productivity, especially in retailing. The main technological challenge in retail post pandemic is to build loyalty and better databases mapping purchasing behaviour, introducing efficiencies without diminishing customer experience and better use of digital messaging.
14 business franchise MAGAZINE
