The company's strategy includes adding more 24-hour restaurants to broaden accessibility.

New tech may help restaurant managers communicate better with their staff.

The chain marks its debut in India this week and is also ready to open its first small shop model in the U.S.

This deal is of particular importance for PayPal because of the scope of NCR's point-of-sale footprint across the restaurant industry.

CEO Nigel Travis said increasing comp store sales and profitability in Dunkin' Donuts U.S. franchises is the key to accelerating growth.

Research shows Boomers increasing their share of restaurant traffic in recent years, with Millennials decreasing theirs.

With a distributed marketing model, the local QSR has access to designs created by corporate marketers, and have a greater ability to customize these pieces to suit their specific needs.

New research from social media analytics provider Track Social also unveils a strong social presence for McDonald's, Starbucks.

Blimpie has revamped its business model to fit larger, more foodservice-focused convenience stores.

Mobile payments, like all new technologies, "need to be more like painkillers (must-haves), than vitamins (nice-to-haves)."

Vegetables are expected to take on a starring role for a change.

After a busy 2012, Burger King has introduced another wave of new menu items including chicken nuggets, which have been added permanently. The new, bite-sized chicken nuggets are made with premium …

QSR segment was busy this year with menu rollouts and creative marketing campaigns.

Fast casuals should do what they do best to conquer the dessert market — customize.

According to Technomic research, November has the highest percentage of new product launches.

Cause marketing is also a major focus for brand differentiation, as customers seek out establishments that help the community.

Former master franchisee of Auntie Anne's Pretzels writes about the obstacles he faced that "will make anyone in business laugh, cringe and think twice about doing business in Asia …

According to a franchise business leader survey, 31 percent of franchisees and 20 percent of franchisors plan to cut jobs to get under the Affordable Care Act's 50-employee threshold.

Look for visual marketing plans, mobile engagement and daypart expansion in the New Year.

The results of this year's list show that franchising is on the upswing after several tough years.