Marco's Franchising

The vendor opportunity at Marco's Franchising

Marco's Franchising operates 1,184 total units across the United States, with 1,139 franchised locations and just 45 company-owned stores. The brand posted year-over-year unit growth of 2.244%, adding to a footprint concentrated in Texas (25 units), Florida (18), Georgia (12), California (7), and Ohio (5). Average unit volume sits at $878,180, and franchisees pay a 5.5% royalty. For software vendors, the opportunity is a single-point-of-sale into a system where HQ mandates the core technology stack—meaning one buying center controls adoption across nearly 1,200 locations.

The operator base is highly fragmented: 106 mapped operators run approximately 108 located units, with 104 single-unit operators and only 2 multi-unit operators in the 2–9 unit band. No operator controls 10 or more units. This fragmentation reinforces HQ's role as the sole technology decision-maker. If you sell software, you are selling to the franchisor, not to individual franchisees.

Who controls software purchasing

Technology purchasing authority rests with Marco's Franchising's headquarters in Ohio. The 2026 FDD lists Pasquale Giammarco as Founder and John Butorac as co-CEO. In a system this size with mandated technology, the co-CEO and the operations leadership team are the likely buyers for any software that touches store operations, ordering, marketing, or customer experience. There is no indication of a separate CIO or CTO in the FDD extract, but the centralized mandate structure means vendors should target the C-suite and VP-level operations executives at the parent level.

Marco's Franchising is part of Marco's Pizza Holdings, LLC, a holding company structure. This ownership model may concentrate procurement and technology decisions further, as holding-company oversight often standardizes vendor selection across the portfolio.

Mandated and current tech stack

The 2026 FDD mandates several systems. MOMS—Marco's Order Management System—is the operational backbone, required for all franchisees. Ciao Net is also mandated, though its exact function is not detailed in the FDD extract. A CRM email marketing platform is required, and the Tell Marco's system handles customer feedback. These four mandated platforms cover order management, network connectivity or communication, marketing automation, and customer experience feedback.

For vendors, this means the core operational stack is locked down. Opportunities exist in areas that integrate with MOMS or Ciao Net, or in adjacent categories not explicitly mandated—such as advanced analytics, labor scheduling, inventory management beyond what MOMS provides, or loyalty platforms that complement the required CRM. Any pitch must acknowledge the existing mandates and demonstrate clear integration paths or fill gaps the current stack does not address.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

The FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract in the provided data, so the designated-supplier versus approved-supplier model is not disclosed. Vendors should clarify this directly with the franchisor, as it determines whether you can sell to the system at all or must first gain approved status.

Franchise agreements run for 10-year initial terms. Renewal requires good standing, signing a release, executing the then-current form of franchise agreement, and paying a renewal fee of $6,250—or 25% of the standard initial franchise fee before discounts. A current lease must also be in place. These 10-year cycles, combined with compliance requirements, create periodic windows where franchisees must reaffirm their contractual obligations, potentially opening the door for HQ to introduce new technology requirements or renegotiate vendor relationships.

How to read the Marco's Franchising FDD

The 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is the definitive source for understanding Marco's Franchising's technology mandates, procurement rules, and contractual terms. Item 11 details the mandated systems—MOMS, Ciao Net, CRM email marketing, and Tell Marco's—while Item 17 spells out the 10-year renewal terms and conditions. The embedded PDF viewer below contains the full filing. Review these sections carefully to identify integration points and compliance-driven sales triggers before approaching HQ.

For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud maps mandates, decision-makers, and unit economics across the entire US franchise economy.