Tea Beverage GMV-Sharing Franchise

📌 Background

Freshly made tea beverages are shifting from selling goods for a price difference to symbiosis and co-creation, with industry forecasts predicting growth will drop to 12.3% in 2026. Third-party research shows that in 2025, the industry-wide net reduction of freshly made milk tea stores approached nearly 30,000, and scale growth slipped to 5.7%. Meanwhile, Mixue Bingcheng continued to lead the pack with 33.56 billion yuan in revenue and 5.887 billion yuan in net profit (according to research institution figures, independently unverified). Revenue-sharing methods are also changing: Chagee rolled out a new policy starting in 2026 where franchisees retain 73% of GMV, with the brand shifting to a commission based on GMV.

👤 Target Customers

SME investors, county-level entrepreneurs in lower-tier markets, and catering operators seeking standardization

💰 Revenue Streams

1. The brand collects a commission from the franchisee's GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) at a certain percentage (e.g., 27% for Chagee), replacing most one-time fees. 2. Supply chain profit: The brand supplies core raw materials and ingredients to franchisees through scaled procurement and standardized factories, capturing the price difference. 3. Operational service fees: The brand provides site selection, training, digital systems, and marketing enablement, charged monthly or annually, or integrated into the commission system.

🧮 Cost Structure

Brand side: Raw material supply chain construction, digital middle-office R&D, supervision and training labor costs, and quality control system investment. Franchisee side: Store rent and decoration, labor, utilities, commission percentage, and initial inventory stocking.

🛡️ Moat

Extremely strong supply chain standardization capabilities (Mixue Bingcheng focuses on lower-tier markets with self-produced ingredients), digital enablement platform (real-time monitoring of each store's GMV), brand trust and traffic effects brought by a scale of tens of thousands of stores, and an extremely low closure rate (e.g., about 4% for Mixue Bingcheng, building strong word-of-mouth).

🔑 Keys to Success

• Strong supply chain control and ingredient standardization
• Digital GMV transparent system & intelligent revenue-splitting technology
• Franchisee enablement and interest re-balancing design

⚠️ Risks

• Franchisee profitability falling short of expectations leads to a wave of store withdrawals, triggering joint disputes
• GMV commissions trigger compliance risks in certain regions
• Attractiveness declines when total profit scale cannot offset the operating costs of the GMV-sharing model

🏢 Cases

• Chagee (rolled out a new policy starting in 2026 where franchisees retain 73% of GMV)
• Mixue Bingcheng (9.9 yuan franchise fee + GMV model empowerment, 97% franchise share)
• LINLEE (149,800 yuan all-inclusive package and standardized GMV empowerment)

📊 SWOT Analysis