How Technology Impacts the Self-Storage Industry

By CIOReview | Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Technology can help the self-storage industry fulfill its responsibility to meet changing consumer needs and demands.

FREMONT, CA: Self-storage facilities' use of technology has not only made storing valuables easier, but it has also improved the safety of clients' valuable items, putting their minds at ease. Anyone unfamiliar with the self-storage industry would be perplexed as to why such a business would need technology when all required is the transportation and storage of valuables.

It is not the case, as the self-storage industry is more than it meets the eye. There's a whole chain of procedures, from logistics to marketing to maintenance and even management, like any other industry. As a result, technology is critical to the self-storage industry's growth.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of technology has grown even further. Every company, including those in the self-storage industry, has had to adjust to the evolving demands of maintaining social distance and self-quarantine, and this is where technology helps them. Here are some of the common ways through which technology is helping the self-storage industry.

Going Contact-Free

For the near future, a self-storage operator's capability to provide contact-free rentals through a website, kiosk, mobile app, or keyless entry will determine if customers make rental decisions. Access-control keypads attract germs, and studies show that the coronavirus can survive on particular surfaces for days, not just hours. When customers interact with a company, the risk of shared and possibly dirty surfaces will be at the forefront of their minds. The flexibility to use a mobile app to open the facility's gate and other access points, including a tenant's storage room, would significantly benefit the company.

Managing Physical Risk

the purpose is to minimize the number of physical touchpoints at the self-storage facility. Certain aspects of a building, like elevators, hand carts, and door handles, cannot be replaced immediately by technology. Companies need to ensure a higher level of cleanliness in such areas. The consumers will also expect sanitation stations with antibacterial wipes or hand sanitizer in the facility. Even before the coronavirus, many grocery stores offered the customers cleaning items to wide down the carts and baskets at the entrance. Operators of self-storage facilities must follow the example.

Demand for Innovation

The self-storage industry must rapidly adjust to cope with the ongoing health crisis and the resulting public perception and fear. Even if the medical community rapidly produces a safe and effective vaccine, the psychological effects on the consumers would be long-lasting.