A crucial trend emerging in this market is the need for these storage and parking spaces to not only be affordable, post the pandemic, but also close to their homes.
Space is today a luxurious commodity and has never before held as much of a premium standing in society as it has before. Today, most have more belongings than ever before and as such their need for storage space is only increasing. Infact, in India the demand for storage space is still in its nascent stage and a lot of awareness to promote its use is the next step for stakeholders of the market space.
In the post-pandemic world, multiple business owners have opted for self-storage facilities with companies shifting towards a remote work model. Employees too have moved away from their cities of employment, and have had to find storage space for their furniture and personal belongings to secure storage spaces, till they can return.
In addition to this, those renovating and redeveloping their houses, start-ups looking to rent warehouses for their products and collectors are also categories of the society who are in high need of storage spaces.
The global self-storage market (hereafter referred to as the ‘market’ studied) was valued at USD 48.02 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach a value of USD 64.71 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 5.45% over the forecast period, 2021-2026.
Affordable & Accessible
India is a populous country with the maximum population settled in the urban and metro cities, where the cost of buying a house of your own is only increasing. The houses are getting smaller and the cost of buying them is only increasing. Keeping this in mind, given a pocket-friendly and easily accessible storage space is something the urban crowd will soon want to explore.
Parallely, in ultra crowded cities parking space is also a luxury and just like the western countries, in India too, secure parking spaces are going to be in demand in the next couple of years. Secured parking spaces and general storage options for the common man in India need to be catered to wisely to help increase the liveability index.
A crucial trend emerging in this market is the need for these storage and parking spaces to not only be affordable, post the pandemic, but also close to their homes. In the coming times, as people continue to get busier, proximity and ease of access will be big selling points for companies.
The majority of customers’ will be opting for facilities within a few miles of their residential or office space, especially individuals who are renovating and redeveloping their houses or those looking to store their inventory.
Ease of identification
In addition to the growing number of renters of storage space, people also increasingly have no time to find places that are geographically far from their place of residence. In such times, an online platform allows not only for them to search and book a storage space to rent with ease but allows for it to happen from the comfort of your house which saves time, another important need of today’s time.
Added features
Another growing trend of the storage space are the added features that people expect with the technological advancement the world has achieved today. Virtual tours, online payments and transactions, ease of booking via self-service kiosks as well as automated access to the storage space before, during and after booking.
Customisation is growing
Last but not least, as the storage space market grows and the number of companies offering the renting services also increases, added features like the ability to climate control and 24X7 access and added space benefits for parking maybe, etc., are also thrown in the mix. This trend not only allows for better customisation of the space but, add to it competitive prices and you have an extremely lucrative and thriving business model, which is the need of the hour, with growing populations and decreasing home and office spaces.
Source: Business World
