Customer Traits • Section 5 U
nderstanding your customers is essential to the suc- cess of any self-storage facility. Knowing who your customers are, where they live, and why they are look-
ing for self-storage are just a few of the demographics one should study fully in order to formulate a proforma or mar- keting plan.
While we will talk about national and regional demo-
graphics in this section, self-storage is a local business that typically depends on the customer base within a three- to five-mile radius. Depending on market area, this can be extended to as much as a 15- to 20-mile radius. Therefore, before developing a new self-storage project, one must per- form a market study and due diligence report to see if the dynamics of the market will support the business.
Demographic Data The 2014 Self-Storage Almanac reported—for the first time— actual data collected from all tenants who are renting units based on the Self Storage Demand Study published by the na- tional Self Storage Association (SSA). This data was updated for the 2018 Almanac based on the 2017 study performed by the SSA. Thanks to the new 2019 Self Storage Demand Study, again published by the SSA, we are once again able to report this new and updated customer information.
As stated above, the demographic information in the
SSA studies sheds light on the definite wants and needs of all customer segments. This is beneficial to self-storage own- ers, operators, and developers as it enables them to provide the services and amenities that their renters need in order to have the best possible self-storage experience. For example, properties with a high concentration of older renters might want to focus their efforts on more convenience-oriented services like professional packing and moving assistance. On the other hand, self-storage operations with a high percent- age of commercial tenants may choose to extend extras like on-site conference rooms, free Wi-Fi, central workspaces, or other amenities that carry special appeal for business customers.
Pinpointing a self-storage store’s customer base also aids
owners and operators in creating effective marketing and advertising campaigns. In today’s competitive environment, many self-storage professionals are choosing to tailor their efforts to reach their target audience. Everything from the message to the medium is specifically selected to reach a precise group of people who are deemed most likely to rent a storage space at the facility. This type of marketing, how- ever, is only possible when owners and operators know the demographics and characteristics of the groups they want to target.
Many self-storage professionals implement tracking programs to help quantify the effectiveness of marketing 2021 Self-Storage Almanac 47
campaigns as well as glean some basic information about the customers who rent spaces at the self-storage store. Move-in and move-out surveys can also give owners and operators a good amount of demographic information that can be used to help identify future self-storage renters.
Understanding Tenant Mix Customers typically fall into one of four categories:
• Residential • Military • Business • Student
On average, residential customers make up approximate-
ly 79 percent of the market. As seen in Chart 5.1, residential customers make up ap-
proximately 79 percent of a facility’s unit mix. Conversely, business customers comprise about 14 percent of the mix. However,
this can vary dramatically depending on the
physical location of the business. Some facilities can have a business segment as high as 40 to 50 percent. Indeed, busi- ness customers are an extremely attractive customer pool for self-storage because of their stability; they pay their rents on time and tend to rent their units longer than other cus- tomer segments.
Military renters vary greatly depending on the location of
the facility. While the average mix on a national basis tends to be around four percent, a site adjacent to a military base can see a much higher percentage of military customers. On average, however, most sites not located in the vicinity of a base will see a military customer segment that ranges be- tween two and four percent.
Just as with military renters, the students segment of the
tenant mix is inevitably tied to the location of the facility and its surrounding area. On a national basis, students make up three percent of the renters at a self-storage facility. When
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152
