By Alex Hassel, Storage.com
StorTrack, a popular resource for self storage market data, is offering more value to its customers now. The company announced new features for its online service at the 2016 Inside Self-Storage World Expo. StorTrack Online and Online PLUS subscribers can now benefit from a market inventory service and alerts.
Online gives insight into a local market’s pricing conditions. Online PLUS adds demographic and market valuation analytics for acquisition and investment professionals.
The new market inventory tool helps users identify any changes that occur in their market’s available inventory. StorTrack considers any available units being advertised online as inventory. When a unit is removed, StorTrack labels it as disappeared inventory. The feature tracks the number of units advertised online each month over the last 12 months, helping users identify trends over time. An “at-a-glance” view is also available, which shows any facilities that have added or removed inventory online over a past week.
“While StorTrack does not have any insights into occupancy data, it has the capability of tracking what stores have or are advertising online [their ‘available inventory’],” says Cindy Rivera, Support and Marketing Manager for StorTrack. “This is key for any self storage owner or operator who wishes to track the competition and be able to better react to any activities, which can directly impact their business, or for any investor who wants to get a clearer picture of inventory trends in any market.”
StorTrack can also now notify users about activity in any specific market as well. The new alerts feature allows subscribers to choose specific notifications they’d like to receive about the industry in a particular area. Alerts can notify a user when when specific price changes occur (e.g., changes in the highest, lowest, or average price for a unit type by competitor) or when supply for a type of unit appears or disappears. Each time these changes occur, the user receives an email or can view alerts on their online dashboard.
“This feature helps storage owners and operators stay informed and react faster to relevant market activities. This is especially helpful in larger markets where pricing volatility is higher and changes occur rapidly and frequently,” says Rivera.
These new features got StorTrack got a lot of buzz at the ISS Expo. “So far, our users have been thrilled with the new features. Most of the ideas for new features come directly from suggestions and feedback provided to us, so we make sure anything we release adds value to our product for each one of our current and future users.”
Inspired by their experience at the convention, StorTrack says its team is already brainstorming new ideas for its site.
Images courtesy of Cindy Rivera, StorTrack.
Alex Hassel is News Reporter for Storage.com. If you’d like to pitch Alex a self storage industry news story, email alex.hassel@storage.com or call 402-779-7328.
