Self-storage has been one of the truly successful and yet growing industries in the U.S and worldwide, grabbing entrepreneurs’ and investors’ attention. When the pandemic embarked, homes became offices for professionals, schools for children, and gyms for fitness enthusiasts. The circumstance forced many to shuffle around their stuff and make rooms for their new stay-at-home lifestyle.
The scenario enchanted customers to store more than they were pre-pandemic and business people to invest in new storage facilities. On that note, Ari Mir, CEO of Clutter (on-demand storage service), said,
“the business managed to carry on without a pause during the pandemic because it qualified as an essential service. It has been expanding,” he added, “and it’s not unexpected altogether given that storage demand is highly correlated with major life changes.”
Undoubtedly, despite the pandemic hit, the storage industry has continued to evolve. As per Mordor Intelligence, The global self-storage market was valued at $48.02 billion in 2020. It is projected to touch a value of $64.71 billion by 2026, at an average 5.45% CAGR.
If the industry growth attracts you to turn your warehouse into storage for customers, hold on. Though it’s a handy service, customers don’t hail traditional storage services. Your customers want you to acquire a modern solution like Clutter, i.e., “storage and moving app development.” And not that cumbersome self-storage business. I’ll tell you why.
Why develop storage and moving apps like Clutter?
Imagining you start noticing the piles of random stuff here and there around your room and where to put even your laptop makes you anxious, and yet you can’t get rid of anything; it’s time you find a storage unit. Though classic self-storage seems like a straightforward solution, it’s not for everyone.
You need to find and rent a space, pull your stuff there, pay every month, and one day you either move your stuff or it gets deposed. Plus, it contains long contracts, odd hours of access and requires driving to and from the storage unit. Not to mention, storage facility’s high rates.
Okay, let’s say it’s okay for temporary needs; what about long-term storage? It can make a hole in your pocket and is challenging to access when you need any item frequently.
These are some of the pain points that classic self-storage service users face, including students, residents, and others. Well, Where’s A Problem, There’s A Business Opportunity. By focusing on customer complications and following a business model like Clutter, seizing this opportunity will be worthwhile.
How does Clutter manage to simplify storage access for its customers?
Clutter, MakeSpace, Neighbor are some inspiring examples of technology-baked storage businesses for aspiring entrepreneurs. They have shifted from conventional self-storage models concentrating on making the storage pleasant for their customers. Their customers don’t need to drive themselves to haul, lug, or just take their items from the storehouse.
In fact, Clutter offers pickup and delivery of stored items and also lands hand in packing materials for free. Whether you call it a marketing tactic or customer service, Clutter has made a way to its customers’ hearts with such unique offerings.
Now let us pave the way for you to make an app like Clutter.
Business model For Clutter-like on-demand storage business
Mobile-storage service provider Clutter boasts investors like SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, Atomico, GV, Fifth Wall, Four Rivers, etc. So how does this Los Angeles startup work?
From Clutter’s website or app, customers can schedule pick up, pack up, and retrieve their items.
Fully-trained and background-checked movers come with packing materials; they take photographs and catalog each item or box they handle.
Users can have detailed record-keeping at a slightly higher rate. And when they need an item pulled from storage, they can browse their items catalog on the app anytime. They need to tap on the items they want from the photo catalog and the declutter app to deliver them to their location.
It works more like a packers and movers app than a traditional real-estate rented storage facility. The tech-enabled, on-demand storage service also lets users track their moving to secure storage and offers loss or damage covering protection. Customers can choose to cover up to $2,500 of item value at a low monthly rate. Otherwise, go with Clutter basic coverage for their items at $1/pound.
This was all about Clutter’s business model. If we talk about a bit different and more startup-friendly model, then peep into Neighbor. MakeSpace and Clutter have an uber-like business model; in contrast, Neighbor has followed Airbnb. It offers crowdsourced storage units, empowering people with extra space to make money offering it as lease storage. The tech-centric marketplace approach makes it cheaper for people to rent their own neighborhood.
Master the art of business modeling to draft an out-of-box for your startup.
Features to develop a Storage and Moving App Like Clutter
Next to the business model comes requirements. When you plan an app development for your business, it’s essential to define project requirements. Let’s check what features your Clutter-like Self-storage app needs to become fully functional.
- Create an account
- GPS for recommending nearest storage location
- Customize the storage plan according to size and number of items
- Create appointments
- Online photo catalog to view all items in storage
- Name custom titles and descriptions to items in storage
- Request items to be retrieved from storage
- Schedule home pickup & delivery
- Online payment gateway
- View billing details
- Confirm order
What else do you need to create a mobile app like Clutter? Yes, hiring app developers is critical, but a flexible budget is on the top. That brings up the question:
How much does it Cost to Develop an App like Clutter?
mobile app development is a series of tasks. You begin with sketching your app wireframes digitally or manually. After iterating and finalizing wireframes, you make a prototype out of them with your designing team. Meanwhile, your project manager ensures robust backend development. Once the designing and development are done, a Quality analyst comes to play to run various app tests to make it bug-free.
The above is the optimum strategy we recommend to entrepreneurs. Speaking of budget required to carry out the series may fall around $25000 to $30000. But it also depends on your business requirements. For example:
- Do you want to launch your app on iOS or Android, or both?
- Do you need a website and Admin panel?
- The number of features and their complexity.
- Does app design have to be sophisticated or simple?
- Is there any scope for MVP-Minimum Viable Product?
- Would you prefer outsourcing your app development or build-up an in-house development team?
- Where will you outsource or hire your team from?
Answering the above questions will help you plan an app development budget for your cutting-edge self-storage business.
Capping Off
All in all, with perspectives, on-demand apps for storage and moving are helping their respective owners gain more profit than their classic business model. It goes without saying, adopting a tech-baked solution needs a supportive team to maintain the app and nurture the business all along. Take our team, for example. We help you from planning to execute your app and beyond with our post-development services.
Want to find out more about our services? – Call Us!
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