Phoenix-based OpenTech Alliance Inc., developer of the INSOMNIAC line of self-storage kiosks, released a white paper this week summarizing self-storage kiosk use in 2010 and demonstrating how consumers are using self-serve tools. Last year, customers used OpenTechs INSOMNIAC kiosks to rent 19,089 storage units, make 171,938 payments, and purchase 9,736 locksa total of $18.8 million in self-service transactions throughout the United States and Canada.
OpenTechs kiosks collected more than $48 million in rental fees in 2010 and rented an average of 3.4 units per facility per month, a 20 percent increase over the 2009 average. The company attributes the increase to its new INSOMNIAC Live! Megan service, a call center that assists self-storage customers in completing transactions.
"Our internal goal is to reach an average of six rentals per kiosk per month as fast as we can, said Robert Chiti, president and CEO. At the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas, March 14-16, OpenTech will be demonstrating several new product enhancements that will help it reach this goal, including a two-way video conferencing service. The company will be exhibiting in booth No. 220.
More than half (54 percent) of new self-storage rentals made at OpenTech kiosks in 2010 were made during regular office hours, with 64 percent occurring on weekdays. Payments were split 50/50 between office hours and after hours, though a whopping 74 percent of payments were collected on weekdays as opposed to weekends. In addition, INSOMNIAC kiosks rented 445 units during the 11 major holidays in 2010, collecting $492,429 in rental fees on those days.
The statistics show that while credit cards were still the preferred method of payment, checks and cash still made up almost half of the total payments. Cash weighed in at 29 percent, checks at 15 percent and credit cards at 56 percent.
In addition to the white paper, OpenTech has developed a guide of best practices to help self-storage owners get the most value from their kiosks. This guide as well as the complete 2010 Kiosk Usage White Paper is available for download at Opentechalliance.com. The white paper can be accessed directly at www.opentechalliance.com/whitepaper/thank.php.
OpenTech products and services include seven models of INSOMNIAC self-storage kiosks ranging in price from $5,500 to $18,000, the INSOMNIAC Live! call center, and the INSOMNIAC Self Storage Network for online storage reservations and rentals.
