boxes for despatch

According to Statista, the UK has the most advanced e-commerce market in Europe with nearly 60 million e-commerce users. Only a tiny minority of consumers remain non-digital buyers. In 2023, they have estimated that global retail ecommerce sales reached 5.8 trillion U.S. dollars. Their projections estimate a 39 percent growth in sales worldwide over the coming years, with expectations for e-commerce spending to surpass eight trillion dollars by 2027.

This reflects a continually evolving ecommerce industry. Mintel´s latest research, 2025 Global Consumer Trends, identified two big ecommerce growth trends in 2024 - the ‘Relationship Renaissance’ and ‘More than Money’. Brands of all sizes must evolve to meet contemporary challenges.

Where once the industry debates focussed on which ecommerce tools to use and on which ecommerce platform . These are, of course, an essential part of service delivery, and no-one is suggesting that we don´t all need a management system, data and analytic information, but global retail trends show that people are now demanding a value add.

When we buy online, from the time they go onto an ecommerce website, to the time they receive their products and services, customers increasingly expect their online shopping experience to be seamless, streamlined: quick, cheap and easy. With reviews increasingly influencing purchasing decisions, customer satisfaction is king. They are seeking a great customer experience.

It´s not that long ago that orders needed 28 days before delivery. Today´s customer needs to feel more important than that. Customers receive speedy deliveries, sometimes even the same day, often direct from the supplier. For all companies, smooth logistical operations need to become a given in order to continue to ensure continued ecommerce sales. Companies must have this part right, first and foremost - it´s a given that customers receive their orders- and then look for the value add in things that help create a more personal relationship with the shopper.

E-commerce sellers serving customers range from hobbyists through to the largest seller in the UK, Amazon (or worldwide, Chinese retail giant Alibaba, accounting for a 23 percent market share of e-commerce worldwide.). Their needs as organisations are not so different. Buy or make the stock. Store it until someone buys it. Send it to the purchaser. It sounds so simple, but ecommerce providers of all sizes face the very real challenges of where to keep their products and how to stay organised. It´s simply the scale that changes!

Like it or not, in the total e-commerce system every site is in competition from small businesses to global ecommerce retailers, wherever based. All online sales organisations should be seen as de facto ecommerce brands, and each company, from kitchen table to sophisticated warehousing business must think what that means to them and their customers.

The very smallest, often start up or hobbyist, companies have owners who work from home, out of a spare bedroom, or from the kitchen table, but as they start to grow, that becomes less and less tenable and more and more of a strain. Yet the smaller the company, the more likely it is to have that personal touch, so not everything favours the ´big guys´.

Every online retail store needs a physical offline presence somewhere in its ´supply chain´. Pink Storage takes a look at ten of the challenges that retailers face where self storage offers a more flexible or complimentary solution warehouse space.

Self storage has an invaluable part of the ´supply chain´, the system for getting stock to the right place, right time and at the right price. And when that side runs smoothly, there´s a chance to truly differentiate, make the service behind the product more personal - the trend that Mintel has so accurately noted. Let´s take a look....

1. E-Commerce seasonal peaks in demand

Most retail businesses have particularly busy times of year when demand for products increases, such as summer holidays or the Christmas period.

For the e-commerce provider who works primarily from home, self-storage can help keep this extra stock stock safe, dry and organised ready for when needed.

Renting a warehouse is often expensive and inflexible in its terms and conditions. Self-storage provides the ´middle ground´- a flexible space offering relief from product overload, and on far more flexible terms (both space and money), plus a lot less work to set up than most warehousing units.

2. Seasonal stocks

Self-storage offers a safe, secure space for left over stock that is being held for specific times of year, like Hallowe’en, Easter and Christmas or religious festivals - and any POS material that goes with it, if the business also runs offline.

Carefully stored, self-storage can release other spaces - at the office, shop or at home - or simply allow them to be better used and more productive - without the need to mark down stocks to avoid clogging space.

Even popular ecommerce sites (global retail companies) use temporary self storage at times to support their growth and success.

3. Growth in retail e-commerce sales

As a ´one man band´ with a manageable turnover, working from home is fine. But as the business grows out of kitchen table business and into a viable online business rather than a side hustle, stock levels increase, and the business may start to take on employees.

It´s the toughest time for a small business owners as a company starts growing and the demands outgrow capacity, with all the ensuing questions: do we take on extra staff? Do we turn business away? How fast do we really want to grow?

Well organised self-storage space offers extra room for an online store to keep stock organised and manageable whilst the business finds its new rhythm, leaving business owners one less thing to worry about, and freer to focus on other business issues.

4. Protecting high value stock

Homes, garages, and rented workspaces rarely have the secure facilities that good self-storage units have.

For example, Pink Storage offers both 24 hour CCTV surveillance and access security - as well as drive up to the unit accessibility.

5. Ditching the office but delivering space for organisation

With home working now well established following the pandemic, many companies - even ecommerce worldwide brands - have done away with physical office spaces or reduced their size considerably, adapting to new consumer behaviours.

Remote working has become the norm, allowing companies to access the very best talent, wherever people may be.

Self storage units are not only a space to store stock, but are also increasingly used as a space to keep things like valuable unused office furniture.

6. Downsizing

Most ecommerce businesses flourished thanks to the pandemic. But not all fared well, and in 2022 (ONS statistics), more businesses closed than opened for the first time in many years.

Self-storage can offer a ´life saving´ reduction in costs for downsizing businesses that have redefined or pivoted in order to survive until the business is ready for future growth

7. Part-produced stock holding

Whether because business is seasonal but stock needs to be assembled in advance, or because the business involves a manufacturing or assembly component prior to delivery, self-storage proves an ideal solution for storing and organising both raw materials and unfinished stock items - often offering some space for assembly prior to dispatch as well.

8. Dispatch point/Collection hub

Some self-storage facilities (including Pink Storage) lend themselves well for packaging stock for mailing or dispatch as well as for storage. Not only does the right sized unit have space to pack goods, but couriers can come directly to the unit for collection in many cases.

As buying packing materials in bulk also saves money, these too can be kept and organised, safely and dry, with the stocks they are used with.

Of course, there is always the odd customer who wants/needs to come to you for collection or return. A well organised storage unit will create a far better impression than inviting someone to your over-cluttered home.

8. Storing business essentials

It's not just about the stock!

Businesses need to keep paperwork including accounts, stock audit trails, contracts, product manuals, training manuals, employment documentations and more.

Self-storage offers a safe, dry place to archive \[insert link to archiving page] these things in line with legal and business requirements, without taking up valuable workspace.

There´s so much that´s cheaper when bought in bulk: printer paper, stationery, even teabags!

9. Making the most of Marketing Investments

It´s a very ‘offline´ thing to do, but flyers, brochures, billboards etc can be effective but expensive investments. They can often, however, be reused. Having a safe, dry storage space to keep them protected and in a tidy space can help maximise the benefits of that investment.

10. Samples and returns

Returned stock can be an organisational challenge. Customers have returned it expecting a refund, and you may have to hold it while the supplier makes a decision.

Similarly, many businesses want to check final items provided by suppliers against the samples that were originally provided by the manufacturer.

Having a well organised, separate space within your storage unit for stock that won't be used to meet online orders helps manage these processes more efficiently and reduces the risk of unusable stock being mixed in with other stock.

In Summary

Self storage offers companies large and small:

store stock safely and securely
space to help achieve revenue growth
support to scale business up or down
cuts costs - cheaper than renting commercial space
ease of fulfilling customer orders through a dedicated space for stock
the space to deliver against an order management system
grow an online business without huge capital investment

Pink Storage

Online retail sales in Wales increased dramatically by 27% in 2022, compared to a 19% increase in 2020, according to research by the Welsh Government, reflecting changes in consumer behavior. ‌ ‌‌

Greater Manchester has been at the forefront of the eCommerce market in the UK/Europe with around 3000 ecommerce companies, including those that operate like Amazon.

Pink Storage is proud to offer self-storage facilities in both areas - 19 facilities and rising! - helping many ecommerce companies sell products and meet these newer trends in customer behaviour. Whatever their growth strategies, whatever the online marketplaces they sell through, Pink offers the space and flexibility to help scale business in either direction.

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