The Future
of Self Storage
Is Here.

Prologue: The Inevitable Shift

Not long ago, most of us kept a handful of loose quarters in the center console of our car — just in case we needed to feed a parking meter.

Five to ten years ago, that was a normal part of daily life.

You'd pull up to a meter, dig through your console for change, feed the machine, and hope you guessed the right amount of time.

Today, that experience feels completely antiquated.

In most cities, if you don't have the parking app, you don't park.

The shift happened gradually — and then suddenly it was everywhere.

And the pace of technological change is only accelerating.

Advances in software, automation, and artificial intelligence are reshaping how businesses operate across nearly every industry. Companies are being pushed to run leaner, automate more processes, and deliver better digital experiences for customers.

For decades, the self-storage industry has operated on systems that have barely changed.

Meanwhile, nearly every other industry has transitioned to mobile-first infrastructure.

In many cases, your phone is now the primary way you access these services.

Yet self storage remains one of the last industries still operating primarily on analog access systems.

For a long time, that worked.

Competition was lower. Operational efficiency wasn't under the same pressure it is today. Tenants tolerated inconvenience.

But the environment is changing.

The market is becoming more competitive. Operators are being forced to run leaner businesses. Today's renters expect convenience everywhere they go.

There is no other industry that still relies on analog access systems at this scale.

And it simply won't last.

The shift is coming — and in many places, it has already begun.

At KISS, we believe the next era of storage will look very different from the last.

These are the principles guiding the infrastructure we're building for that future of storage.

What We Believe

Self storage is entering a new era.

An era defined by mobile access, automation, and smarter infrastructure.

We believe the future of storage will be built on a few simple truths.

The operators who embrace this shift early will gain massive advantages in efficiency, security, and tenant experience.

Your Phone Is the Key

For decades, self storage has relied on padlocks and keypad gate systems.

They were the best solutions available at the time.

But they belong to an analog era.

Gate codes are easily shared, difficult to track, and rarely provide clear visibility into who actually accessed a facility.

Padlocks require manual intervention during move-ins and move-outs. Managers must physically overlock delinquent units. Operators have little to no visibility into activity at the unit level.

From a business perspective, they also represent a missed revenue opportunity.

Tenant-provided locks generate no revenue.

Operator-sold locks generate a single one-time sale.

Smart locks change the equation.

They allow operators to deliver:

• Unit-level access control
• Automated delinquency enforcement
• Tenant access sharing
• Real-time activity visibility

And most importantly, the lock stays with the unit.

That means the same asset can generate value again and again instead of being sold once and forgotten.

NFC Is the Foundation for Reliable Access

Access control only works if it works every time.

When a tenant arrives at a facility gate or their unit door, access needs to be immediate, simple, and reliable.

If the system fails — even occasionally — the entire experience breaks down.

Many early smart storage solutions rely on WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity.

These technologies work well for consumer devices, but they were never designed to serve as the backbone of industrial access control systems.

Large storage facilities introduce unique challenges — wide footprints, metal buildings, and hundreds of access points.

Maintaining consistent connectivity across these environments is difficult and expensive.

And when access systems rely on network connectivity, failures inevitably occur.

At KISS, we approached the problem differently.

Instead of building access around network connectivity, we built it around NFC technology.

NFC allows a smartphone to communicate directly with hardware through a short-range wireless interaction.

But it offers another critical advantage.

It can also transfer energy.

When a tenant taps their phone to a KISS lock, the phone's NFC field provides the burst of energy needed to activate the lock's internal electronics — charging a small capacitor inside the device.

That momentary power allows the lock to perform its action.

Lock or unlock.

Just a brief transfer of energy from the phone itself.

Meanwhile, access credentials are managed through the operator's existing systems.

ONELock integrates directly with the operator's property management system through the ONELock Admin platform.

When a tenant rents a unit, their access credentials are automatically provisioned.

If they become delinquent, access can be revoked instantly.

When they bring their account current, access is restored automatically.

All of this happens in real time.

When the tenant taps their phone to the lock, the phone presents its verified credentials and communicates directly with the device through NFC.

The intelligence lives in the operator's software systems and the tenant's device — not in the infrastructure scattered across the facility.

The result is a far simpler and more reliable architecture.

Mobile Apps Will Win

In many parts of the world, mobile applications have already become the primary interface between storage operators and their tenants.

In markets like Australia and Europe, tenants routinely manage their storage units through dedicated mobile apps — handling everything from account management to facility access directly from their phones.

The United States has lagged behind.

For years, much of the industry assumed that requiring tenants to download an app would introduce too much friction into the rental process.

But that assumption misunderstands how modern consumer behavior works.

People download apps every day when there is a clear reason to do so.

They download apps for parking. They download apps for airlines. They download apps for event tickets.

Historically, storage apps struggled to gain traction because they offered limited value.

Tenants could already pay their bill through a website, so there was little incentive to install another application.

But when mobile apps become the interface for access to the facility and the unit, everything changes.

Access drives adoption.

Once tenants rely on the app to enter the gate and unlock their unit, the application stops being optional.

It becomes the central interface for the storage experience.

At that point, adoption becomes universal.

And once that relationship lives in the app, it unlocks new operational advantages for operators.

Payments become easier and more convenient.

Consumers are already accustomed to paying for things on their phones.

Mobile wallets like Apple Pay and other stored payment methods allow renters to complete transactions instantly without manually entering card information.

That familiarity makes paying a storage bill feel as simple as paying for parking or purchasing an event ticket.

Mobile apps also introduce a greater perception of security.

Renters are often more comfortable storing their payment information inside a dedicated mobile app than entering it repeatedly through a web portal.

As a result, operators see higher adoption of stored payment methods and automated billing.

And when tenants are using the app regularly, operators gain a powerful communication channel.

Push notifications allow operators to deliver reminders, promotions, and targeted messaging directly to the tenant's phone.

That messaging can be used to encourage enrollment in automatic payments — one of the most important drivers of operational stability in the storage business.

Higher autopay adoption means:

Smart Tech Doesn't Have to Be So Expensive

For years, smart access technology has been positioned as a major infrastructure investment.

Hard-wired power systems. Battery-powered locks. Facility-wide networking infrastructure.

These approaches work, but they introduce significant complexity.

They require electrical work. They require ongoing battery replacement. They introduce additional hardware, installation time, and maintenance costs.

As a result, many operators have come to believe that smart storage technology is simply too expensive to implement.

The real cost driver in most smart access systems isn't the idea of smart technology itself — it's the infrastructure required to support it.

When systems rely on wired power, batteries, networking hardware, and on-site controllers, costs rise quickly.

But when the technology itself is simplified, those costs disappear.

By building around NFC technology, we've eliminated many of the components that traditionally drive cost.

Just simple hardware that installs quickly and operates reliably.

The result is a fundamentally different cost structure.

Modernization Must Be Retrofittable

Most storage facilities already exist.

If the industry is going to modernize, the technology must work within the infrastructure operators already have.

At KISS, we believe smart storage shouldn't require operators to rebuild their facilities.

Modern infrastructure must be retrofittable.

With retrofit-friendly options like smart disc and cylinder locks, upgrading a facility can be as simple as installing a lock into the existing overlock position.

Just a straightforward upgrade that works with the facility you already operate.

The economics are just as practical.

Our smart disc lock retails for roughly $60 per unit.

By introducing a modest $5 per month smart lock usage fee, the lock pays for itself in the first year.

After that, it becomes a revenue-generating asset.

Stop Optimizing for the Wrong Tenants

One of the most common objections we hear when discussing modern storage technology is simple:

But in most facilities, those tenants represent a very small minority.

Yet across the industry, entire operating models are still built around accommodating that minority.

The result is unnecessary friction for everyone else.

The reality is that the overwhelming majority of consumers already manage their daily lives through their phones.

Mobile-first experiences are no longer niche behavior.

They are the default.

At KISS, we believe the future of storage should be designed around the next generation of renters — not the most resistant edge cases.

The renters who expect a modern experience are already here.

We're simply building the infrastructure the modern renter expects.

Picture this: The Modern Storage Facility

So what does a facility built for the next era of storage actually look like?

Imagine operating a facility where the entire rental experience is automated from move-in to move-out.

A tenant rents a unit online.

Within seconds, they receive a text message prompting them to download the facility's mobile app. After a quick verification passcode, their access is activated automatically.

They arrive at the facility and open the app.

With a tap, the tenant opens the gate.

Every entry tied to a verified user.

Once inside the facility, they simply toggle to unit access within the app.

At the unit door, they tap their phone to the lock.

The NFC interaction transfers the energy required to activate the device and validate their access credentials.

The unit opens.

Access is always on.

And because access is powered by NFC, the system remains reliable even without network connectivity.

The phone communicates directly with the lock — even in airplane mode.

Behind the scenes, everything is automated.

When a tenant falls delinquent, access is revoked automatically through the integration with the operator's property management system.

When the tenant brings their account current, access is restored instantly.

Operations become simpler.

Facilities can be managed remotely.

And the lock itself becomes something entirely new.

Not a one-time product — but infrastructure.

An asset that stays with the unit and generates recurring revenue month after month.

At KISS, we're building the infrastructure that makes it possible — and KISS-enabled facilities are already appearing across the industry as operators adopt a smarter, simpler, mobile-first model for storage.