System and method for adaptive and dynamic pricing of self-storage storage units

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for dynamically pricing available storage units based on desirability is described. A server computer accesses a data storage storing a storage unit inventory for a particular facility. Each storage unit in the storage unit inventory is pre-assigned to a pricing group and provided a desirability rank. In response to a trigger for generating an updated sales plan for the particular facility (or for all facilities in a company), the server computer obtains an available storage unit inventory by deducting the unavailable storage units from the storage unit inventory and orders the available storage units within each pricing group by each unit's desirability rank. The server computer then assigns each of the available storage units to one of a plurality of pricing tiers within the pricing group according to the desirability rank order and generates an updated sales plan containing the available storage unit inventory grouped by the pricing group and by the pricing tiers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 at a server computer, accessing a data storage on which a storage unit inventory for all storage units existing at a particular facility has been stored, each storage unit in the storage unit inventory being pre-assigned to a pricing group and each storage unit being provided with a desirability rank within its pre-assigned pricing group;   in response to a trigger for generating an updated sales plan at the particular facility, obtaining, at the server computer, an available storage unit inventory for the particular facility on a specific date by deducting the unavailable storage units from the stored storage unit inventory;   at the server computer, ordering the available storage units within each pricing group by each storage unit's desirability rank, and assigning each of the available storage units to one of a plurality of pricing tiers within the pricing group according to the rank order of the available storage units; and   at the server, generating for output an updated sales plan containing the available storage unit inventory grouped by the pricing group and by the pricing tiers within the pricing groups.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the trigger for the updated sales plan is a request for the updated sales plan from a user. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the storage units are arranged into the pricing groups based on physical characteristics of the storage units. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising updating the sales plan periodically. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the pricing tiers include a standard pricing tier, a best value pricing tier, and a deluxe pricing tier. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the number of storage units assigned to the standard pricing tier is determined based on the total available storage units. 
     
     
         7 . A method comprising:
 at a server computer, accessing a data storage on which a storage unit inventory for all storage units existing at a particular facility has been stored, each storage unit in the storage unit inventory being pre-assigned to a pricing group and each storage unit being provided with a desirability rank within its pre-assigned pricing group, and some of the storage units being locked to a specific pricing tier in a pricing group;   in response to a trigger for generating an updated sales plan at the particular facility, obtaining, at the server computer, an available storage unit inventory for the particular facility on a specific date by deducting the unavailable storage units from the stored storage unit inventory;   at the server computer, ordering the available storage units within each pricing group by each unit's desirability rank, except those units that have been locked, and assigning each of the available storage units to one of a plurality of pricing tiers within the pricing group according to the rank order of the available storage unit or according to the unit's locked pricing tier; and   at the server, generating for output an updated sales plan containing the available storage unit inventory grouped by the pricing group and by the pricing tiers within the pricing groups.   
     
     
         8 . A system, comprising:
 a server computer having at least one processor and memory, the memory programmed with instructions that when executed cause at least one processor to: access a data storage on which a storage unit inventory for all storage units existing at a particular facility has been stored, each storage unit in the storage unit inventory being pre-assigned to a pricing group and each storage unit being provided with a desirability rank within its pre-assigned pricing group;   in response to a trigger for generating an updated sales plan at the particular facility, obtain, at the server computer, an available storage unit inventory for the particular facility on a specific date by deducting the unavailable storage units from the stored storage unit inventory;   ordering the available storage units within each pricing group by each unit's desirability rank, and assigning each of the available storage units to one of a plurality of pricing tiers within the pricing group according to the rank order of the available storage unit; and   generate for output an updated sales plan containing the available storage unit inventory grouped by the pricing group and by the pricing tiers within the pricing groups.   
     
     
         9 . A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:
 at a server computer, accessing a data storage on which a storage unit inventory for all storage units existing at a particular facility has been stored, each storage unit in the storage unit inventory being pre-assigned to a pricing group and each storage unit being provided with a desirability rank within its pre-assigned pricing group;   in response to a trigger for generating an updated sales plan at the particular facility, obtaining, at the server computer, an available storage unit inventory for the particular facility on a specific date by deducting the unavailable storage units from the stored storage unit inventory;   at the server computer, ordering the available storage units within each pricing group by each unit's desirability rank, and assigning each of the available storage units to one of a plurality of pricing tiers within the pricing group according to the rank order of the available storage unit; and   at the server, generating for output an updated sales plan containing the available storage unit inventory grouped by the pricing group and by the pricing tiers within the pricing groups.   
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the trigger for the updated sales plan is a request for the updated sales plan from a user. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the storage units are arranged into the pricing groups based on physical characteristics of the storage units. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , further comprising updating the sales plan for each of the storage units periodically. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the pricing tiers include a standard pricing tier, a best value pricing tier, and a deluxe pricing tier. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the number of storage units assigned to the standard pricing tier is determined by a set of guidelines. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the number of storage units assigned to the standard pricing tier is determined based on the total available storage units. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein a price of the storage unit is based on the price tier associated with the storage unit. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the data storage, on which a storage unit inventory for all storage units existing at a particular facility has been stored, is a cloud. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the server computer access the cloud to obtain the storage unit inventory. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the data storage on which the storage unit inventory for all storage units existing at the particular facility has been stored is associated with a third party property management system. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the updated sales plan is transmitted to a third party property management system or an external consumers of the sales plan information 
     
     
         21 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 20 , wherein the external consumer of the sales plan is at least one of a third party sales channels, kiosk and virtual show-rooms.