Business storage for shops and online sellers: a practical guide

Every growing shop hits the same wall. The back room fills up, then the stairs, then somebody's spare bedroom, and suddenly half the working day goes on moving boxes to reach other boxes. Business storage is the usual answer, but it only helps if you set it up so that you can still find things. This guide covers when business storage makes sense, how to organise a unit around your stock, and what it costs.

When business storage starts to pay

A storage unit is not free, so the question is whether it costs less than the problem it solves. It usually does when one of these is true.

• Your shop floor is doing a warehouse's job. Retail space in a good market costs far more per square foot than storage. Every carton on the shop floor is sitting in your most expensive space.
• You buy in bulk for a season. Eid, wedding season, winter clothing, school uniforms. Buying ahead is cheaper, but only if you have somewhere to put it.
• You sell online from home. When stock takes over the house, a small unit gives you a dedicated, lockable space and gives your family their rooms back.
• You're between premises. A lease ends before the new one starts, or a shop is being refitted. Fixtures and stock need somewhere safe for a few weeks.

What businesses store with us

Most business storage falls into a few groups: stock waiting to be sold, shop fittings and display units between locations, office furniture during a move, equipment used seasonally, and records that have to be kept but don't need to be in the office. For that last group, see our guide to office record storage.

What we can't take is anything that needs to be kept cold, food stock, or anything hazardous, flammable or illegal. We don't offer cold storage, so pharmaceutical and food businesses that need a fixed temperature should look for a specialist.

How to organise business storage so you can find things

A unit full of unlabelled cartons is just a more expensive back room. A little structure on day one saves hours every month.

Shelve it

Freestanding metal shelving turns floor area into usable volume and lets you reach any box without moving three others. For a stock unit it's the single best investment you can make.

Give every shelf an address

Label the shelving bays A, B, C and the shelves 1, 2, 3. Then every product line has a location, like B2. Keep the list in a shared sheet on your phone. When someone asks where the medium blue kurtas are, the answer takes seconds.

Fast movers at the front

Put the stock you pull every week nearest the door and the seasonal reserve at the back. Rearrange when the season changes.

Keep a simple in and out log

A notebook or a sheet with date, item, quantity and who took it. It catches mistakes early and makes stock counts painless.

Access: plan your visits

We ask for 48 hours notice before each visit, and every visit includes an hour on site at no extra charge. For most shops and online sellers that works well once it becomes a routine: a fixed restock day each week, booked in advance, with the pick list ready before you arrive.

If you need to be in and out several times a day, that's a sign you need stock on your own premises, with storage holding the reserve behind it. That's the arrangement most growing businesses end up with, and it's a good one.

Picking a size for stock

Stock is easier to size than household goods because it comes in regular cartons. Measure one typical carton, work out how many you hold at your busiest, and remember that shelving lets you use the height.

For anything in between, the storage calculator will size it, and the full rate card is on the prices page.

The costs worth comparing

When you're deciding, compare business storage against what the space is costing you now. Work out the floor area your stock takes up in the shop, and what that floor would earn if it held display stock instead. For many shops in busy markets, moving the reserve stock out pays for the unit within a few weeks.

Billing is monthly, the minimum is 1 month, and there's no long contract. That makes it easy to take a unit for a busy season and give it up when the season ends.

Questions businesses ask

Can my staff collect stock instead of me?

Yes. Tell us which members of staff are authorised and we'll deal with them. Only people you've named can get into your unit, which matters when stock is worth real money.

Can I take a unit just for a season?

That's one of the best uses of business storage. The minimum is 1 month, so a shop can take a unit for the run up to Eid or for winter stock, and give it back when the season is over.

Can I bring my own shelving?

Yes, freestanding shelving is fine and we'd encourage it. It shouldn't be fixed to the walls or floor, so that it can come out with you when you leave.

Can you receive deliveries from my suppliers?

Ask us about your situation before you plan around it. Most businesses find it simplest to receive deliveries at the shop or the house and bring stock to the unit on their regular restock day.

How should I handle returns from online orders?

Keep a small area of the unit, or a shelf near the door, for returns waiting to be checked. Inspect them on your restock day, put good stock back in its location, and take damaged items away so they don't build up.

Insurance and records

Arrange your own insurance for stock in storage, and tell us if you're storing anything of unusual value so we can agree how it's handled. Our buildings have cameras on the doors around the clock and a guard on site overnight, but security isn't the same thing as insurance, and a business should have both.

There's more about how we work with companies on our business storage page. If you'd like a figure, tell us roughly what you're storing and how often you'll need it, and we'll recommend a size and send the monthly price.