MyStorage Announces Case Study With Investment Fund EMIA: How AI Became A Powerful Member Of The Sales Team

MyStorage and the investment fund Emerging Markets Investment Advisers (EMIA) have released the case study “Beyond the Chatbot: When AI Becomes Part of the Sales Team”, which records how the STOW AI assistant cut first response time from 3 minutes 40 seconds to 42 seconds and lifted the conversion rate from about 4% to about 7%. The report, published in October 2026, documents MyStorage’s shift from a pioneering self-storage startup in Vietnam into a business that has applied artificial intelligence across its whole sales process.

Read the full report: the complete case study on MyStorage’s LinkedIn.

1. Starting From the Real Problems of the Self-Storage Industry

Vietnam’s self-storage industry faces two big bottlenecks: customers are not used to converting their belongings into cubic meters, and they expect instant replies on every channel in several languages, while staffing costs rise with each new facility.

Customers Do Not Think in Cubic Meters (CBM)

• Different ways of describing the need: customers rarely know whether they need exactly 2 m³ or 8 m³ of storage. Instead they think in everyday images: a sofa, 20 cartons, two bicycles or the contents of a two-bedroom apartment
• A long, multi-step advisory process: the sales team used to go back and forth many times to understand how many items there were, estimate the area, check vacant units, quote prices and track orders, which stretched response times

2. STOW: When an AI Assistant Becomes a Member of the Sales Team

STOW is an AI assistant built in-house by 3 MyStorage engineers and connected directly to the warehouse management system, vacant-unit data and the customer care process, so it can convert belongings into volume, quote prices, handle bookings and hand the conversation to staff when needed.

In-House Development by a Lean Engineering Team

• Building the solution from within: a lean technology team of 3 MyStorage engineers developed the STOW virtual assistant directly, designed around the buying journey specific to self-storage
• Deep integration into the commercial process: STOW is linked directly to the company’s warehouse management system, vacant-space data and real customer care workflow

An Assistant That Acts Independently, Not Just Answers Questions

Mr. Aric Austin, CEO and Founder of MyStorage, stresses:

“The real value of AI lies not in what it can say, but in what it can do. STOW has grown from simply answering questions to understanding customers’ needs, making suitable recommendations and taking action directly. That is a fundamental shift in how we think about technology.”

STOW handles four main kinds of work:

• Translating belongings into volume: STOW automatically analyzes the list of items a customer provides and converts it into the optimal unit capacity. You can also try an estimate yourself with the AI Size Estimator tool
• Handling bookings automatically: STOW proactively follows up with prospects who have not finished the process and directly edits and updates booking information in the system without manual staff intervention
• Smooth human handover: the system supports 4 languages and passes the conversation to staff when there are special negotiation requests, complex situations or when the customer wants to talk to a person

3. The Numbers Speak: Results and Real Customer Experiences

In Q2 2026, STOW cut first response time from 3 minutes 40 seconds to 42 seconds, generated 56% of outgoing replies automatically, saved 89 hours of manual work per month and lifted the order conversion rate from about 4% to about 7%.

First Response Time Drops to 42 Seconds

• From 3 minutes 40 seconds to 42 seconds: the median first response time for advisory requests fell below 1 minute, so customers get help at the moment their intent to rent is highest

56% Automated Replies, 89 Hours Saved and Conversion Up to ~7%

• Freeing 89 hours of manual work every month: at an average saving of about 3 minutes per outbound message and about 1,784 automated messages a month, the team gained nearly 90 hours each month for high-value work such as business customer care, logistics coordination and site surveys
• Order conversion rising to about 7%: the successful close rate reached about 7%, compared with about 4% for fully manual interactions the year before

Right-Sizing Units to Save Customers Money

• The situation: a customer contacted MyStorage to book a 16 m³ unit but hesitated at the total rental cost
• STOW’s analysis: instead of pushing the customer to close, STOW reviewed the customer’s actual list of belongings, judged that only a 3 m³ to 5 m³ unit was needed (enough for 25 to 40 household cartons; see the storage unit size guide from 1 to 23 m³) and suggested switching to a facility closer to home on a flexible monthly plan
• The result: the customer called the conversation “extremely helpful” and quickly agreed to the adjustment; STOW then updated the booking in the system within seconds

Converting Customers on a Tight Budget

• The situation: a student needed to store personal belongings for one month but worried about cost and did not know which option to choose
• STOW’s analysis: the system quickly proposed the shared/valet storage model (see shared-shelf and full-service storage) as an affordable fit, while explaining the pickup process and helping coordinate loading transport
• The result: an initial price-check question turned into a completed booking

4. Five Lessons for SMEs Riding the AI Wave

The case study draws 5 lessons: start from real bottlenecks, embed AI in the workflow, measure by business results, keep people where value is created, and keep learning to upgrade.

• Start from real bottlenecks, not from technology: do not ask “Where can we apply AI?”. The better question is “Where are our customers or employees repeatedly struggling and losing time?”
• Embed AI deep in the real workflow: a powerful AI tool creates very little value if it sits apart from how the business runs every day; STOW works because it is built straight into MyStorage’s service chain
• Measure by business results, not by AI interactions: the number of conversations with the bot is only a surface metric; conversion rate, response time, labor time saved and customer satisfaction are the real yardsticks
• Keep people at the touchpoints that create value: the goal of AI is not to remove people; STOW takes the repetitive interactions so specialists can focus on cases that need empathy, negotiation and in-depth advice
• Build, learn and improve continuously: there is no need to wait for a perfect product before using it; real customer interactions expose edge cases, and that data is the most valuable raw material for upgrading the system

5. EMIA, ESG Commitments and the 2027 Expansion Plan

EMIA’s AFMF fund invested growth capital in MyStorage in October 2025, helping storage capacity grow 4 times; by the end of 2026 MyStorage runs 7 self-storage facilities and 1 pickup-and-delivery storage facility, with ESG commitments and expansion plans for 2027.

Trusting the Innovative Spirit of Local Entrepreneurs

Behind MyStorage’s growth stands Emerging Markets Investment Advisers (EMIA), a private investment manager founded in 2009 that focuses on frontier and emerging markets in Southeast Asia, with cumulative assets under management of about USD 140 million. Mr. Joshua Morris, CEO and Co-founder of EMIA, said in the foreword of the case study:

“At EMIA, our mission is to help build resilient, market-leading SMEs that create positive impact in Southeast Asia. We always want to work alongside entrepreneurs with the ambition to reshape their industries. Turning the potential of AI into real business results remains a major challenge, especially for small and medium enterprises without huge technology budgets. MyStorage’s progress, backed by clear and measurable results, is an encouraging proof of what an SME can achieve when it dares to challenge traditional ways of working.”

In October 2025, EMIA’s ASEAN Frontier Markets Fund (AFMF) invested growth capital in MyStorage, the fund’s first investment in Vietnam. Since receiving the capital, MyStorage’s storage capacity has grown 4 times. By the end of 2026 the company operates 7 modern self-storage facilities and 1 pickup-and-delivery storage facility, ready for further expansion plans in 2027. The video below shows how MyStorage builds trust with customers:

Tying Growth to Environmental and Social (ESG) Values

• Standardizing the environmental and social management system (ESMS): the company is completing the full rollout of an ESMS framework in 2026 to manage operating risks tightly against international standards
• Recycling shipping containers: an initiative to convert used containers into sturdy storage modules, reusing industrial materials and limiting construction emissions
• Rooftop solar power: solar panel systems at its storage facilities to reduce reliance on the national grid, aiming to cut the carbon footprint of its cool-storage operations

Perfecting STOW and Piloting With an External Business Partner

• Smarter automation: improving unit-size suggestions based on real photos of belongings supplied by customers and improving the after-sales care process

MyStorage is also preparing to pilot STOW with its first external business customer, to test how the system adapts to an entirely new business environment and to assess whether the operating benefits seen at MyStorage can be replicated in other related service industries. From a startup solving personal storage needs, MyStorage is establishing itself as a pioneer in smart space solutions, showing that the combination of customer understanding, in-house AI and a sustainable-development direction is the key for Vietnamese businesses.

To read it in full, see the complete report on MyStorage’s LinkedIn.

6. Frequently Asked Questions About MyStorage’s STOW AI Case Study

The questions below give quick answers about the STOW AI assistant and the main findings of the case study.