As all of us living in this 21st Century know almost too well, technology is constantly changing, and with it so are the various industries and the people it affects. To celebrate U-Haul’s 70th Anniversary, Executive Vice President Stuart Shoen spoke with FOX Business on how U-Haul has kept up with these changes.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OgUBbc0yKE?rel=0&showinfo=0]
Consumer Moving Trends
The average person moves about 11 times in their life. What keeps a company such as U-Haul continually important is that these moves are not necessarily related to the economy or technology, but by life events. It is these life events such as births, deaths, marriages, and new jobs that will lead people to move. Still, “the biggest economic indicator for our business is consumer confidence” Shoen explains.
An Online Consumer Experience
#uhaulfamous
Although Shoen knows that people will always have reasons for moving, he is also aware that his traditional family run business must change with the times. For this reason U-Haul has 100s of software engineers, employees with sustainability expertise, and online teams such as social media and marketing. “Customers expect a lot from U-Haul these days”, Shoen says. Shoen and the rest of his U-Haul family understand that so many people prefer doing everything online now rather than talking to a person. “Times have changed.” For these reasons, Shoen states that, “We like to think of ourselves as a technology company.”
With the options of online reservations, the ability to review services, order supplies, and do just about anything else one might want to do with their move from the comfort of their home computer, U-Haul knows it will have to continue to adapt along side technology and its consumers. It is these changes that encouraged the #uhaulfamous campaign as a way to bring communities together by allowing them to show off their moving experience on the sides of U-Haul trucks and online! “This is our 70th year in business, we’re celebrating the history of everybody that who’s ever moved through #uhaulfamous”, Shoen says.
Seeing how far the company has come in the last 70 years, we can only imagine what sort of advancements will occur in the years to come.
To see more about U-Haul, check out our Media Relations page.
