SHOT Show University Kicks Off Shooting Sports Industry Fest

 

This year, SHOT Show U featured presentations by retail guru George Whalen, president and CEO of Retail Management Consultants; Curt Jazwiecki, president and founder of Outdoor Business Network, Inc., a firm providing e-commerce solutions to the Outdoor Industry; Wally Nelson, a retired executive for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which monitors and evaluates the trends and business side of hunting, shooting and firearms industry; Christopher DiCenso, managing partner and founder of Growth Strategy Partners LLC, a strategy consulting firm that accelerates the revenue, profit and talent growth of entrepreneurially managed organizations by implementing the 7 Keys to Growth; and Tom Shay, a fourth-generation merchant and expert on the topics of promotion, customer loyalty, business management, target marketing, employee skills development and financial control.

Whalen, the keynote speaker for the conference, addressed the hundreds of retailers in attendance by outlining seven challenges within the firearms retail business and identifying the most effective strategies to combat them while improving profitability. Whalen stressed the importance of enhancing retail performance by taking an initiative to promote constant improvement to a retailer’s store. To do this, Whalen said retailers should focus on several key initiatives, including learning everything he or she can about the customer, improving relationships with vendors, expanding reach with the use of an effective Web site and taking an approach to “under promise and over deliver.” 

 

Likewise, Whalen emphasized the importance of implementing an effective marketing plan by a) increasing the visibility of the store, b) writing up a concrete plan for generating customers, c) reducing the risk of losing customers by using tools like free product lessons, and d) maximizing referrals by selling more to every customer.

Whalen also stressed the importance of teaching sales associates how to properly respond to customers, increasing special store events and promotions and working to expose the customer to all merchandise. With the vast potential for add-on sales, Whalen said, a firearms retailer should never let a customer walk away after a gun purchase without offering additional sales like ammunition, slings, optics and other accessories.

 

Likewise, Whalen noted that along with constantly improving their relationships with their customers, firearms retailers should ensure that their associates are experts on inventory because consumers – especially in the firearms market- will pay a premium for legitimate knowledge on the product. Many gun retailers, Whalen added, talk down to consumers  – especially women – and irreparably damage their own business in doing so. Whalen concluded his speech advising retailers to focus on the future, remain true to their principles, support their associates and evaluate expenses and to stop looking at marketing as an expense instead of an opportunity to build their business.

Following up on Whalen’s presentation was Jazwiecki, who outlined the Top 10 reasons every firearms retailer should host a legitimate Web site. Jazwiecki’s presentation included several eye-opening cites regarding e-commerce, including the growth of e-commerce from 2006 to 2011 ($132.1 billion to $271.1 billion), the percentage of shoppers who made a purchase from a manufacturer within a week after researching that manufacturer online (35%) and the percentage of US internet penetration in 2008 (63.4%) compared to projected penetration in 2013 (69.2%).

 

To make the most of their e-commerce business, said Jazwiecki, retailers should focus on developing an effective business plan, allocating a suitable amount of resources to the site, evaluating shipping charges and return policies and defining the methods to be used for the design and content of the site.

 

 

As usual, the SHOT Show featured a number exhibitors introducing products that warranted significant attention from visitors.
Softgoods manufacturers including Arc’teryx, ScentLok, Browning, Mossy Oak, Sitka, Wolverine and more displayed promising new introductions, but a few companies stood out to the editors of Sports Executive Weekly.

At Filson, representatives lauded the expansion of the company’s sport shooting line for Spring2009. New products for the line include the Dry Finish Cloth Shooting Jacket ($245), which features shooting patches on both shoulders with the option to insert a recoil pad in interior pockets; the Oil Finish Cover Cloth Shooting Vest ($200), which is manufactured with 100% oil finish cover cloth and lined with 100% cotton and features interior recoil pad pockets on the left and right shoulder. For Fall 2010, the company will build on its 2009 launch of the Passage luggage line with the introduction of wheeled luggage. Included in the new product line for luggage is the 31” Passage Rolling Duffle Bag ($390), the 28” Passage Rolling Check-In Bag ($345) and the Passage Rolling Business/Computer Bag ($295), all of which are manufactured with 100% Nylon and utilize 3XPU coating.

Under Armour, which continues to build momentum as one of the driving forces of the sportsman’s market, highlighted its CAPTURE Scent technology™, which absorbs human odor into a polymer shield that is bound onto the inner surface of the garment’s fabric. Existing garments incorporating UA’s Capture technology include the UA Capture Camo Scent Control Mock ($74.99) and the UA Capture Legging ($74.99). Among new product for Fall/Winter 2010, UA introduced the Capture Fleece Jacket ($159.99), manufactured with ultra quiet 300 weight fleece and CAPTURE Scent Technology lining. Under Armour’s newly introduced Ridge Reaper collection is bowhunting focused and is designed with durability and noise reduction in mind. The Ridge Reaper Collection includes the Ridge Reaper Softshell Jacket ($199.99), manufactured with super quiet, weather-resistant fabric and featuring a zippered cuff and the Ridge Reaper Softshell Pant ($179.99).

Columbia, which continues to build off its outdoor lifestyle collection for its sportsman offerings, unveiled its Omni-Heat ™ Thermal Reflective technology, which the company said increases heat retention by at least 20%. The Omni-heat technology, which will be in a number of big game and waterfowl apparel products as well as Columbia boots, uses a patent pending dot-matrix application of reflective material to reflect and retain body warmth while dissipating excess heat.

 

The aforementioned Omni-heat footwear offering includes the thermal electric boot, which allows outdoorsmen to keep their feet warm at the push of a button by activating a battery powered array of heating elements located throughout the boot’s footbed. This technology is available in a number of Columbia boot styles, including the Bugga Therma, which will retail at $350 for the camouflage boot and $300 for the black boot.

Rocky, a longtime player in the industry for hunting footwear, has supplemented its apparel line for Fall 2010. Retailing between $120 -$140, Rocky’s BroadHead apparel line is tailored specifically for the bowhunter and incorporates a number of useful features with the archer in mind. Notably, the BroadHead Jacket features a multiple-zipper approach that utilizes optional compression zippers on the chest, wrists and underneath the arms of the hunter, which eliminates excess fabric that could potentially be caught in a bow string when the hunter fires on his or her target. The BroadHead line will be available in sizes for both and men and women. For its footwear line, Rocky introduced its SilentStalker boot, which it has dubbed “Footwear for Outdoor Athletes.”

 

The SilentStalker series, which will retail between $125 and $160 , includes a low top, a hiker and an 8-inch boot and incorporates super flexible outsoles to provide the comfort of a shoe. The SilentStalker also incorporates the new GORE-TEX ® Extended Comfort Technology, a system that provides active hunters with a waterproof comfort.

For equipment and hardgoods, firearms manufacturers strived to match last years margins while crossbow companies worked fervently to match the boost in consumer interest that has swept the country as more and more states lift or loosen bans on crossbow use.

 

Representatives from Barnett Crossbows said sales have skyrocketed in Pennsylvania and Michigan – two already hunter-friendly states that passed legislation in 2009 allowing hunters to use crossbows to harvest game.

 

Likewise, as more and more states continue to legalize crossbow use, companies like Barnett will profit from several growing demographic groups – 1) the mid-40’s ex-bowhunter who no longer has time to devote hours per week to practicing with a traditional bow, 2) the older hunter who is no longer able to comfortably pull back the minimum legal draw weight for bowhunters (40 lbs. to 45 lbs. in most states, and 3) youth hunters who are unable to pull back the minimum draw weight. Still, representatives from companies like Barnett emphasized that there is no apparent “transition” from traditional bowhunters to crossbow hunters that could cannibalize sales at the retail level. Instead, it seems these new legislative actions have resulted in the development of an entirely new group. Either way, crossbow manufacturers were happy to supplement their product lines accordingly, with most introducing lower price points to cater to new markets that are seeking to try crossbow hunting without sacrificing a significant chunk of their discretionary allocation.

Barnett’s highlighted products included the all-new Bonecrusher , a high-end crossbow that features a patented shoot-through  stirrup that allows the bow to propel a broadhead at a blazing 365 feet per second. The Bonecrusher, which will retail at more than $500, features Barnett’s new ADF MIM (Metal Injection Molding) trigger, which is designed to eliminate harmful and unintentional dry fires.

 

TenPoint Crossbow Technologies devoted it’s showcase to the launch of the moderately-priced Wicked Ridge™ line of crossbows The Wicked Ridge line, which will retail at less than $500, features the company’s PowerTouch ™ Trigger, which offers a 3.5 lb pull and the ACU-52™, a new quick-install self-retracting rope cocking system. Initially, the line will feature two bows – The Invader, which draws back at 180 lb. and fires at 305 FPS, and The Warrior, which draws back at 165 lb. and fires at 285 FPS.

For firearms, BenelliUSA launched the newest addition to its Legacy family – the Legacy 28. At about five pounds, the Legacy 28 28-gauge is touted by BenelliUSA as “The World’s Lightest Auto-Loading Shotgun” and marks the first time Benelli’s fast-firing Inertia Driven ® system is fitted in a 28-gauge. The Legacy 28 ($1,989) features classic and detailed game scene engravings on the gun’s satin walnut stock and features an “AirCell” recoil pad to absorb shock.

Winchester introduced its new Model 70 ™ Safari Express, a rifle tailored to the dangerous game hunter who requires superior knockdown power for African quarry. Offered in .375 H&H, .416 Rem. Mag. and .458 Win. Mag., Winchester calls the Safari Express “the finest big game rifle in the world.”