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SCOPING OUT
MORE SALES
Rifl escopes are a vital part of shooting. Those who insist a
scope is not needed, ignore the advances optical sights made
during the last century. Whatever kind of rifl e shooting you
face, from airgun to rimfire plinking, stalking to hunting from
a high seat or long range target shooting to military and law
enforcement, a rifl escope is a key part of any setup.
ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
Th ere simply is no reason not to
want a scope or another aiming
device, such as a red dot, on your
rifl e. For any given situation, be
it hunting in dense brush, on
the plains or in the mountains,
long range target shooting or
house-to-house urban combat,
you are better off with a sighting
device than with iron sights.
While still necessary as backup,
iron sights force shooters’
eyes to shift focus between rear
sight, front sight and target.
Th ree points need to be aligned
to shoot accurately. With a
rifl escope or a red dot sight, only
two points need to be aligned to
be on target. Th is clearly implies
rifl escopes and red dot sights are
quicker on the mark.
Furthermore, rifl escopes
allow you to reach out further,
see every detail and shoot deep
into the twilight when our own
eyes have all but given up.
What is more, selling scopes
and other optical devices
with your rifl es is common
business sense. Mounting them
requires scope mounts, cleaning
them correctly requires other
products… which all add up to
more sales.
As a fi rearms retailer, you
simply cannot ignore rifl escopes.
From a humble airgun scope
with a two-digit price tag to
high end scopes running well
into the thousands, there are
scopes out there for every
application and budget. It’s up
to retailers to choose and stock
the right products for their
customers’ specifi c needs.
RIFLESCOPE SALES SHOW
DEFINITIVE GROWTH
First of all, when we look at
the number of rifl escopes sold
by the retailers taking part of
our survey, we found that the
majority of shops in our survey
sell from 0 to 50 scopes per
annum. Nearly one-fi fth sell
between 51 and 100 scopes
while one-tenth sell between
101 and 200 rifl escopes.
Splitting sales up by scope
type, we concluded the sales
of airgun scopes are relatively
stable, which is confi rmed by 70
per cent of the retailers in our
survey. Some 10 per cent claim
the market for airgun scopes is
still increasing. Sales of tactical
and hunting rifl escopes as well
as models to be used on rimfi re
rifl es are all doing very well.
In the hunting scope
segment, over 60 per cent
of retailers claims sales are
defi nitely increasing while
nearly 40 per cent stated sales
are stable. Over one-third of
respondents stated sales of
tactical scopes were on the up,
whereas another third claimed
sales remained stable.
BEST-SELLING SCOPE TYPES
When considering best-selling
rifl escope types, the market
has remained relatively stable
compared with last survey.
Centerfi re hunting scopes
remain in the lead. Th ese tactical
rifl escopes have made quite an
inroad as well, carving out more
than one-tenth of the market.
WHAT DO CUSTOMERS LOOK
FOR?
While price reigns supreme
as the most decisive reason to
purchase a rifl escope according
to the majority of retailers in
our survey, brand/make comes
in second this time. Rifl escope
buyers are obviously getting
more and more brand conscious
about their purchases.
As one might imagine,
optical performance and
build quality are some of the
main reasons why shooters
and hunters choose a specifi c
scope type. About one-fi fth of
respondents, same as last survey,
admit optical performance and
build quality are still the decisive
factor when investing in a
rifl escope.
FEATURES GROWING IN
POPULARITY
Bigger zoom ranges remain very
popular with rifl escope buyers.
Nearly 20 per cent of retailers
claim a larger zoom range than
the classic 3:1 or 4:1 zoom ratio
is a signifi cant feature, gaining
in popularity. As 5:1 and 6:1
zoom ratios are getting relatively
common, several manufacturers
have upped the game by
introducing scopes with 8:1, 9:1
and even higher zoom ratios.
Illuminated reticles are
growing in popularity as well. In
some markets like continental
Europe, the majority of sights
are sold with illuminated
reticles. Th ese serve two
purposes. On the one hand,
a clearly defi ned illuminated
reticle combined with a wide
fi eld of view makes for superb
driven hunt scopes. On the
other hand, illuminated reticles
make hunting in the twilight
and at night a lot easier than
when using standard nonilluminated
reticles. Th at said,
budget conscious punters as well
as hunters that only come out
in daylight, stalkers for example,
still opt for quality optics with
non-illuminated reticles.
Other novelties are
rifl escopes where the colour or
the shape of the illuminated
can be changed, red or green for
example, and reticles that allow
the illumination to be partly
deactivated so you can have the
possibility of a driven hunt circle
dot illuminated reticle when
you need it and just the dot
illuminated for other shooting
purposes.
Ballistic reticles also
increasingly fi nd their way to
the market. Th ese bullet drop
compensation reticles look
similar to common reticles, but
feature extra marks along the
SPOTLIGHT ON...
RIFLESCOPES
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