You’ve heard the hype: Selling online is your ticket to success. You’ve seen the pictures of well-dressed folks standing next to Lamborghinis. If it’s true for them, surely it can be true for you? Instead of relying on foot traffic alone, wouldn’t having the entire United States shop at your store be amazing?

Yes, it would be!

The path to success is far different from what is often sold. In this article, I’ll provide three of the five fundamental growth strategies in the Outdoor Sporting Goods space. Follow these and you will see success — guaranteed. I must warn you that there are no silver bullets. Sweat, blood and tears are your ticket.

If there’s one thing to understand in e-commerce, it’s this:

Build it and they won’t come.

This article outlines the proven process for reverse-engineering this statement, enabling visitors to not only visit your website but also make a purchase from you.

 

Strategy 1: Understand the difference between Brick/Mortar and Online Commerce

Selling to local retail customers is vastly different from selling online. See the chart below for some comparisons.

	Brick and Mortar	Online
What you do	Sell to your local area. Provide in-person services and advice. Easy purchases through your relationships.	Invest in nationwide marketing. Strategize on how to be different.
What you don’t do	Compete nationwide with the big players. Invest in grabbing a wider share of attention.	Provide in-person assistance. Try before you buy.

 

Are you willing to make the investment?

Ideally, this involves two separate books of business. If you have an FFL and this generates too many headaches, consider assigning accounting classes to both brick-and-mortar and online settings. This allows you to generate a profit and loss statement, ensuring you are making a profit.

 

Strategy 2: Why should I buy from you?

The easier something is, the more people who will do it.

It’s easy to start an e-commerce store. There are plenty of providers out there that are pre-connected to Davidsons, RSR, Sports South, etc. You’ll have sellable products for the entire world in minutes.

It’s hard to build a business model. This comes from the strategy question above. Where would I go if I’m looking for a new Glock 19? I’d do a Google Search or jump to a large brand like Bud’s Gun Shop. I’d see what Palmetto State Armory sells if I want a discount. And if I want a significant discount, I’d check GunBroker.

Where does your store fit into this? It doesn’t. This is a harsh reality that you must accept. But like a troubling health diagnosis, you don’t resign to fate; you make the investment in your life, which sometimes results in the restoration of your full health.

If that hits close to home, you’re not alone.

We’ve seen this play out time and again with merchants trying to grow on platforms that weren’t designed for the unique demands of the firearm industry. That’s why we put together a breakdown of what to look for (and what to avoid) when choosing a firearm-friendly e-commerce platform. Read the full breakdown at swiftotter.com/technical/merchant-articles/ecommerce-for-firearm-retailers.

How can you stand out from the crowd of other gun dealers, not to mention your big-box competition?

• Price: No one should compete on the cheapest prices, with some exceptions.
• Customer Service: You can make a name by taking care of customers (like Amazon), but you’ll be accepting returns that will hit your profit margin.
• Catalog: You and thousands of other gun dealers sell the same inventory. You may successfully identify new products that don’t have much of a distribution channel.
• Personality/Experience: You are unique. You have experience that no one else has. You know things about the industry that no one else does.

Out of the above list, Personality/Experience is your most easily won trait. The others are much harder to fight for. How you use this as a competitive advantage depends on who will buy from you. This is the next strategy.

 

Strategy 3: Who will buy from you?

You must deeply understand your customer. This is much harder in an e-commerce context than it is for an in-person, brick-and-mortar environment.

SwiftOtter has a solid understanding of these customers. While it can be argued there are more personas than this, we find these four are the most common.

• Sarah, the Protector: the Concerned First-Time Buyer.
  • Example: Sarah is on social media and wants to find the ideal concealment holster.
• Mark, the Seasoned Sportsman: the Avid Hunter and Recreational Shooter.
  • Example: Mark is looking for optics and cases. Sometimes on social media, but prefers email.
• David, the Collector Enthusiast: the Discerning Aficionado.
  • Example: David is quick to drop cash on cool tools. Reads online content and buys new technology.
• Tom, the Value-Conscious Prepper: The Prepared Citizen.
  • Example: Tom is slower to purchase because he thoroughly values research.

We can go much deeper by taking these personas and adding a couple of others into the mix. Your buyers may fall into these categories or have some variance.

Now that we know who buys from you, we can now identify how to reach these buyers.

As a high-level overview, here’s how marketing channels align with your personas:

• Social Media:
  • Personas: Sarah, David
  • Significant limitations with Acceptable Use policies.
  • The best angle is for local audiences.
• Search Engines:
  • Personas: Mark, David, Tom, to a lesser extent, Sarah
  • Don’t forget that AI is rapidly replacing search engines.
  • There is still an opportunity to rank for “long tail” (long searches).
  • Become familiar with Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
• Email:
  • Personas: Sarah, Mark, David, Tom
  • Doesn’t have to be pretty.
  • Ask for an email address at every right opportunity, ideally after they have spent 1 minute on your website.
  • Consistent, informative emails are the most effective marketing channel. You’ll know it meets these criteria if your open rate is over 20% and you have a low unsubscribe rate.
• User Groups:
  • Personas: Mark, David, Tom and perhaps Sarah (on Facebook)
  • Give 5x more value than you ask from your audience.
• YouTube:
  • Personas: Mark, David, Tom and Sarah (all for different reasons)
  • Plenty of solid channels here, but your personality and experience is your differentiating factor.
• Ads:
  • Personas: Sarah, David (others tend to dislike being “sold to”)
  • Easy to burn cash, so keep a close eye.
  • Still have to deal with “Acceptable Use” limits.

Before you publish any campaign, ask yourself: Is this something I find interesting?

If the answer is anything less than a solid “yes,” redo your campaign. Solid campaigns are the bedrock to obtaining attention.

 

Conclusion

Selling firearms and accessories online can be challenging, but it is still possible. If you take the time to follow this path, you have an unbelievable opportunity.