Riton Optics was founded in 2013, and the Tucson, Arizona-based company began selling optics to customers in 2016. Much has changed in the decade since, but the company’s focus on high-quality optics and service at competitive prices has remained. 

Shooting Sports Retailer recently caught up with Trent Marsh, who has spent 15 years in the industry and now serves as Riton’s marketing director, to talk about the company’s innovative optics, expanding product lines, and standing out in a competitive market.

SSR: Tell us a little about the history of Riton and its mission.

Marsh: Riton has been around for about a decade. Originally it was heavily tilted to the tactical and long-range market. The last few years there have been some ownership and management changes, and the brand has transitioned to a more holistic approach to optics solutions. The goal is to provide products of unique design or value to let the customer make the best decision for their specific use case.

SSR: Can you give me a brief overview of the different product lines?

Marsh: The product lines break down pretty easily, actually. The Primal line is our hunting products. Scopes, binos, etc. Tactix is our EDC/or tactical products. Here you’re looking at pistol dots, rifle dots, LPVO options. Things like that. Then we have Conquer. This is our long-range product. Each line has different series as well. We have 1, 3, 5 and 7 series, and they essentially run in order of ascending price. So a 1-Series Primal scope is an entry-level hunting offer, and a 7 Conquer is a top-of-the-line precision or long-range optics. Not all families have all series, but that’s the general breakdown.

SSR: Riton has delivered some innovative optics. What’s the company’s approach to new product development? 

Marsh: Our team is made up of users, which is great. I’ve worked places where that wasn’t always the case. With optics, there isn’t really a lot new under the sun, so you’re looking at optimization or specific use cases to find inspiration for a new thing. That’s difficult if the product team and the support teams aren’t actually in the field using the products. That’s how we work through new products, is by solving problems we have, or trying to anticipate needs based on what our experiences are.

SSR: The optics market has expanded significantly over the past decade. How has that affected the way you do business?

Marsh: It’s tough to answer that for Riton just because of all the change in the last few years. I also think there’s just been a lot of change in the market over that time in general. We choose to focus on bringing products with value, and being easy to work with for our reseller partners. If you do those things, the marketplace will find room for you.

SSR: What separates Riton from all the other optics companies vying for space on retailer’s shelves? What do you do best?

Marsh: I kind of mentioned that optics is a tough space to differentiate. The product itself is almost a commodity, so you have to speak directly to a consumer use case, and keep your relationships strong. I think that’s what we really do well. Our products make sense because we aren’t doing something just to do it, we’re answering problems in the marketplace, and we have good relationships with our reselling partners.

SSR: What’s your favorite optic in the lineup?

Marsh: That’s a tough question because so much of it comes down to use case. The new 5 Primal 3-18 Crossover Scope is a really fun product because it does so much. It works perfectly well as a hunting scope because of the reticle design and 6X optical system, you can cover a lot of ground. It’s just as at home on a long-range day though because of how we designed that chassis. So that’s one for sure. Our spotting scope is wildly underrated. The 5 Primal 15-45x60 is less than 13 inches long and weighs less than 3 pounds. That’s a really compact piece that fits in a range bag. Then we have our 3 Tactix Magnifier. I traditionally hate magnifiers, they feel like looking through a toilet paper tube, but ours has a really good field of view and just ended up being a real pleasure to use, so that makes the list too. But ask me about a different use case, and I’ll come with a couple options that just really fit that bill.

SSR: What new products have you most excited for the future?

Marsh: Continuing to grow in the hunting market is always fun. That’s a fun market to work with because of how stable it is. It feels really vanilla to those who don’t really drive into it, but I enjoy solving those problems. The whole Primal lineup is really solid and has some great options.

SSR: The thermal and night vision market has taken off. Is there a Riton thermal in the future?

Marsh: We haven’t ruled it out, but I think there’s a lot of smoke with that market, but not near as much fire. It’s a great product category, and a lot of people want to get into it, but the economy has people running on thin budgets and thermal and night vision just isn’t cheap. With as many folks as have jumped in with both feet chasing a smaller market than traditional optics, I think it’s actually more overserved than optics in general given how many sales are actually out there taking place. We’ll keep monitoring it, but there’s no immediate plans to play in that particular sandbox.

SSR: What does a retailer need to do to begin carrying Riton optics in their stores? Are there any dealer incentives or programs for new partners?

Marsh: There are always deals to be had and promotions going on. We are really easy to work with and our dealer application process is pretty straightforward. Interested dealers can visit ritonoptics.com and fill out our dealer application and we can get them all the information they need, along with whatever incentives are in place at the time they do so.

SSR: How can retailers be more effective selling your products?

Marsh: The biggest thing is to keep presenting the product. Riton products stand up really well to the other brands out there. Give customers the option and they will take a look. A lot of our dealers have been having great success with our pistol dots by talking about our warranty. In general, I hate hearing a product talk about their warranty, but with our pistol dots, they come with the same lifetime status that our variable optics do. No carveouts for our electro-optics. That’s a really big deal to have lifetime warranty coverage instead of just a couple years. Present the product, talk about the product, and let the consumer see how much product they are getting. It’s that simple.

SSR: Anything else you’d like to add?

Marsh: I don’t think so, that covered a lot of ground.