Growth driven by new and seasoned hunters on West Coast, Eastern Seaboard, and Texas
Wilton, CT -(AmmoLand.com)- As September nears its close, hunting season purchases start to get into full swing.
New Hunters:
- Hunting license permits declined slightly in 2012, ’13, and ’14.
- But permits increased almost 2% in 2015, from 14.6M hunters nationwide to 14.84M.
Impact: This is a potential indicator of growth of new hunters (almost 250k additional last year).
Seasoned Hunters Wanting New Guns:
- NICS checks for new long guns generally increase about 10% in Sept on avg. and an additional 15% in Oct.
- Comparing NICS checks for Aug 2016 vs. Aug 2015, long guns are up an additional 25k (+5.5% to 471.1k)
- We expect percentage growth is expected to remain similar as the trends above, but actual numbers of NICS checks will be higher than previous years, as we’ve seen in Aug and YTD.
Impact: More hunting guns will likely be sold this year than last by at least 5%, and Sept and Oct will see increases in units sold as hunting season gets underway. This will be driven both by new hunters as well as seasoned hunters looking for the latest model.
Where is Hunting Season Heating Up the Most?
- Data from GunBroker.com – which accounts for apprx. 10% of all new firearms purchases nationwide – shows that hunting seasons are driving purchases of hunting guns, and most of the US shows growth,
- But some regions have, interestingly, shown declines.
Impact: We expect new and seasoned hunters to buy more hunting guns than in prior years, but it won’t be evenly distributed across all.
About MarketPlace Insight:
MarketPlace Insight is a data and analytics group focused on providing precise and meaningful business insights for the active enthusiast market. As a sister company to the largest outdoor enthusiast auction site, we have access to a data set of buying, selling, pricing and demographic data. Our solutions provide actionable insights allowing businesses to develop strategies that will increase margin, customer penetration and overall growth. Contact: sales@marketplaceinsight.com.
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