MONDAY, MAY 3, 2021   ■   PUBLISHING

Shooting Industry’s Woman’s Issue Helps Dealers Educate, Equip & Empower

“The key to reengaging first-time customers, particularly women, starts with understanding their primary motivation for purchasing,” advises Ashley McGee in “Your Female Customer Base Has Grown, Now What?”

Picking up where SI’s two previous Woman’s Issues left off, the third annual edition endeavors to help store owners educate, equip and empower female customers. Over the past 14 months, millions of women have become first-time gun owners — raising the stakes considerably for retailers to earn and retain their business.

Extensive content in the 2021 Woman’s Issue runs the gamut on topics related to engaging female customers, including Julie Golob’s recommendations on how best to communicate with women and tips from Shari LeGate on how dealers (and ranges) can establish a training curriculum. Readers will learn about unique services to boost sales, the value of “in-between” customers and fostering a sense of community by hosting women’s events.

Elite Firearms & Training Founder Ava Flanell relays five common deterrents women face at gun stores in “Check Your Assumptions At The Door.” To avoid potential pitfalls, Flanell advises: “Just a few short, friendly questions void of any assumptions can make a world of difference in the customer experience.”

Additional highlights of this issue include a powerful perspective from Laura Evans on how a store can be part of the healing process for a survivor of domestic violence by providing empowerment through firearms ownership and self-defense help. Nancy Bacon reveals additional insights on Southwick Associates’ extensive consumer segmentation research, while Shoot Like A Girl’s Karen Butler recounts her team’s experiences over the past year meeting first-time buyers of all ages, backgrounds and political preferences.

Progress is certainly being made, but one can’t help wonder “What’s Next?” Editor Jade Moldae gathers insights from industry leaders and SI contributors on how to welcome even more newcomers to the shooting sports in the Industry Link column. And in the Arms & The Woman installment, Carolee Anita Boyles introduces three stewards of the industry in “Women-Led Organizations.”

Discover more at ShootingIndustry.com: Easy-to-navigate sections, new products, online exclusives, industry news and digital versions of every issue are readily available. Join the conversation anytime: comments@shootingindustry.com or facebook.com/shootingindustry.

CONTACT: JADE MOLDAE

EDITOR@SHOOTINGINDUSTRY.COM