According to this month’s EasyExport Insights, exports of rimfire rifles to the rest of the world have averaged just over $14 million per year over the last 36 months. (See page 3 below).
What does that number tell us about the worldwide market potential for American-made rimfire rifles? Is the global opportunity really that small or is the actual potential merely untapped?
The table below shows the U.S. share of all sporting rifles (all types and calibers, centerfire and rimfire) imported into the five countries that currently import the most American-made rimfire rifles (see page 11):
Source: https://beta.trade.gov/MarketDiversificationTool#1
Keeping in mind that the data in the table shows imports of all sporting rifles, not just rimfire rifles, what does the table tell us?
- Canada is the largest market, but the 60.4% U.S. market share suggests that our products already have a big share of the market.
- Australia and France, on the other hand, together import over $50 million annually to Canada’s $67 million, but the U.S. market share is below 20% in both countries.
- If Canada is an example of market penetration potential for U.S. products, there may be untapped potential in Germany and New Zealand as well as Australia and France.
Extraneous factors like differences in currency exchange rates and import costs (duties, taxes and other charges) can affect why U.S. products fare well in one market but not another, but the table indicates wide disparities in U.S. market penetration. In at least two countries, perhaps four, there seems to be room to grow.
Consider, finally, that even though U.S. market penetration in Canada is already excellent, the tool we used to create the table ranks Canada at the top of the list for growth potential.
Untapped Potential
Bottom line: there seems to be plenty of room for U.S. products to increase their penetration of select international markets, especially with new export regulations and the coming of ecommerce to international transactions in the firearms industry.
If you’re wondering how to translate international market data into international sales, please see the blog we have posted concurrently with this issue of EasyExport Insights.
