The Gun Industry Is Embracing Digital Tactics to Turn Gun Buying Into a Habit

"As gun sales have dropped over the last four years, the firearms industry has experimented with behavior-inciting digital tools to lure and hook customers, according to an industry presentation obtained by The Trace and Rolling Stone. In May 2024, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry's trade group, hosted a webinar featuring the presentation for the thousands of gun sellers who belong to the NSSF. As the industry's primary representative, the NSSF navigates political and cultural headwinds to help ensure the profitability of its members."

"His presentation, consisting of 13 slides, recommended tools for tracking, customization, and behavior-inducing prompts. Altherr discussed the strategies at length in his remarks, a recording of which was reviewed by The Trace and Rolling Stone. The tactics he described are familiar in the world of online commerce, from food orders to clothes. But the presentation betrayed no consideration of the consequences that may arise if the tactics are applied in a widespread way to the selling of firearms and ammunition."

""If you sell products on your website, and you get to a point - or a customer gets to a point - where they put something in their cart, they're essentially one step away from a checkout," Alther said. "That is extremely lower funnel activity." Altherr asked: "So how can we get them to cross that barrier from cart to making a purchase?""

Gun sales have fallen over the last four years, prompting the firearms industry to adopt digital marketing tactics aimed at increasing online purchases. The National Shooting Sports Foundation hosted a webinar presenting strategies for gun sellers to convert shoppers into buyers. The Guns.com digital marketing director emphasized email as a tool to steer customers down a sales funnel toward checkout and recommended tracking, customization, and behavior-inducing prompts to prompt purchases. The techniques mirror common e-commerce practices used by other sectors. The guidance included no expressed assessment of potential public-safety or ethical consequences of applying these tactics to firearms and ammunition.

Read at The Trace