New Direction
A strategic pivot by Riton intends to give retailers the tools they need to efficiently sell its products.
By Christopher Cogley
Trent Marsh with a nice whitetail taken in the eastern United States.
In case you haven’t been watching, there have been some big changes at Riton Optics recently. From new products and new markets to a renewed commitment to its retail partners, Riton is finding new ways to find its niche in the increasingly competitive optics market.
Riton has long been known for its tactical optics, but recently, Riton scopes can be found on more and more hunting and shooting rifles.
“Riton’s roots have always been in the tactical arena, but there’s been a steady movement into the hunting side,” says Trent Marsh, marketing director for Riton. “We took what we’ve learned from the tactical side and have applied that to our hunting optics.”
To distinguish itself in a market where well-established hunting optics brands have had a loyal following for years, Riton took a novel approach to the hunting optics market.
“We launched eight new products, most of which were designed specifically to fill holes in our offering,” Marsh says. “Our goal was to pack as much versatility into these products as possible and still keep them at a price point most people can afford.”
A prime example of that versatility is Riton’s new 5 Primal 3-18x50 Cross-Over scope. With capped turrets and precision reticles, Riton designed the Cross-Over specifically to fill a need for hunters who are using their rifles for more than just one activity.
“You’re starting to see a lot more hunters who are shooting farther with the improvements in firearm capabilities,” Marsh says. “You’re also seeing more hunters who also shoot at the range, and range shooters who also hunt. We wanted to give them a scope that gave them the versatility to do both.”
When designing the Cross-Over, Riton also focused on the type of hunter and shooter who could take advantage of the new scope’s capabilities.
“We have traditionally focused on hunters in the west, but we’re making a concerted effort to get into the whitetail hunting market and give those hunters additional options in their optics as well,” Marsh says.
The high-power magnifications on the Cross-Over feature Riton’s Long-Range Hunter (LRH) Christmas-tree-style reticle, but when the scope is powered down to low magnification for hunting in heavily wooded areas, the reticle becomes a simple duplex, which allows for quick target acquisition. This innovative feature gives hunters and shooters the best of both worlds in one scope.
In addition to the Cross-Over, Riton has also expanded its Primal line of scopes to include the 5 Primal 2-12x44 IR (illuminated reticle) and the 3 Primal 3-15x44 LW (lightweight) as a way to provide consumers with scopes that give them more options in the field and at the range.
“Optics can be tricky,” Marsh says. “A scope can be used in very different ways by different shooters. Usually that means some part of the performance isn’t maximized. The product team did a great job delivering a product that can be used in a variety of ways without sacrificing any of the performance.”
Versatile options, such as those in the Primal series, also help retailers offer their customers something more than the traditional 3-9x40 scope that adorn so many hunting rifles.
“Our goal is to fill a void that retailers have in their optics case. We want to give them scopes that no one else is making so they can give their customers a wider selection of products, not just more brands,” Marsh says.
Riton’s commitment to its retail partners extends well beyond optics.
“We’ve spent a tremendous amount of time updating our marketing and branding sections of the website,” Marsh says. “We’re putting all our videos, photos, and copy on the site. Basically, all the resources retailers need to makes selling Riton products easier than ever. It’s all in one place, and everything has been completely organized and categorized so retailers can find anything they need quickly and without any hassle.”
All of the effort at versatility and accessibility, Marsh says, is part of an overarching goal that Riton is extremely focused on achieving.
“We’re really upping our commitment to the retailers,” he says. “We want to be good partners with our retailers. We’re making a strong effort to look at where we can be a problem-solver for our partners. We want to give them the optics that fill a niche and a product case that makes our brand stand out so it’s easier for their sales people to tell the story.”
And when that story is about making life easier for hunters and shooters to do what they love most, it isn’t a difficult story to tell.
