Lighting The Way

Everyone needs a flashlight. Year in and year out, lights are certain sellers for every customer at some point.

Whether it’s a hunter who intends to follow a path to a deer stand, a peace officer who needs a weapon-mounted light or even a youngster who wants to check for monsters under the bed, they’re going to want a flashlight sooner or later.

Yes, today’s smartphones have built-in lights. But the tiny lights on phones — though they are bright — can’t replace the brilliance of a modern handheld LED light.

Tried-And-True Offerings

Gabe Mathis is the manager at Adel Outfitters in Adel, Ga. Even though many customers are going to weapon-mounted lights, Mathis says most of them still are purchasing handheld lights as well.

“A lot of them just want a handheld light to put in their truck or leave in the house,” he noted. 

Gender differences between what customers purchase are slight, but Mathis has observed a bit of preference in women for weapon-mounted lights.

“I think most women feel if they’re going out at night, it just makes them more comfortable,” he said. “I think they like to have it as an option.”

One trend not prevalent in Adel, according to Mathis, is lights that change to red or green with the push of a button.

“My customers are staying with white lights,” he contended. “I think it’s what most people are used to, and they’re not really interested in other colors unless it’s a blood-tracking light for deer.”

Most of Mathis’ customers are purchasing rechargeable lights.

“Streamlight and SureFire both came out with rechargeable USB models,” he said. “A lot of people are keeping those in their trucks or beside their beds.”

Light/laser combinations for weapon-mounted lights are popular, Mathis said. The customers who are purchasing those are putting them on sub-compacts such as the GLOCK 43X.

“They’re not using them so much on full-sized guns,” he noted. “They’re using white lights on full-size guns and laser/light combos on the sub-compacts.”

“Gun Culture” Trends

At Guns-N-Gear Sports in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Manager Chris Hocking said the mix of lights sold in the store is about half handheld and half weapon mounted.

“People like weapon-mounted lights, but they also want lights they can carry around and use for other things,” he reasoned. “We sell a wide variety of both. The most popular brand we sell is Streamlight. The most popular weapon-mounted lights are the TLR-7 and the TLR-1. Most customers are using those in home-defense scenarios.” 

Most of the lights he sells in both categories are white lights, Hocking noted. His customers haven’t shown much interest in multi-colored lights.

Even with the big trend toward rechargeable lights, Hocking said it’s not something his customers have flocked to.

“We do sell some of the rechargeable ones,” he shared, “both the ones that plug into the wall and the ones with rechargeable batteries. But we still are predominantly selling ones with replaceable batteries.”

When it comes to lights that switch from mode to mode, such as floodlight to spotlight, Hocking’s customers do purchase some handheld ones. 

“For the weapon-mounted kind, most of the ones we sell now are dual-capable, so it’s up to the customer as to how they want to use them,” he remarked.

He doesn’t see much demand for hybrid units that combine regular lights with lasers or UV lights.

“Here, we’re pretty much a gun culture,” Hocking said. “Most people here learned to shoot as they grew up, and they learned to shoot without using lasers. So, they don’t use them.”

Guiding Customer Queries

At Bristlecone Shooting, Training & Retail Center in Lakewood, Colo., Co-Owner Jacquelyn Clark asks customers a series of questions before she suggests a particular light to them.

“We ask them what they want to do and what their end game is, just like we do for anything else in the store,” she said. “Right now, we’re selling more weapon-mounted lights than handheld.” 

This is true of both male and female customers, she added.

Most Bristlecone customers are staying with white lights rather than multicolored ones. One exception to this is a subset of customers who consistently ask for red and green lights.

“Most of the requests for multi-colored lights come from law enforcement,” she said. 

Although customers are purchasing both rechargeable lights and those that take replaceable batteries, sales of the two subcategories tend to be pretty comparable.

“One thing my buyer has told me is he thinks technology needs to improve on the rechargeable ones,” Clark shared. “And the majority of lights we carry are focus-beam lights, not spot or strobe lights. That seems to be what people want. We don’t get a lot of requests for strobe or spotlights.”

The store only gets a request for a hybrid light with UV or a laser once in a while.

L.E. Lighting Needs

At Connecticut Police Supply in Newington, Conn., trends are a little different from those elsewhere because their customer base is almost entirely law enforcement officers.

“Our customers are buying about 50/50 handheld lights and weapon-mounted lights,” noted Manager Ben O’Neill. “They’re mostly buying Streamlight. SureFire is second place, but it’s pretty far down.”

When it comes to weapon-mounted lights, officers are buying them mostly for their duty weapons.

“But they buy a few of them for their personal weapons as well,” he added.

Officers heavily favor white lights over green or red ones.

“99% of what customers buy are white lights,” O’Neill confirmed. “Once in a while, someone wants something that has red.”

Sales are weighted heavily toward rechargeable lights.

“The lion’s share of what we sell is rechargeable flashlights,” he shared. “We don’t have a lot of interest in lights that are adjustable from floodlight to spotlight. The transition from one to another is cumbersome in its functionality. These lights don’t fit well with a duty pouch or on a belt.”

One trend of interest to a subset of O’Neill’s customers is hybrid lights, specifically those with UV capability.

“There are a few handheld lights that have UV as well as LED,” he said. “Most people don’t care about it. The customers I see who do care are bouncers; they use them for checking IDs at bars.”

O’Neill doesn’t expect any interest in some of the emerging technologies in lights.

“I don’t see solar-powered lights as being of any use to law enforcement,” he said. “USB is the biggest trend in recharging now; there are USBs everywhere, including in a lot of new vehicles. Or you can get a small converter.”

The technology of lights continues to develop. Solar-powered and smart lights are on the horizon, and who knows what trends will follow. This is an emerging category the savvy retailer should spotlight in the future. 

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