The Hidden Cost of an Empty Shooting Lane

The Hidden Cost of an Empty Shooting Lane

Why maximizing your existing range capacity may be one of the biggest opportunities to increase profitability.

For most shooting range owners, empty lanes are simply part of doing business. Customer traffic fluctuates, and some hours are naturally busier than others.

But what if those empty lanes represent one of the biggest overlooked opportunities in your business?

Range owners invest heavily in building, staffing, and maintaining their facilities. Whether a lane is occupied or sitting empty, many of those expenses remain the same. Sometimes the best opportunity for growth isn't attracting more customers. It's generating more value from the customers and infrastructure you already have.

The Real Cost of an Empty Lane

Consider a shooting range with 20 lanes charging $25 per hour and operating eight hours per day.

That's 160 available lane-hours, representing $4,000 in potential daily lane revenue at full capacity.

Now imagine increasing average lane utilization by just 10 percentage points.

That's 16 additional occupied lane-hours per day, generating $400 in additional daily revenue, or $120,000 annually over 300 operating days.

And that's before considering additional ammunition purchases, rentals, training, or retail sales.

While every range operates differently, the takeaway is simple: small improvements in lane utilization can create significant revenue opportunities without expanding your facility.

Give Customers More Reasons to Return

For decades, the traditional shooting experience has remained largely unchanged. Customers select a paper target, shoot, retrieve it, and evaluate their results.

It's familiar and effective, but today's customers have more entertainment and recreational options competing for their time.

Experiences that offer variety, measurable improvement, competitions, and ongoing challenges can help differentiate your range while encouraging repeat visits.

Consider two customers. One visits, shoots traditional targets, and leaves. The other participates in an interactive challenge, tracks their performance, and discovers a new competition available the following week.

Both may spend the same amount today, but the second has another reason to return.

More engagement can also create opportunities for increased ammunition sales, training participation, memberships, rentals, and other purchases.

The goal isn't simply getting customers through the door. It's giving them reasons to keep coming back.

Are You Measuring the Right Numbers?

Most range operators track sales, memberships, and expenses. But how closely are you monitoring the performance of your individual shooting lanes?

A few key metrics can reveal opportunities:

• Lane Utilization: What percentage of available lane-hours are occupied?
• Revenue Per Lane: How much revenue does each lane generate?
• Ammunition Sales Per Visit: Are customers purchasing more ammunition?
• Repeat Visits: How frequently are customers returning?
• Revenue Per Customer: What's the average total transaction during a range visit?

If weekends are consistently busy but weekday afternoons remain slow, expanding your facility may not be the answer. Creating new reasons for customers to visit during slower periods could provide a better return.

Technology Should Generate Value, Not Just Add Expense

When considering new equipment or technology, the question shouldn't simply be, "How much does it cost?"

It should be, "What measurable value can this create for my business?"

Interactive targets, digital competitions, performance tracking, and new training experiences can help ranges maximize existing capacity while offering something different from traditional shooting.

We've seen how expanding the capabilities of a shooting lane can change the customer experience.

Our EV-R Target System® brings interactive targets, training scenarios, performance tracking, competitions, and continuously updated content into live-fire environments.

The objective isn't technology for the sake of technology. It's creating experiences customers value while helping range owners increase engagement, encourage repeat visits, and unlock additional revenue opportunities.

The Bottom Line: You May Not Need More Lanes

Before investing in expansion, consider whether you're getting the most from the lanes you already own.

Could you increase weekday traffic? Encourage more frequent visits? Introduce competitions, training programs, or new experiences?

Even modest improvements can have a meaningful financial impact.

The future of range profitability may not be about building more shooting lanes. It may be about unlocking more value from the lanes you already own.