Shopping patterns also showed that rural shoppers tended to favor brands and stores with a local brick-and-mortar presence when shopping online. "Those living in rural areas favored brands that they know and feel comfortable with," said Bill Tancer, vice president of research at Hitwise.
For the week ending Dec. 4, consumers living in rural areas made up 62 percent of the traffic to Cabela's, an outdoor sporting goods giant based in Sidney, Nebraska; about 60 percent of the traffic to online department store ABC Distributing; and about 66 percent of the traffic to Dick's Sporting Goods.