• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, December 8, 2004

Consumers living in the rural United States were responsible for about 44 percent of traffic to online shopping and classifieds sites for the four weeks ending Dec. 4, according to a Hitwise report released this week. By contrast, Americans living in urban areas contributed to about 15 percent of e-commerce traffic, suburbanites made up about 24 percent, and small city dwellers made up about 16 percent of all traffic.

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.