A trend you can use to your advantage is the “buy local” movement. G/O Digital, a marketing agency, recently conducted a survey of more than 1,700 people who had shopped locally. They found that “consumers don’t need a lot of extrinsic motivation to patronize local businesses. Fifty-five percent say they do so because they like to support their local communities and 30% say they do so in order to support small businesses (even if those businesses aren’t right in their local area).”

The study also uncovered this statistic, which links the online and in-store shopping thought process: “Showrooming is still an in-store factor for local retailers. Thirty-one percent of respondents say they’re likely to search for competitive pricing on a mobile device while in-store shopping.”

Read more about consumer trends affecting the rural equipment market.