{weblogs.hitwise.com}

You probably knew it already, but the above graphic from Heather Dougherty over at Hitwise is too neat to pass up:

The map shows the different types of product categories tracked in the Hitwise Shopping & Classifieds parent category, the size of the box represents the market share of visits for the week ending Feb. 21, 2009 and the color represents the year-over-year change. The categories in blue experienced an increase in visits over the same week last year – Grocery & Alcohol and Department Stores. The grocery category has attracted more visitors in recent months as while consumers look for weekly specials, recipes and coupons as they opt to eat at home more often to save money. The categories in red, Computers and Music, experienced the largest year-over-year declines at 23% and 22% of visits, respectively.

81% of the visits to the Grocery & Alcohol category were from households earning less than $100k – a 9% increase from last year.