• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, April 14, 2009

AOL on Wednesday will formally relaunch its comparison shopping hub with a recession-conscious emphasis on online bargains and coupons and a group of new advertisers including Barnes & Noble and Sears.

The new AOL Shopping home page is dominated by an above-the-fold section showcasing special discounts in April from retailers across six categories including televisions, cookware and appliances. Each month, the section will feature a different set of deals tied to the time of year.

In addition to a discrete category for deals and coupons, each page throughout the site also displays coupons powered by PriceGrabber.com in the right-hand column. In revamping the site, "we're keeping in mind the current state of the economy by making it easy to find things like coupons, specials and timely offers that are relevant to consumers," said Sally Henry, director of AOL Shopping.

The heightened search for good deals in tough times is underscored by a box on the home page showing the site's separate clearance and coupon pages as the most popular on the site. "We've actually seen growth since we brought those things to the forefront," said Henry.

With traffic to AOL Shopping in February down about 15% to 5.3 million unique visitors from 6.1 million a year ago, the site has some work to do build its audience back up to at least its prior level.

To that end, the site now boasts more than 100 categories and sub-categories from video games to pets, with pharmacy and grocery sections to follow in September. Category and product information pages now also feature larger images to better approximate an in-store experience.

For retailers, AOL Shopping has also adopted a more flexible approach to advertising, allowing marketers to run campaigns and promotions from a one-day section or site sponsorship to a year-long ad deal. Performance-based ad programs are also an option. "It's really more of a 'if you want it, we've got it' approach," said Henry. "Whether it's a larger- or smaller-tiered retailer, we've got something to accommodate their needs."

The site has signed on more than 10 new advertisers for the relaunch including Dell, Discover, Sephora and Bank of America, in addition to B&N and Sears. BofA has already run a one-day roadblock campaign across AOL Shopping on April 1 when the redesigned site had its soft launch.

And what site relaunch these days would be complete without a corresponding Twitter account? In addition to following AOL Shopping on Twitter, users can also subscribe to its RSS feed or download its mobile widget.