• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, March 15, 2011

Women are still doing the majority of shopping in all retail channels (with the exception of convenience stores), writes Todd Hale, SVP/consumer & shopper insights, in his analysis. And they also ring up bigger totals at checkouts, which implies they still do the heavy-duty weekly stock-up trips. But men aren't just running out for beer and chips: At the grocery store, women spend an average of $44.43 per trip while men spend $34.81, and at dollar and warehouse club stores, women are only spending $3 and $5 more respectively per trip than guys are, the market research company reports.

One factor, he writes, is that men are still facing a slightly higher unemployment rate than women (8.8% compared to 7.9%), which may be making them more hands-on at home. But the men-go-to-market trend was well established before the recession: "Men have increased trip shares between 2004 and 2010 in all retail channels but drug stores," he writes.