Black Friday bargains – the U.S. equivalent of Canada’s Boxing Day sales – began at least a week early and spread rapidly online this year, a sign of retailers’ resolve to chase reticent shoppers with attractive deals in a tough holiday season.

While shoppers lined up for hours at U.S. stores for Black Friday deals, traffic at retailers’ websites was also brisk in response to heavy online promotions, industry representatives said.

Giant cyber seller Amazon.com Inc. put pressure on all retailers when it launched a “Black Friday Deals Week” last Monday, including up to 93 per cent off some DVDs and 70 per cent off diamond stud earrings.

“There’s an overall recognition among all retailers that they need to put their best promotions forward and get them noticed as quickly as possible,” said Jim Okamura, senior partner at retail consultancy J. C. Williams Group in Chicago.

“You’re going to see more online activity in general, and Black Friday is a good example of that.”

For a decade, online retailers counted on Cyber Monday – the Monday after the U.S. Thanksgiving – as their prime business day of the year.

But retailers are increasingly making e-shopping part of the Black Friday bargain mania.

Even Canadian retailers pushed hard to grab a piece of the Black Friday action. From Wal-Mart Canada Corp. to Sears Canada Inc., domestic chains offered their own version of Black Friday discounts to stop shoppers from taking advantage of the strong loonie and heading south of the border for deals.

Black Friday, the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, is the official kick-off to the holiday shopping season south of the border.

It’s the single busiest shopping day there, and the day that retailers’ bottom line traditionally goes into the black, from being in the red, because of the rush of sales.

Still, Cyber Monday has some clout.

This year, 87 per cent of U.S. retailers said they plan to offer some deals, such as extra discounts or free shipping, up from 83 per cent last year, according to a survey by Shop.org, the online unit of the National Retail Federation. the e-retailers feel the heat: U.S. holiday sales are forecast to drop 1 per cent, the NRF says.

“We’re definitely busy,” said Sally Fouts, a spokeswoman for Amazon. “It’s a deal season – you see that across the board.”

Some e-retailers were scrambling to keep hot products in stock.

Wal-Mart.com ran out of the Moxie Girlz best Friends doll pack ($25) by early afternoon, said Isaac Larian, chief executive officer of MGA Entertainment in Van Nuys, Calif., which makes the fashion doll.

In the frail economy, retailers have been cautious in stocking shelves, not wanting to be left with inventory that needs to be discounted to clear out, mr. Larian said. and online retailers often have even less merchandise than bricks-and-mortar stores, he said.

In Canada, Sears Canada for the first time held a Black Friday online sale, with markdowns of up to 65 per cent. Sales were beating internal expectations, spokesman Vincent Power said.

“Canadian retailers are putting this date on their calendar more and more,” he added.

“Now it’s becoming as important a retail date in Canada as in the States.”

Some domestic retailers are also targeting U.S. shoppers with deals.

Fashion chain Roots Canada is running a 25-per-cent off “Cyber Monday Weekend Sale.”

So far it has enjoyed an increase in sales from U.S. customers from a year earlier, co-founder Michael Budman said.

“If there can be a little bit of stimulus, they respond well to that,” he said.

“Consumers are not only looking for deals this year, but promotions must zero in on what they want. General discounts just don’t seem to be doing it.”

Bryan Eshelman, retail consultant with Alix Partners

“We’re optimistic. the last thing parents will cut back on is toys for their kids.”

Toys “R” us CEO Jerry Storch

“Last year, we were in a much more defensive posture. This year, we are in a much more offensive posture.”

Macy’s chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren

“We are definitely seeing a lot of shoppers.”

BestBuy CEO Brian Dunn