Some of the UK's biggest retailers are cashing in on a US tradition, slashing their prices ahead of Christmas.
Amazon, Asda and Apple are among the companies that have launched so-called Black Friday sales in Britain - despite many consumers being unaware of the custom.
In the US, thousands of stores discount their prices the day after Thanksgiving, and many open for longer hours.
Last year a record number of shoppers visited stores over the Black Friday weekend, spending a total of $52bn (£32.6bn) - an average of around $400 (£250) each, according to the National Retail Federation.
Whereas many retailers open stores at midnight, this year the trend to open at 8pm on Thursday has started to spread.
While the shift was denounced by some store employees and traditionalists as pulling people away from families on Thanksgiving, many shoppers welcomed the chance to shop before midnight.
"I think it's better earlier. People are crazier later at midnight," hotel worker Renee Ruhl, 52, said as she shopped at a Target store in Orlando, Florida.
Amazon launched its sale on Monday Online retailer Amazon was one of the first companies to bring the trend to the UK.
It launched a week-long Black Friday sale on Monday, which it claims "offers millions of pounds of savings on hundreds of Christmas gifts".
Tech giant Apple and Asda, owned by Walmart, are also hoping to make the most of the Christmas shopping rush by offering one-day discounts of their own.
"There are more retailers launching sales this year than ever before - and many British consumers are becoming aware of the tradition for the first time," Retail Week's Gemma Goldfingle told Sky News.
"In the US it an absolute phenomenon, with people queuing up all night to snap up the best deals.
"In Orlando at least one family camped outside a Best Buy shop for a full week, sleeping in two tents.
"It has not reached that level here and whether it ever will is another matter."
She said that Americans have Thanksgiving to kick-start the event – whereas in the UK it is just a normal day. Boxing Day, when UK sales traditionally begin, is a normal work day for Americans.
"A lot of British retailers would prefer not to have it," Ms Goldfingle said.
"They want to be selling items at full price ahead of Christmas, especially given the tough economic conditions."
Black Friday, which is thought to refer to the first day of the year that retailers go "into the black", comes just ahead of Cyber Monday - which the marketing industry claims is the busiest day in the online shopping calendar.
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