Canadian retailers are expecting today to be the biggest online shopping day ever, as experts predict the Black Friday and Cyber Monday pre-Christmas shopping period could overtake Boxing Day in Canada.

For years, deal-hunting on the day after American Thanksgiving was largely a U.S. phenomena, but the hype surrounding the bargain-shopping weekend is spreading north of the border.

“It was crazy that there were that many Black Friday sales online because usually there are a lot reserved for Cyber Monday,” blogger Matt Corkum told Maritime Morning Sunday. “If that was Black Friday, I can’t imagine what some of the deals might be.”

The Halifax tech writer has two warnings for online shoppers: first, that shopping online is as safe as you make it and second, be aware of return policies. http://www.halifaxtech.ca

“If you’re on a big site, you really don’t have a lot to worry about,” Corkum told the talk show. “If you’re going on Amazon, Future Shop and Best Buy, it’s just as secure as walking into the store and using your debit there.”

While it may be easy to buy things online, Corkum warns returning unwanted or repeat gifts is not as easy.

“Sometimes you can’t return at all or sometimes you have to pay for all the shipping,” he said. “In the end, it’s not even worth sending it back. Half the time, if you have to send it back to the States, it’s going to cost you more.”

Haligonians News 95.7 spoke to Monday morning were mixed on whether they would reserve some time today to shop online.

“It just helps with transportation costs and some expenses,” said Mebrate who told News 95.7, he will be on Ebay later today. “Timewise, everything is just a little bit economy savvy. It’s very wise to do it online.”

“I shop online,” said another man, who admitted he will be passing on taking advantage of Cyber Monday sales himself. “It’s overloaded. I’m not a computer guy, my daughter does it for me.”

“I don’t trust it,” said Sue, outside the Robie and Young Street Tim Hortons. “It’s a personal thing. I don’t give out any personal information over the internet. I like dealing face-to-face with someone.”

Cyber Monday is now the busiest online shopping day in the U.S. It emerged with the advent of online shopping in the 1990s as shoppers wanting to continue their Black Friday spending spree logged-in at home and at work on the following Monday.

A recent American Express poll found 56 per cent of Canadians plan to shop online for at least some of their gifts, up five per cent from 2011. Twenty-three per cent say they would rather clean their toilets than visit a mall the week before Christmas.