On the Monday after Thanksgiving, a variety of retailers roll out promotions designed to lure shoppers who want to do some or all of their shopping on the Web.

Generous discounts of 20 percent to 30 percent. Free shipping. Bonus merchandise with larger orders.

Cyber Monday is not expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year, by any measure. Those come later in the season. But it certainly has grown in importance as more and more people heading back to work after the Thanksgiving weekend have logged on and shopped, shopped, shopped.

And retailers have responded.

"It has really become the unofficial launch of the online holiday shopping season," said Tom Burke, e-Commerce executive vice president for Barnes & Noble.com, which plans to launch a number of promotions on Cyber Monday. "You're going to see many retailers have a number of specials that day."

Consumers will be pleasantly surprised by the sheer volume of good deals available, said Doron Simovitch, CEO of SortPrice.com, a comparison-shopping Web site.

Even those who do not normally do much shopping via the Internet should take a look - especially given the proliferation of free shipping offers that are sweetening the deals so early in the season

"As more brick-and-mortar stores open Web sites and the [number] of merchants increases exponentially, online vendors face more competition than ever," Simovitch said. "They realize that more purchases are being made on their Web sites than in their stores, but if a consumer can't find a good deal, a quick 'click' will end a merchant's chance for a sale."

Throughout the holiday season, an estimated 61 million people will do all or part of their shopping online this year, up from 51.7 million last year, according to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation.

So who is doing all that buying? According to the federation's survey, more than half of consumers with Internet access at work plan to do some holiday shopping online from the office, up from 44.7 percent last year. (The sort-of good news for employers is that most said they would do it before or after work or on their lunch hours.)

Cyber Monday is a big day for Web retailers. But the following Monday is also expected to be a huge shopping day, along with Dec. 11, 12 and 18 - the latter the last day many consumers will be able to place orders and get their items by Christmas without paying extra for expedited or overnight shipping. Online sales drop off sharply after the 18th.

So how do you get a great deal, delivered by Christmas?

It might pay to start shopping now, said Brad Olson, who operates Gottadeal.com, a retail-comparison site.

"Retailers are offering some really good specials," he said. "Waiting until the last minute might not get you anything better than what you can get now."

Then again, waiting could pay off, said Doron Simovitch, CEO of SortPrice.com

"If a consumer can find a good deal now, they should take it. However, if a consumer is willing to take a chance, [waiting] may pay off because merchants are often scurrying to get rid of overstocked products at the end of the season."

In any event, experts say that it does pay to check in frequently with your favorite Web sites because some advertise special deals only during specific times, such as when most workers take lunch. Other sites are planning one-day sales.

Keep in mind that just like the "doorbusters" offered in brick-and-mortar stores, online specials can disappear quickly. It pays to log on early and find out exactly when a specific promotion starts.

For example, Wal-Mart is offering online-only specials starting Cyber Monday and running through Dec. 1.

Items offered during that time include large, flat-screen HDTVs starting under $800; digital cameras starting under $50; and gift baskets for under $20, said Wal-Mart spokesman Ravi Jariwala. Quantities are limited.

In addition to checking favorite Web sites, consumers also can consult other sites that help them compare promotions. CyberMonday.com identifies such offers as free shipping, while BestWebBuys.com helps hone in on deeply discounted merchandise. Still others, such as Keepcash.com and ecouponcodes.com, track all the codes consumers can use to get discounts or free shipping offered by Internet retailers, including some that are not widely advertised.

lesley@sltrib.com

Online specials

A number of Web sites help Internet shoppers find all the best discounts, free shipping deals and other promotions.

* cybermonday.com

* BestWebBuys.com

* Keepcash.com

* ecouponcodes.com

*couponmountain.com

* allonlinecoupons.com

* couponcabin.com