Droves of shoppers came out for Boxing Day deals at retail hubs in Metro Vancouver, but an expert says Black Friday could be responsible for a slight decrease in crowd size.

David Ian Gray from DIG360 consulting says that Boxing Day has historically been the ultimate shopping day for Canadians, but turnout is dipping.

"It's eroding slightly," he said. "We're attributing that to a Black Friday effect."

According to data from DIG360 and Leger, 26 per cent of all Canadians hit stores on Boxing Day in 2015, and 22 per cent did in 2016. His organization is forecasting 20 per cent of Canadians will go out shopping this Boxing Day.

By comparison, he said 17 per cent of Canadians went shopping on Black Friday this year.

"I do think that retail has trained us to shop much differently," he said. "There's going to be a deal every week from the beginning of November. [Boxing Day] is still huge, but we have other times."

Both Boxing Day and Black Friday appeal to the same type of consumer, he said.

"There's real overlap, we call them bargain hounds. The people that love rubbing shoulder to shoulder and fighting for deals."

About half of Canadians, though, want nothing to do with crowded shopping experiences, he said.

At Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby, shoppers lined up outside the EB Games store for a chance at deals on videogames.

"No line should be this big," said one shopper waiting to buy a Nintendo DS.

But early-morning lineups at the Robson Street Best Buy were lighter than expected, according to some shoppers.

"I was expecting a much longer line, for sure," said one man.

The shoppers lined up for the store's 6 a.m. opening to buy Dyson vacuums, large-screen TVs, laptops and cellphones.

Gray nodded to online shopping as potentially being a factor in reducing crowds. But he didn't want to overstate it—after all, he said, only 8 per cent of sales are made online according to the Retail Council of Canada. The majority are still being made in person.

The biggest thing online shopping has changed is how we window shop, he said.

"That's been the biggest shift in terms of behaviour," he said. "It's using the internet for all our research. So we're much more focused when we go in store."

When it comes to Boxing Day versus Black Friday deals, Gray says Boxing Day might favour the consumer more.

"In November, the retailers still want to make as much money as they can and keep things close to full retail price," he said. "Now they know if stock's going to be sticking around for too long they know they have to blow it out."

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Michele Brunoro