Fist fights and brawls among shoppers across the United States were captured in videos as the Black Friday sale season started.

Mall fights have practically become an annual occurrence as consumers rush for discounted items during post-Thanksgiving sales in the US.

Videos captured one particularly aggressive woman snatching a vegetable steamer out of a child's hands in Michigan, while in Texas, there was a riot for televisions on sale.

The video captured in Michigan also showed shoppers knocking over the stack of vegetable steamers as they rushed headlong into them.

At a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas, a swarm of shoppers were grabbing and even fighting over flatscreen televisions . At the end of the video, a policeman had to step in.

A man even tried to attack a police officer in the store.

The Mall St. Matthews in Louisville, Kentucky, was the arena for a fist fight between two men swinging punches at each other.

Black Friday violence is so prevalent in the US that a website, blackfridaydeathcount.com, was started to keep track of deaths and injuries.

Meanwhile, the popularity of online shopping in Britain meant that stores across the Atlantic were largely calm.

Malls around Britain were serene as consumers shunned the crowds and shopped from the comfort of their home or office, reports said.

Online sales in Britain are expected to exceed £1 billion (S$2.1 billion) for the first time ever, AFP said.

Shoppers who did turn up waited in queues, and made their purchases calmly. Online videos contrasted the vastly different scenes for comic effect.