There will no night-time queues outside Digicel’s store on Black Friday this year, because the company is stepping away from the discount day tradition.

Instead, it has responded to customers’ preference to have “the best value every day of the year rather than one-off events”.

During the past six years Digicel was at the forefront of promoting Black Friday in Bermuda.

In the US and in parts of Europe, Black Friday is seen as one of the most important shopping events of the year. It is the day after Thanksgiving Day, with retailers offering promotional sales and opening up early for bargain hunters.

Some shoppers camp outside stores to ensure they are at the head of the queue when the doors open, and retailers have been increasingly flinging open their doors in the middle of the night, or early hours of the morning, to welcome the most determined bargain-hunters.

But Digicel today announced its Black Friday discounts “are available every day for their customers” and so it will “not be promoting the recent tradition of long queues at their store on the last Friday of November”.

Julian Burton, commercial director at Digicel, said: “Our customers have told us they want the best value every day of the year rather than one-off events.

“The market has moved on since Digicel led the way with Black Friday in Bermuda.

“Frankly, with the best value plans in Bermuda and phones from free already, we considered it inappropriate to ask shoppers to queue overnight for deals they can get right now.”

In a statement, the company said: “Over the last 12 months Digicel led a change to phone pricing in Bermuda with discounts automatically applied when customers sign to plans. This includes top brand phones, such as the Samsung J1, available for free on Digicel’s entry level ‘Basic’ Smartphone Plan.”

The company said it will “amplify” its deals in the lead up to Christmas and the coming availability of 4G LTE and superfast data.

“We have big plans for Christmas and we will be announcing them very soon.,” said Mr Burton.

“Without giving too much away we’ll be relaunching our Make-A-Wish campaign in a bigger way this year, following the really positive reception last time to this wholly inclusive community initiative.”

He added: “We consistently provide reasons to choose Digicel, such as three months of unlimited data with Data Test Drive, plans built for iPhone’s with inclusive Apple music allowance, and a price promise that means customers will never pay more for a phone with Digicel. We will continue to invest in offers and services our customers want and benefit from every day.”