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Target site crashes on Cyber Monday

Posted at 11:38 AM, Nov 30, 2015
and last updated 2015-11-30 11:38:32-05

NEW YORK  — Target’s website crashed on Cyber Monday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

The mega-retailer is offering 15% off every online order on Monday, along with 30% off select clothing, shoes and toys. Target also featured discounts on a large host of household items on Cyber Monday.

A message on Target’s website stated that the site error was caused by high traffic. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When websites have an overload of visitors, some people inevitably are unable to access the site. Companies ramp up server capacity on high traffic days, but it’s notoriously difficult to predict how much traffic websites will experience during certain hours of the day.

It’s akin to thousands of people calling a phone number at the same time. No matter how many extensions that phone number might have, once a critical mass of people start dialing in, some people are going to start getting busy signals.

Target isn’t alone. Neiman Marcus, Best Buy, Walmart, and eBay all suffered hiccups on Black Friday or over the weekend, according to multiple news reports.

Patient shoppers have been rewarded, however, with some very good deals.