Target faced massive technical difficulties on Saturday, as customers across the US found themselves unable to check out at the retailer.
At around 2 p.m. ET, Target customers at locations across the US began reporting malfunctioning cash registers on social media. Soon, long lines formed, as customers were unable to check out.
According to one Target employee who reached out to Business Insider, workers were told that the retailer was facing a global cash register outage. Other employees shared similar reports on social media.
Employees handed out free samples to frustrated customers.
Others asked that customers not lash out at Target workers — who were stressed themselves.
The systems issue — dubbed “The Great Target Outage of 2019” on social media — soon took on almost mythical qualities.
Some compared the incident to the disastrous Fyre Festival.
Some Target locations appear to have closed, citing a “Target global issue.”
Target experienced similar issues exactly five years ago, on June 15, 2014, when a glitch caused cash registers across the country to crash for hours.
At around 5 p.m. ET, Target announced that registers are “fully back online.”
“The temporary outage earlier today was the result of an internal technology issue that lasted for approximately two hours,” a Target representative said in a statement to Business Insider.
“Our technology team worked quickly to identify and fix the issue, and we apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this caused for our guests,” the statement continued. “After an initial but thorough review, we can confirm that this was not a data breach or security-related issue, and no guest information was compromised at any time.”
