The holiday season is in full swing, and for millions of shoppers around the world, that means deals are abundant. Some shoppers braved the crowds and cold weather for in-person deals on Black Friday and over the Thanksgiving weekend, while others have waited to shop from the comfort of their own homes on Cyber Monday.
Stores around the world have either extended their Black Friday sales or incorporated new deals for Cyber Monday, but a major outage has rendered several shoppers without the ability to take advantage.
Major e-commerce platform Shopify has experienced delays and outages on Cyber Monday, prompting angry messages from potential customers and business owners, as well as a statement from the company itself. Customers are able access stores and their corresponding websites, but merchants are unable to properly access the Shopify interface.
Shopify is Aware of the Issue, Seeking Fix
“We’re aware of an issue with Admins impacting selected stores, and are working to resolve it,” Shopify said on Monday. “For the most up-to-date information, please refer to our status page at http://shopifystatus.com. Thank you for your patience.”
According to DownDetector.com, over 4,000 online stores reported issues with Shopify on the morning of December 1. These numbers were repored across the United States, and similar numbers and reports emerged out of the United Kingdom.
Shopify serves over five million customers around the world, and processed more than $300 billion in transactions in 2024 alone, per data from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Shoppers React to the Shopify Outage
Shopify is typically thought of as a commerce hub for small businesses, but many major companies like PepsiCo, Kraft, Heinz, Whole Foods and Red Bull use the service as well.
One shopper on social media called the outage “one of the biggest fails of the year,” while another said that the outage happening during Cyber Monday was “embarrassing.” Some suggested that fees should be refunded for small businesses who host their items on the platform to make up for the estimated loss of sales and traffic.
Shopify’s reach over the online commerce space is believed to be at least six times larger than eBay, one of the world’s longest-standing and most trusted platforms. On Black Friday alone, the platform helped generate more than $6 billion in gross merchandise value, up 25% from the previous year.
In 2024, the company processed nearly $300 billion in transactions, and its stock has surged by nearly 50% since the start of the current year.
