By Lester Haines for The Register.
This story has been reproduced with permission.
According to The Guardian, the error was spotted by users of HotUKDeals on Saturday afternoon, and "within hours of details of the offer being posted on the internet, thousands of shoppers across the web had taken advantage of it". The result was that by Sunday morning, Hamleys' e-shelves were stripped of goods at a fraction of the original price "with more than half of the top-selling doll and toy ranges out of stock".
One dazed surfer reportedly described the carnage thus: "It's like the Vikings have been to Hamleys. If you get on to their site, it's been emptied and pillaged."
Hamleys was caught on the hop by the onslaught, and its site reduced to a crawl. The company quickly withdrew the offer, but the effects may be serious. Hamleys doesn't yet know how many people availed themselves of the opportunity and "since the store uses a central warehouse for both its actual store and its online store, the shortage [of goods] will affect both outlets".
Hamleys chief executive Nick Mather said yesterday: "We addressed this issue immediately and it was resolved within 24 hours. We would like to apologise to customers who were unable to access the website and place orders during this time."
The company added it would honour "any orders made as a result of the error" – which may cost it dear. According to The Guardian, one highly-satisfied customer "boasted about ordering a full-size snooker table worth £13,000 for just over £5,000".
A Hamleys spokeswoman described the Viking raid as "one of the downsides of ecommerce".
© The Register 2006
