Shoppers hoping to bag a bargain in Lush's famed Boxing Day sale have been left seething after the cosmetics retailer's website and app crashed repeatedly, preventing customers from checking out.
Annual Sale Descends into Digital Chaos
The popular high street brand, which has stores in Birmingham and nationwide, holds a hugely popular 50% off sale every December 26th. This year, however, technical failures plagued the event once again. Customers reported being unable to access their baskets, receiving 'Error 404' messages, and watching items sell out while they struggled with the failing site.
One frustrated shopper vented on the Facebook group Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK: "Had stuff ready in my basket and wishlist ready just in case, couldn’t check out even though everything was in stock. It’s now emptied everything and I can’t load anything. Nightmare."
Customer Outrage on Social Media
The anger quickly spread across social media as more users encountered the same issues. "I had a basket full ready to checkout now error 404 sure by the time it works what I wanted will be out of stock," wrote another.
Many pointed out that this is not an isolated incident. "They do this every year… their site is not up to much," complained one customer, while another stated bluntly: "I give up website is a joke." The mobile app fared no better, with users reporting identical failures, leading to comments like: "You would have thought Lush would have sorted their app out by now… every Boxing Day it’s the same."
A Contrasting Announcement Amid the Glitch
Ironically, amidst the sale day technical turmoil, Lush had announced a new, opulent limited edition collection to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year. The brand stated it would present its richest Lunar New Year collection yet, inspired by the Year of the Horse and crafted to symbolise strength and vitality.
This positive news, however, did little to placate customers who had spent hours trying to purchase sale items only to be met with a broken checkout process. The repeated failures have sparked significant criticism of the company's investment in its digital infrastructure, especially for one of its busiest trading days of the year.
