Macy’s suffers payments system crash on Black Friday

Macy's had hoped for a rush of shoppers on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which is on one of the busiest and most important shopping days of the season in the US. But it appears the crowds were too much of a good thing.

Macy's credit card payment system buckled due to a higher than anticipated volume of transactions, the retailer said, leading to delays that slowed the checkout process at department stores around the country.

The Cincinnati retailer confirmed on Friday it was having trouble with its credit card systems, saying in a statement that the issue caused some transactions to take longer to process. But frustrated customers said the system wasn't working at all.

Tweets by the department store to customers specified the issue affected credit and gift card transactions, but the issue was resolved by Friday evening.

"We have fully resolved today's system issues. We highly value our customers and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience today's system slowdown may have caused during their shopping experience," a spokesperson for the company said.

The retailer attributed the processing "delays" to "a capacity-related issue".

Word began percolating on social media around noon on Friday from shoppers across the country. The retailer began responding to the complaints soon after, asking users having trouble to direct message it.

Customers told The Los Angeles Times Macy's credit card payment issues forced them to either pay for their purchases with cash or come back at a later time.

Shoppers trying to place orders on Macy's website received the following message: "We're unable to verify availability of some item(s) in your order. Place your order now, and we'll send you an email confirming availability and shipping when our system is back online, or please try again later."

Macy's needs a strong holiday season. The retailer has suffered 11 straight quarters of same-store sales declines as shopping habits have changed, moving both online and away from clothes. Last year, Macy's generated roughly 33 per cent of its revenue in the fourth quarter.

Even if the company fixes its issues Friday, the impact may linger throughout the shopping season, said Paul Argenti, a professor of corporate communications at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, told CNBC.

For customers that are not particularly loyal to the retailer, a bad experience on Black Friday may turn them off throughout the holidays. Macy's is not known to have as loyal a customer base as competitor Nordstrom, Argenti said.

"I can't think of anybody that needs this less than Macy's," he said.

The day had started off well for the retailer and many of its peers. Consumer confidence seems have to propelled this shopping season to one of the strongest in years. The National Retail Federation has forecast total holiday retail sales to climb 3.6 to 4 per cent in 2017.

Macy's has been eager to use the holiday season as a chance to test the impact of some of the in-store investments it has made over the past year. These include a partnership with Samsung and expanding its private label brands business.

The department store also recently revamped its loyalty programme, offering discounts and perks like free shipping and priority customer service based on how much they spend at the retailer.

Macy's stock closed at $21.07, up 2.1 per cent.