Debenhams' Website Crashes As It Launches Massive Sale Ahead Of Closure

People are desperate to get their hands on some bargains for Christmas - with the Debenhams website attracting a staggering amount of savvy shoppers tried to access their sale.

The vast demand for goods at the department store saw potential customers forced to join a virtual queue, which was launching a 70 per cent off sale as it reopened following England's four-week lockdown.

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Those who tried to access the sale reported waiting in a queue for over 20 minutes as the website crashed, struggling to cope with the vast demand as tens of thousands of shoppers tried to access the site at once.

Shoppers took to Twitter to report the huge queues, with some reporting hundreds of thousands of customers ahead of them while trying to visit the Debenhams website last night.

Debenhams.com)

Other customers compared the queueing process being akin to trying to get tickets for Glastonbury.

Tyla has contacted a representative for Debenhams for comment.

The huge sale comes after Debenhams, which has been in business for 242 years, is set to be liquidated after a bid to rescue the chain's 124 stores across the country fell through.

The news means that all of Debenham's 12,000 employees are set to lose their jobs when stores stop trading, unless administrators manage to find a new deal to keep the shop going.

The department store initially entered administration in April, and had previously made efforts to stay afloat by trimming its store portfolio and cutting 6,500 jobs.

While JD Sports were originally bidding to save the company, they have since withdrew their offer - leaving any hopes of a rescue dashed.

For those worrying the news of liquidation may affect their purchases, Debenhams have assured shoppers that anything they have ordered on the website, including during the Black Friday sales, should receive it. They should also be able to return these items within 14 days.

Debenhams is not the only store that has faced difficulties during the coronavirus crisis.

Arcadia, which owns Topshop and Dorothy Perkins among other clothing brands, has also reportedly collapsed.

Topics: UK News, Life News, Coronavirus

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley