Target’s digital infrastructure experienced significant technical disruptions on Friday, 19 December 2025. The outage struck during the final week of the holiday shopping season, affecting millions of customers nationwide. The retailer’s app and website encountered major system failures early Friday morning, impacting critical business operations.
The first reports of the outage surfaced around 6 a.m. Eastern Time. Downdetector recorded over 8,000 user reports by 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time, indicating the widespread nature of the disruption. Reports continued to mount throughout the morning hours across multiple platforms and support channels. Customers and employees alike documented the scope of the technical failures in real time.
Target system outage disrupts holiday shopping
Systems and Services Impacted
Target’s digital experience encountered intermittent issues across multiple critical systems. The company’s mobile app stopped functioning reliably for numerous users attempting online transactions. The Target.com website displayed error messages and prevented customers from completing purchases. Online order fulfillment systems ceased processing new orders during peak shopping demand.
The outage disrupted curbside pickup services nationwide, leaving customers unable to retrieve pre-placed orders. Same-day delivery systems failed to process new requests from the Shipt platform. Returns and customer account management features became inaccessible for affected users. Gift card processing encountered significant disruptions, preventing customers from using stored value for purchases.
Internal fulfillment systems also experienced failures, hampering Target’s ability to track and manage existing orders. Some customers reported being charged for orders that failed to appear in their order history, creating confusion and frustration. The company’s back-end infrastructure struggled to maintain service continuity throughout the crisis period.
Impact on system & services
Target’s Official Response
Target confirmed awareness of the technical problems through official communications. The company posted updates to its X account at 10:16 a.m. Eastern Time on 19 December. The message stated: “We’re aware of intermittent issues with our digital experience and a fix is underway.”
The retailer advised customers to retry transactions after waiting one to two hours. Target’s guest services team responded to individual customer inquiries with acknowledgements of the disruptions. The company stated: “We’re sorry for the frustration this has caused and understand how important it is to be able to view the order that you were charged for.”
Target representatives informed Business Insider that physical stores remained open throughout the outage. The company emphasised that in-store shopping continued without interruption. Customers could still make purchases at Target locations nationwide despite digital platform failures. However, the retailer acknowledged that the digital disruption created significant customer service challenges.
Valued guests,
We’re aware of intermittent issues with our digital experience and a fix is underway. In the meantime, our stores continue to be open and ready for holiday shopping. At Target, our top priority is offering a great guest experience. We apologize for this disruption…— Target (@Target) December 19, 2025
The Critical Timing
The outage occurred during the busiest retail period of the year. Christmas shopping enters its final phase with less than seven days remaining before the holiday. US consumers face deadlines to complete purchases and arrange delivery before 25 December. The outage directly threatened Target’s ability to fulfil millions of last-minute orders.
US online shoppers had already spent more than $187 billion during the current holiday season. This figure represented a 6.1% increase compared with the same period in 2024. Adobe projected total e-commerce spending would surpass $253 billion by the end of December 2025. Retailers across the nation were processing record-high online order volumes.
Target’s outage disrupted a critical revenue period for the retail giant. The company’s ability to process, fulfil, and track orders deteriorated precisely when customer demand reached peak levels. Late-season shoppers depended on fast shipping and reliable digital services to meet holiday deadlines.
Outage occurs at a critical time
Customer Impact and Widespread Reports
Shipt shoppers reported discovering no available orders on the platform during peak hours. The Shipt service, owned and operated by Target, served as an additional point of failure. Shoppers described encountering “Error retrieving exclusive offers” messages when accessing the app. 503 server errors appeared repeatedly as systems became overloaded.
Customers documented problems accessing gift card balances and attempting redemptions. Some users reported being unable to view their order history despite being charged. Others struggled to complete transactions that had been partially processed. Service representatives received a surge of customer complaints throughout Friday morning and afternoon.
Facebook groups dedicated to Shipt shoppers filled with reports of the widespread outage. Reddit communities discussing retail and grocery delivery services documented the technical failures. Social media platforms became primary channels for customers to share experiences and seek support.
Frustration among the customers
System Recovery and Ongoing Concerns
By early evening on Friday, Target appeared to have stabilised some systems partially. Monitoring services showed the platform returning to operation by 5:30 p.m. Central Time. However, intermittent issues persisted throughout the day, with some customers experiencing continued difficulties accessing services.
Target remained publicly silent on the root cause of the technical failures. The company did not disclose whether the outage resulted from infrastructure issues, software failures, or external cyber threats. No definitive timeline for full system recovery appeared in official statements.
The disruption continued into Saturday, 20 December, with some monitoring systems still detecting anomalies. Customers and analysts questioned whether all systems had returned to full operational capacity. The retailer’s ability to manage the massive volume of holiday orders remained uncertain following the outage.
