How Myer recovered from a Boxing Day systems crisis: My Best Tech

In late 2013, amidst the frantic Boxing Day rush, department store Myer struck a major technical problem with its website followed by around a week of issues that meant some customers were unable to conduct transactions.

At the time, Myer chief executive officer Bernie Brookes said a communication issue between a software application and internet servers was the issue.

One year later, there were sighs of relief as the company’s systems handled one of the busiest days of the year. A Myer spokesperson told SmartCompany there was a lot of work behind the scenes over the past 12 months to prevent a repeat of the issue:

A significant amount of work has been undertaken during the year to strengthen the stability of the website and we have continued to invest in site improvements and recovery processes.

In addition, we have implemented a number of initiatives to improve the overall online experience for our customers including optimising website functionality, enhancing product information pages, simplifying the checkout process, and expanding delivery options.