Coles Website Down After Viral Discount on Alcoholic Drinks 2026

The Coles website down incident unfolded after a viral Reddit post exposed a nearly 80% discount on 24-packs of premixed alcoholic drinks, causing a shopping frenzy and subsequent technical issues. On Saturday, both the Coles website and app displayed an offline message, leaving customers unable to browse or purchase products. The outage followed a post by CW Scanner, a price tracking website, which highlighted a pricing error on Jack Daniel's & Cola 330ml bottles sold via Coles' subsidiary Liquorland, marked down from $130 to $27.

What Caused the Coles Website Outage?

The technical glitch originated from an incorrect pricing error on select 24-pack beer and ready-to-drink (RTD) products. The Reddit post, which received over 180,000 views, prompted many users to attempt to order the heavily discounted items. As demand surged, the Coles website and app struggled to handle the traffic, leading to intermittent outages throughout Saturday.

Timeline of Events

On Friday, the Reddit post went live, showcasing the $103 savings on a case of Jack Daniel's & Cola. By Saturday morning, the Coles website and app were offline. They briefly returned, but the beer and RTD categories were removed. Later, the site went down again, with some customers reporting that their orders had been cancelled.

Coles' Official Response

A Coles spokesperson acknowledged the issue, stating: "Due to a technical error, select 24-pack beer and RTD products were incorrectly priced on our website. The error has been corrected, and impacted customers are being notified." The company worked to restore services, but the incident raised questions about e-commerce pricing safeguards.

Customer Impact and Reactions

Many shoppers who managed to place orders received cancellation emails, while others had their orders matched at local liquor stores. The viral nature of the post highlighted how quickly pricing errors can spread on social media, putting pressure on retailers to respond swiftly.

• Website and app outages lasted several hours on Saturday.
• Orders were cancelled for many customers who took advantage of the discount.
• Coles corrected the error and removed the affected product categories temporarily.
• CW Scanner played a key role in exposing the pricing mistake.

Lessons for Retailers and Shoppers

This incident serves as a reminder for retailers to implement robust price validation systems. For shoppers, it underscores the importance of acting quickly on deals, but also the risk of cancellations when errors occur. Coles' response was typical of large retailers, prioritizing correction and customer notification.

FAQ

As the dust settles, this event highlights the delicate balance between e-commerce convenience and the need for accurate pricing. For now, Coles has restored its services, but the incident will likely prompt a review of its internal processes to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

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