The recent big Target sale to Israel, in which they provided a coupon code for free shipping to Israel, turned out to be a major fiasco. Target says they ended up with about 20,000 orders from Israeli consumers, yet they are only able to fulfill a minority of them - estimated at about 6000 orders. Many people have been receiving notices that their orders had to be cancelled, with no explanation.

Rumors spread about the reasons for the cancellations, including Target simply crashing on the volume, problems with the Israeli taxes and bureaucracy, unexpected international shipping charges, and maybe other reasons.

Target is now apologizing for the fiasco. According to TOI, the problem was with the shipping company Borderfree Free Shipping which was unable to handle the volume.

It is amazing that so many people would place so many orders in such a small time frame. Considering the volume they were unprepared for, they would do well to expand the promotion and run it regularly - and they should be prepared for the volume next time. Maybe they should even consider opening a store here in Israel, though then they would probably be charging prices more similar to what we are used to here and it would not be something to run for...