JTA - U.S. retail chain Target apologized for cancelling orders to Israel after it was overwhelmed by orders following a promotion of free delivery by a third-party shipping company.
Target said it was overwhelmed by the high demand of Israeli consumers after the Borderfree shipping company offered free shipping to Israel on orders made Aug. 18-20. The orders were to be delivered by DHL.
“Due to the much higher than anticipated response to the Borderfree Free Shipping promotion, we are unable to deliver order [number] and had to cancel it. We apologize for this inconvenience,” read the letter sent last week to many Israeli customers, which included a Target logo but was signed by Borderfree.
An estimated 20,000 orders were placed during the three-day promotion, according to reports. DHL told Haaretz that it delivered a few thousand packages, and that those are the only ones Israeli customers received.
The Israeli business daily Globes reported Sunday that many of the orders faced customs issues, since there are limits on the quantity of items, the kinds of food items and the amount of money that can be spent on such orders from outside of the country.