Click Frenzy is an Australian online sales initiative inspired by and based on a similar format to the United States shopping event Cyber Monday. The inaugural Click Frenzy event was launched on Tuesday, 20 November 2012 with heavy media and online promotion in the lead up, with organisers arranging sales partnerships with many of Australia's leading retailers, and had given multiple assurances prior to the event that they would be able to support the anticipated heavy traffic of the event. However the event's website crashed within moments of launching at 7pm AEST and was unavailable for most of the night, leading to a backlash from frustrated customers.
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Despite the inauspicious start, Click Frenzy events continue to be held in the years following, with the event estimating $189 million in sales and the site receiving 1 million visitors in 2014.
Click Frenzy 2012
The inaugural Click Frenzy event was heavily promoted in Australian media including the major television networks and online newspapers. Numerous Australian and international retailers and brands were involved, including Myer, Bing Lee, Microsoft, Toys R Us, Dell, Target and Priceline. Organisers boasted of their preparedness to deal with the expected popularity. "We're expecting up to 1 million site visits [to clickfrenzy.com.au] and we're prepared for this," the spokesperson said. However the site failed almost immediately after the sale period starting. There was a rapid backlash from the Australian public, with trending of the #clickfail hashtag on Twitter and creation of various memes mocking the event.
Public reaction
Click Frenzy co-founder Grant Arnott appeared on Channel 9's Today show the next morning expressing disappointment at the website's initial failure.
Commentators have suggested this incident could further damage the struggling Australian retail sector, and also hurt the credibility of other online product and service providers. Speculation has been raised that the event was a scam to profit from the collection of users' personal information and premiums paid by participating retailers.
Reaction from retailers
Some retailers reportedly paid up to $33,000 for an advertisement at the site, and are asking for refunds. However, other retailers such as Windsor Smith, Booktopia and EzyDVD have been very happy with the increase in sales and traffic that Click Frenzy has driven to their websites. Although the Click Frenzy site itself failed, consumers bypassed the Click Frenzy site and shopped directly with the retailers involved.