Coles has blamed the closure of stores across the country for three hours on Sunday morning on ‘minor IT problems’.
The supermarket chain was left in the dark and forced to shut stores as it battled to amend the error, which occurred just before the weekend morning rush.
Coles said in a statement all its supermarkets were open and trading again at 10am, citing technical issues out of team members’ control.
Chaos erupted in the nation’s supermarkets as a computer glitch forced the closure of countless stores

After three hours of frustration for customers, Coles announced all of its stores had reopened as of 10am

On social media, disgruntled customers expressed their frustration at the company’s technical failure, with one warning others they ‘shouldn’t bother going to Coles’
A spokeswoman for the supermarket said, according to ABC News: ‘We apologise for any inconvenience our customers experienced earlier this morning’
‘We had some minor IT problems in some of our supermarkets which were out of our team members’ control.’
On social media, disgruntled customers expressed their frustration at the company’s temporary technical failure, with one warning others they ‘shouldn’t bother going to Coles’.

One social media user wasn’t impressed by a shopper’s reaction to the store closures – accusing him of having ‘a huge tanty’

One notice left on a Sydney branch of Coles advised customers that the ‘store will open untill (sic) issue is fixed’
One user posted a picture of a notice containing spelling and grammatical errors – put up on the entrance of a Coles store in Sydney.
It said: ‘Attention customers – due to IT issue store will open untill (sic) issue is fixed. Sorry for any inconvenience.’
Another expressed outrage at the lack of communication from the supermarket giant who only hinted at the extent of the chaos through vague signage.
‘Would be good if you could post something explaining what’s going on with your stores being closed this morning! No explanation on the door besides ‘unforeseen circumstances,’ she wrote.
At one Sydney store, which would typically be buzzing with Sunday morning shoppers, the roller door remained locked down, with only a paper sign as explanation.
‘Coles is currently experiencing a state-wide IT system issue and cannot process any transactions,’ it explained.
‘We apologise for this inconvenience, however Coles will remain closed until the issue is fixed.’

The supermarket chain is battling to amend the error, which is believed to have occurred just before the weekend morning rush

At one Sydney store, which would typically be busy with Sunday morning shoppers, the roller door remained locked down, with only a paper sign as explanation

In a statement, the company attempted to explain the glitch, which has stopped the processing of payments at registers
In a statement during the closures, the company attempted to explain the glitch, which stopped the processing of payments at registers.
‘Due to circumstances beyond the control of our team members, some of our stores around Australia are unable to open this morning until further notice due to an IT issue which is affecting some of our registers,’ they said.
‘We thank customers for their patience during this time and would like to assure them that we are working hard to ensure all of our stores are open again as soon as possible.’
In April, Woolworths’ stores were also hit by a similar glitch, and on July 8 another technical issue meant none of the supermarket’s online were fulfilled.

‘Some of our stores around Australia are unable to open this morning until further notice due to an IT issue which is affecting some of our registers,’ Coles said, as hundreds of stores across the country temporarily shut on Sunday morning

Coles are not the only store in recent months to see their business hit by technical issues – with Woolworths unable to fulfill their online orders on July 8 because of IT problems