SK Telecom's mea culpa discount program wreaks havoc on Domino’s Pizza, Paris Baguette

Website crashes and early sellouts hit Domino’s Pizza and Paris Baguette as customers rushed to take advantage of SK Telecom’s T Membership discount program, industry officials said on Sunday.

From left: A notice warning of delays on Aug. 23 appears on the Domino’s Pizza website as too many users try to log in at the same time. A photo taken inside a Paris Baguette store on Aug. 20 shows empty shelves after many customers use SK Telecom's discount coupons. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Website crashes and early sellouts hit Domino’s Pizza and Paris Baguette as customers rushed to take advantage of SK Telecom’s T Membership discount program, industry officials said on Sunday.

SK Telecom launched the “T Membership Customer Appreciation Festival” this month, expanding subscriber benefits in response to a massive data breach that exposed nearly 26 million subscriber records earlier this year.

From August to December, SK Telecom selects three partner brands each month to offer discounts of 50 percent or more. About 22.49 million subscribers can download discount coupons through the T Membership app during the promotion period.

The surge in orders has overwhelmed participating brands. Domino’s Pizza experienced repeated website and app slowdowns during its first weekend of discounts on Saturday and Sunday. Customers on social media posted comments such as “Domino’s Pizza chaos” and “Every menu item says ingredients sold out.”

From Thursday to Sept. 4, Domino’s Pizza is offering delivery at 50 percent off, capped at 25,000 won ($18) and takeout at 60 percent off, capped at 30,000 won. Customers can only use coupons through the Domino’s Pizza website and app.

A Domino’s Pizza branch in Seoul said its app orders through Saturday morning were enough to exhaust the day’s stock.

“Dozens of pre-orders flooded in before the store even opened,” an employee said.

Some outlets temporarily blocked orders through delivery platforms like Baemin. Domino’s Pizza later posted a notice urging customers to use its pre-order feature on its own app.

Paris Baguette saw similar disruptions during its promotion earlier this month.

On Wednesday, the final day of its 50 percent discount capped at 10,000 won, shelves at a store in eastern Seoul sat nearly empty by midmorning.

Shelves inside a Paris Baguette store in eastern Seoul on Aug. 20 stand empty as crowds of customers flock there for SK Telecom’s 50 percent discount event. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Staff struggled to respond as customers repeatedly asked when more bread would arrive.

“Since the discount began, nearly all bread sells out by morning each day,” an employee said.

Photos of bare shelves spread on social media with captions such as “Is there a war?” and “Not a single loaf left.”

SK Telecom’s third partner this month, Starbucks, has avoided shortages by offering one free Tall Americano per subscriber from July 1 to Aug. 30, with the longer redemption period easing store bottlenecks.

Some subscribers praised the deals as “true partnership discounts,” while others criticized them as “meaningless if coupons cannot be used.”

“We are working with partner brands to expand app capacity and add pre-order functions to improve customer convenience,” an SK Telecom official said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY LIM SUN-YOUNG [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]