“Yahoo’s relationship with our merchants is extremely important to us and we value their loyalty,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. “We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and we are continuing to put processes in place to prevent further disruptions.”
So far, the online community isn't taking very well to the company's attempts at damage control. As one angry user aptly posts on Webmasterworld.com:
How can Yahoo with over 10,000 merchants have [their] entire shopping cart system go down on the busiest day of the year? They should have been prepared for this--evidently they were trying to skimp/save on costs and were underprepared for this. This will cost them in the [long] run as many merchants will inevitably leave.
Based on the irate response from small business owners featured in the NY Times, and on Webmasterworld.com, Yahoo should get its crisis communications plan into action.
