SEATTLE, United States — Online shoppers looking to score bargains during the Nordstrom anniversary sale instead faced glitches. In some cases, they saw their virtual carts emptied at checkout.

The Seattle-based department store chain apologised, saying in a tweet that it was working to resolve the issue.

The sale was set to start July 21 and end August 6, but Nordstrom cardholders were offered "early access" starting Thursday.

Frustrated shoppers took to social media to vent, with one saying it was "unbelievable" that Nordstrom wasn't ready to handle the traffic on such a big shopping day.

Last month members of the Nordstrom family said they would consider buying out the 70 percent of the company's stock that they don't already own.