South Korean consumers are demonstrating their unusually strong appetite for something other than coffee at Starbucks: promotional gifts.

Starbucks Korea is stirring up the coffee franchise market here with its promotional e-frequency reward event, which allows those who have purchased a total of 17 drinks including seasonal beverages to pick one item out of five options.

The reward items include two types of “summer ready bag” and three types of “summer chair” for camping. The popularity of the reward items topped expectations as ready bags ran out of stock instantly.

Those who want to get at least summer chairs rushed to the coffee chain’s website early in the morning to check the inventory, which overloaded its online system.

Starbucks Korea’s data system was paralyzed in several areas around 8 a.m. Tuesday, causing inconvenience for customers as they were unable to make mobile orders and other services.

The system was soon restored, but the website’s event page is still inaccessible due to heavy traffic.

By Lee Sae-byul (nstelle@heraldcorp.com)