Target Apologizes for Sold-Out Clothes

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First, Target was criticized for offering plus-sized clothing only online. Now the company is apologizing for selling out items from the new Lilly Pulitzer collection within minutes.

Lilly Target

Customers thought the site crashed, but Target explained that it tried to manage traffic by closing down the site temporarily and by limiting access to parts of the site.

A Target spokesperson said, "We never want our guests to be disappointed. We share their disappointment with the experience of shopping online. It doesn't match what we aim to provide them, which is an easy, seamless, consistent experience."

Although shoppers were disappointed, some having stayed up all night waiting for the products to be available (which happened at 5 a.m., on a two-hour delay), the results for Target are positive overall. As the spokesperson said, "At this point, Lilly Pulitzer is the most talked about designer collection in our ­history."

Discussion Starters:

  • One shopper tweeted, "Next time either 1) don't promote something that most people will never see or 2) significantly increase production #whatafiasco." Do you agree? 
  • Can you make an argument that the entire situation was intentional? What do you think?