Target Corporation’s (NYSE:TGT) website crashed yesterday morning, after the retailer launched its highly anticipated line of luxury goods that saw an overwhelming response from customers for its unbelievably low prices. The Lilly Pulitzer collection was on sale for only a fraction of the price it was available at its flagship stores.
Apparel and household items under the patronage of the colorful beachwear brand Lilly Pulitzer went on sale on Target.com, early yesterday. Earlier during the night, Target announced on its Twitter homepage that the web store was being updated and would be “shoppable soon.” It was only a matter of minutes since the collection went off for sale when the major chunk of the line was already sold out, much to the dismay of several fashion enthusiasts.
The launch of the Lilly Pulitzer line has been one of its major designer collaborations in years, so naturally the big box retailer had its hopes high for a smooth takeoff. Instead, Target had to face an outage as throngs of fashionistas barged onto the website, snapping up items, only to bump into delays in their availability at the company’s web store soon after.
The malfunction provoked plenty of criticism that spilled over onto social networking platforms. The online angst raised questions about Target’s ability to manage an unprecedented surge in its store traffic and why it wasn’t completely equipped for the onslaught. It was reminiscent of a similar glitch back in 2011 when Target debuted the Italian designer Missoni’s collection, wherein the web traffic surge crashed its online store for most of the day, while also leading to the company being lashed out severely across social media by shoppers and market observers.
Yesterday’s outage underscores how the battered retail chain still has a long way to go before its online platform is strong and robust enough to match the level of, or fend off e-commerce competitors like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
To yesterday’s outage, Target retorted saying the sudden, heavy traffic on the website led to the malfunction. “Due to heavy traffic, we experienced slowness to our site, resulting in an inconsistent experience for our guests,” Joshua Thomas, a company spokesman, stated in an e-mailed statement, that Bloomberg reports. “We realize there is an extreme amount of excitement around this collaboration, and we apologize for any disappointment this may have caused.”
The collection also saw an outstanding demand at the company’s physical brick-and-mortar stores where customers lined up outside in long queues, across the country yesterday.
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