By Paul Ziobro
Target Corp.'s website went down Sunday morning, overwhelmed by
shoppers clamoring for the retailer's latest design
partnership.
The discount chain took its site offline for about 20 minutes
due to a rush of shoppers looking for its 250-piece collection of
Lilly Pulitzer bathing suits, shift dresses and jumpsuits selling
for a fraction of the price of the Palm Beach designer's luxury
clothing.
At other times during the morning, Target paced visits to the
site, leaving many shoppers unable to access the site or its
shopping app. The company also delayed the online launch by two
hours.
"When the traffic got heavier, we made the website
inaccessible," Target spokesman Joshua Thomas said. "We realize
there is an extreme amount of excitement around this collaboration,
and we apologize for any disappointment this may have caused our
guests."
Target planned to have the sale up fully live at 3 a.m. Central
Time, but delayed it until 5 a.m. because of high traffic, Mr.
Thomas said. The number of visits was similar to the Black Friday
sales around Thanksgiving. Three hours into the sale, the entire
selection was nearly sold out online.
The online sale started before shoppers could buy the items at
Target stores, which open at 8 a.m. Some people lined up hours
before stores opened.
Employees at the Target in Watchung, N.J., said the store was
completely sold out of Lilly Pulitzer gear within 30 minutes of
opening. Many customers had lined up from 6 a.m., they said.
The episode was a less serious echo of the launch of Target's
Missoni collection in 2011, when the website crashed and couldn't
be restored for several hours. It shows Target is still able to
generate hits after some less buzzy collaborations with upscale
brands. But it also reveals that the company still has some kinks
to work out in its online operations at a time when it is relying
heavily on them to beat back competition from Amazon.com Inc.
The Missoni snafu came shortly after Target retook control of
its web operations from former partner Amazon, and it highlighted
shortcomings of the chain's online infrastructure.
Shortly afterward, Target shook up its online leadership.
Executives have since touted improvements to the website to handle
massive traffic, including sales around Black Friday that generated
record online results for the site.
Once the site was restored, shoppers were able to pick up some
of fast dwindling items.
Target has been building significant buzz for the Palm
Beach-inspired Lilly Pulitzer line, setting up a temporary shop in
New York's Bryant Park and running a juice bar, offering free
manicures and setting up pingpong tables.
Write to Paul Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com
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