REFLECTIONS ON LILLY FOR TARGET

One of the most talked about events of the weekend was the limited edition collaboration of Lilly Pulitzer and Target.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), I was out of town at a somewhat remote campground for a work event and missed the balk of the frenzy as it was happening.

The limited release collection sold out quickly, both online and in stores, creating a number of unhappy customers who took to Twitter to voice their frustrations, while others posted boastful tweets featuring the many items they had acquired.  Then there were the people who purchased tons of items, only to list them on eBay at greatly inflated prices.  No matter how you look at it, there is no way for a limited release collection to please everyone.  It does however, teach a valuable lessen in supply and demand.  People complaining about the scarcity of items only shows what a demand there is for the products.

So why do a limited release collection rather than offering an ongoing line in the stores?  Well first off, having done these limited collections in the past, I’m sure Target knows how profitable they can be.  Secondly, I’m sure Lilly didn’t want to lessen the demand for their core line.  From a business standpoint this type of collaboration can be a win/win situation for the companies.  Target increases sales; and Lilly has an opportunity to introduce their products to a much wider market. 

In addition to the people voicing their frustrations on Twitter at not being able to purchase items, there were also people posting derogatory comments about “fake Lilly” versus the “real Lilly.”  Given their need to comment, I suspect those people were just upset they weren’t able to pick up a few good deals on Lilly products.

The Lilly For Target limited release collection was given ample hype and advertising before the release date, and everything paid off for both companies involved.  Given this success, I hope we’ll see another Lilly/Target collaboration soon.

(Lead Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Target)

***Were you able to purchase items from the Lilly For Target            

     Collection?