11-11. Is it ethical for retailers to create a promotion but not have sufficient merchandise for all shoppers who want to buy the items? (AACSB: Communication; Ethical Reasoning)

The Lilly Pulitzer brand of brightly colored dresses and resortthemed designer items is the uniform of the preppy, Palm Beach set. Indeed, only select young women belonging to certain sororities in certain communities are allowed discounts on the $100 to

$500 items. But Target created a buying frenzy by debuting its Lilly for Target collection in April 2015. Target’s Pulitzer line was composed of 250 items, such as Lilly dresses at $40, which sold out within minutes of launch, crashed the store’s Web site, and created a firestorm of negative online comments from customers.

The long lines outside stores caused one manager to name the event “Preppy Black Friday,” likening it to the frenzied shopping day after Thanksgiving known as Black Friday. Most shoppers went home empty-handed because others scooped up as much as they could, emptying the racks within minutes. Items then sold on eBay for much higher prices. This type of launch is not new for Target. In 2011, the retailer launched a line of Missoni items priced at $30 to $40. Missoni’s distinctive zigzag and geometricpatterned knitwear, shoes, and houseware items normally sell for hundreds of dollars at retailers such as Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue. During the Missoni event, shoppers grabbed goods by the armload, even poaching items from other shoppers’ carts.

While some shoppers went away happy, many more were not. In both merchandise promotions, Target officials announced the soldout items would not be replenished.