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Missing the Target: Fashion Forward or Catastrophic Collaborations?

I’m sure by now everyone has heard the story of the teenage girl who didn’t tell her parents she was pregnant – Target told them for her. Of course Target didn’t mean to reveal her secret, they just looked at the things she was buying online and started sending the young lady targeted ads for baby products. When her dad checked the mail and saw what his daughter was receiving, he confronted her about the pregnancy.

Now while that teenage girl probably wasn’t too thrilled with the result of the advertisements, as marketers we should be salivating at the thought of knowing our customers that well. Amazon does a fantastic job at suggesting products you might like based on your purchase and browsing history on their website, but to be so precise as to know your customer is expecting a new baby? That’s incredible.

Photo by Kyle Lane via Flickr 

And remember last fall, when Target introduced a capsule collection from high-end, trendy Italian brand Missoni? Fashion editors everywhere went wild. Everyone was thinking what a hit this was for Target. They were mixing the perfect amount of affordability with desire. Unfortunately, what they failed to account for was demand. The Target website went down only 3 hours after Missoni items became available, and stayed down for most of the day. They took to Twitter to apologize, but fans of Target’s frequent designer collaborations were crestfallen. After all the hype, they couldn’t get their hands on the coveted zig-zagged items. Even worse, there was no chance of a restock.

Since then, Target has been more careful about promoting designer collections. There have been far fewer commercials advertising collaborations, and they have been choosing to work with more obscure labels and smaller fashion houses. However, with a recent collection furnished by Neiman Marcus, Target had high hopes of finding that perfect supply-demand balance once more.

But the recent release of items has been a total flop. Why?

There are a few theories. First, it could be that Target customers are distrustful of Target + designer collections. There have been recent grumblings of poorer quality items than earlier collaborations, and less affordability. In addition, Target customers may be shying away because they were burned by the Missoni offering. One customer likened refreshing Target.com for Missoni to a Black Friday shopping trip for a discounted TV, except after waiting for hours you find out that there are only 2 TVs and they will be randomly choosing which people get in to purchase them.

Also consider Target’s shoppers. Target has been focusing mainly on their home and grocery items. Target shoppers are willing to spend above Wal-Mart’s prices, but not at prices comparable to competitors like Whole Foods. Do those shoppers care about designs found at Neiman Marcus? Does Neiman Marcus convey exclusivity and quality, or does it seem like an overpriced store in the mall frequented by older ladies? In a world revolving more and more around fast-fashion, is it really worth it to wait around and pay more for a low-quality “designer” item than you would for a similar item from stores like H&M and Forever 21 that you can pick up easily in-store or online? Does this signal the end of Target designer collections? Sound off in the comments.