Lilly Pulitzer
Apu Gupta is the co-founder and CEO of Curalate, the leading Social Commerce company with offices in Philadelphia, New York, Seattle, and London. Prior to launching Curalate, Apu was COO & CMO at MedPlus Health Services. Under his leadership, MedPlus raised $25MM in venture funding and became the second largest pharmacy chain in India. Apu was also an early employee of WebEx from its Series A through IPO. Apu holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas, Austin and a MBA from the Wharton School of Business. Apu has been recognized as an E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in the Emerging Entrepreneur category and is a Fellow in the Aspen Institute's Henry Crown Fellowship program.
Target was hoping for a smooth launch for one of its most highly anticipated designer collaborations in years. Instead, the discount retailer's website was overwhelmed in the early hours on Sunday as legions of fashionistas who had been up overnight tried to snap up Lilly Pulitzer's fashions, only to encounter delays in the colorful beachwear line's availability on Target.com and, in many cases, end up empty handed. The incident has raised questions as to why the retailer wasn't fully ready for the onslaught.
Most marketers in the fashion or retail space know how critical it is to tie social efforts to quantitative results. Yet many still develop initiatives around products, concepts or messages they're trying to promote, as opposed to needs their customers want to fulfill. Don't be fooled. Creativity may win industry awards, but marketers need to ask themselves how that translates to sales. Lilly Pulitzer, a household name in the resort-wear category, is the quintessential customer-centric brand, building a playbook filled not only with innovative ideas, but also insight to support them.
Palm Beach is just an aisle away. Retail giant Target announced Tuesday its latest designer partnership, with Lilly Pulitzer — sorority-girl favorite and the queen of bold American resortwear. The 250-piece collection, which launches April 19, will feature apparel, accessories and shoes for women and girls, as well as home decor in 15 exclusive prints.
Last month, retail and design chain Lilly Pulitzer announced a new addition to its eight In The Pink Stores. Pulitzer piloted this innovative program in its flagship store by removing all standard registers and replacing them with more flexible, 100 percent mobile point-of-sale solutions powered by Springboard Retail and devices including iPads and iPhones. Similar to the Apple Store experience, Pulitzer customers can now check out wherever and whenever they happen to be in-store. Making the checkout experience flexible has freed up coveted retail space within the stores and enhanced the overall Pulitzer aesthetic while providing customers with added convenience.
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