Sales Surge, Server Crash Courtesy of Oprah
A mention on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” can make sales of almost anything skyrocket, yet ShopLAStyle President Cynthia Rojas found that a good word from talk-show diva Oprah Winfrey could have unintended consequences.
On Feb. 18, Rojas watched Winfrey rave over the French terry sweat pants produced by Los Angeles–based label Splendid. Rojas didn’t know what to expect next as she sat in ShopLaStyle’s 2,500-square-foot Los Angeles headquarters. But she knew that something was going to happen, since Splendid’s Web site lists ShopLAStyle (www.shoplastyle.com) as one of its e-commerce partners. The result was every retailer’s dream—and a disaster.
Within 15 minutes of Winfrey’s recommendation of Splendid sweats, ShopLaStyle was flooded with thousands of requests for the sweats, Rojas said. Then the quick pace of sales on the site slowed to a dribble. The site was crashing.
Rojas phoned her network technicians to beg them to rush to repair the site. She then made a wish that the “Oprah” watchers would find their way to ShopLAStyle again. She was lucky. Her wish was granted. Since the “Oprah” segment, Splendid sweat pants have been the top seller at her Web site. The pants retail for $97. The most popular colors are black, white and navy blue, Rojas said.
Rojas claimed that the show also attracted new customers to ShopLaStyle. The new customers were typically a little older and often ordered larger sizes. They also stayed on the site to buy other casual clothes such as hooded sweaters.
The e-commerce executive said that she had no way to prepare for her Oprah moment. But it did get her thinking about crowd control. Days after the Oprah segment was broadcast, Rojas juiced up her Web site’s server with a series of performance enhancements. She said she hopes the new additions to her server will give extra support to her site—just in case Oprah takes a liking to another one of the contemporary brands that ShopLAStyle offers. —Andrew Asch
