Target [fortune-stock symbol=”TGT”] was the victim of its own success.

The web site snafus and quick sell-outs of its line of Lilly Pulitzer beachwear on Sunday showed how the discount retailer still has the magic touch when it comes to design collaborations, even as they earned Target a lot of brickbats on social media from shoppers stymied by target.com’s fail.

It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Target’s chief merchandising and supply chain officer Kathee Tesija said that the company, which clearly underestimated demand despite weeks of tracking social media, had planned to offer the 250-item limited-time, limited-supply collection for weeks. Instead, the collaboration lasted mere hours.

Target intended to begin selling the collection sometime after midnight on Sunday, but kept postponing the start so it could cope with overwhelming Black Friday-like web traffic. By mid morning Sunday, the Lilly Pulitzer merchandise was largely sold out and some pieces started…