Fri, 25 Apr 2025

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 M&S stops online orders and issues refunds after cyber attack

The firm has stopped taking orders on its website and apps, including for food and clothes.
M&S has temporarily stopped taking online orders due to a cyber attack, affecting customers who were trying to place orders on its website and apps. The company confirmed that it was facing a "cyber incident" last Tuesday and has since paused all online ordering, including food deliveries and clothing sales. M&S will refund any orders placed by customers on Friday. The retailer's shares fell by 5% after the announcement before recovering. M&S apologized for the inconvenience caused and said its experienced team is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. The company's stores remain open despite the online issues, but customers have reported problems with contactless payments, Click & Collect, and gift cards. M&S has responded to customer complaints on social media, advising that gift cards and credit receipts cannot be used for payment in-store or online. However, some customers have criticized the company for its handling of the outage, particularly around messaging to customers. Experts are speculating about what may have caused the cyber attack, with one expert saying it demonstrates the "cascading impact these attacks can have on revenue streams". Another expert said that M&S's decision to pause online sales could have a "material impact" on the company financially. M&S is the latest major retailer to experience significant disruption to its online services in recent months. Other companies, including Morrisons and Barclays, have also faced IT problems and outages in the past year.
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