M&S stops online orders following cyber attack

Marks & Spencer (M&S) says it has stopped taking online orders as the company struggles to recover from a cyber attack.

Customers began reporting problems last weekend, and on Tuesday the retailer confirmed it was facing a "cyber incident".

Now, M&S has entirely paused orders on its website and apps, including for food deliveries and clothes

The firm's shares fell by 5% following the announcement on Friday.

"We are truly sorry for this inconvenience," it wrote in a post on X.

"Our experienced team - supported by leading cyber experts - is working extremely hard to restart online and app shopping.

"We are incredibly grateful to our customers, colleagues and partners for their understanding and support."

It said its stores remain open despite the issues affecting online ordering.

Previously, the firm was dealing with problems which affected people using Click & Collect, as well as paying with gift cards.

Since it suspended online ordering, M&S has responded to social media posts advising customers that these problems persist.

"Gift cards, e-gift cards and credit receipts can't currently be used as a payment method in store or online," it said in response to one person on X.

But it told another that if people have already received an email telling them an item is ready to be collected, they should be able to go into the store and pick it up.

"We're holding all parcels in store until further notice, so there's no risk of it being sent back," it said.

M&S said on Tuesday it had reported the incident to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

The National Crime Agency previously told the BBC its officers are working with the NCSC to support the firm.

M&S is the latest major name to experience significant disruption to its online services in recent months.

Morrisons faced huge problems with its Christmas orders last year, with deliveries cancelled and discounts not applied.

This was followed by two major banking outages on what was pay day for many in the first two months of this year.

In January, serious IT problems at Barclays affected the bank's app and online banking. It was later disclosed Barclays could face compensation payments of £12.5m.

In February, several banks - notably Lloyds - faced outages, leaving businesses unable to pay staff.