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Some Marks & Spencer stores have been left with empty food shelves as the retailer continues to struggle with a cyber attack affecting its operations.<\/p>\n
Over the Easter weekend, customers reported problems using contactless pay and Click & Collect, and online orders have been paused on the company’s website and app since Friday.<\/p>\n
It is not clear how widespread the empty shelves are but the retailer confirmed “pockets of limited availability in some stores”.<\/p>\n
The BBC understands stock on the shelves will be back to normal within a couple of days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The firm is also managing disruption to a small proportion of products that it supplies to Ocado, which delivers M&S online orders and which is part-owned by M&S.<\/p>\n
Although issues with contactless pay, Click & Collect and gift cards have since been resolved, customers can still not place online orders.<\/p>\n
About a third of M&S’s clothing and household goods sales in the UK are through its online platforms and were worth some \u00a31.2bn, according to its latest financial results.<\/p>\n
Although its share price was up slightly on Tuesday morning, it has fallen 4.6% over the last five days – with a notable dip on Friday when the firm announced it was stopping online orders.<\/a><\/p>\n The problems come during a busy retailing period, as customers prepare for the good weather and purchase outdoor garden equipment, barbecue items and party food.<\/p>\n The aftershocks of the cyber attack will dent its profits, analysts have told the BBC<\/a>, as many customers go elsewhere to shop instead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n M&S has not disclosed the nature of the cyber attack.<\/p>\n “As part of our proactive management of the incident, we took a decision to take some of our systems temporarily offline,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n “As a result, we currently have pockets of limited availability in some stores. We are working hard to get availability back to normal across the estate. “<\/p>\n “I think they are in what I would describe as an unenviable position,” said Nayna McIntosh, former executive committee member of M&S and founder & chief executive of Hope Fashion. <\/p>\n “There will be some very, very difficult conversations taking place in Paddington [M&S HQ].<\/p>\n She said that stopping online orders was “almost like cutting off one of your limbs”, although she added that M&S was a popular brand so customers will give it some leeway as long as they have transparency.<\/p>\n M&S is not the only firm to suffer disruption to its online systems in recent times. Supermarket Morrisons faced problems<\/a> with its Christmas order in 2024, while banks Barclays and Lloyds were hit by outages earlier in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n