Marks & Spencer restores click & collect following cyber attack

Marks & Spencer has confirmed that its click & collect service has resumed after the retailer’s online systems were hit by a damaging cyber attack.

The British department store said its full online delivery offer is back - including click & collect - across fashion, home and beauty at M&S.com.

Shoppers can now place online orders for collection at any M&S store across the UK, or opt for next day or nominated day delivery. Online orders can also be returned at any M&S store nationwide.

It follows last month’s announcement that M&S had fully restored its Sparks membership system, with a range of customer rewards and perks returning in the following weeks.

In April, the company took down part of its IT systems and stopped sales through its website after being targeted by hackers.

Customer personal data – which could have included names, email addresses, postal addresses and dates of birth – was taken during the attack.

M&S revealed that the hack was caused by "human error" and would cost it around £300 million.

In June, it restarted online sales through its website after six weeks and has continued to restore different parts of its operations.

While there is usually good will and loyalty from UK customers for M&S, research recently revealed the initial damage caused by the cyber incident could cause longer term reputational damage.

According to The Harris Poll UK, which surveyed 1,000 nationally representative UK consumers in June, the breach -  particularly the theft of personal data - has significantly undermined customer trust. The percentage of people willing to forgive M&S dropped from 84% in January to 72% in the latest survey.

However, the findings also highlight the resilience of the business. Despite declines across most corporate reputation metrics, M&S continues to score well on perceptions of product and service quality - suggesting that customer loyalty remains one of its key strengths.

Retail analyst Richard Hyman told TheIndustry.fashion: "M&S has clearly lost sales that cannot be recovered, and some customers will have gone elsewhere while the website was down. However, the turnaround was strong before the hack - M&S had won back many previously lost customers and gained some new ones.

"I think the communication from its leadership team was very open and clear. I believe there has certainly been damage, but I don’t think it’s permanent."

Shares in Marks & Spencer edged higher on Monday morning.