M&S’s cyber attack boosted fashion sales at rivals including NEXT and ZARA

The cyber attack on Marks & Spencer on 22 April, and its long-lasting fallout, which forced it to pause orders on its website for almost seven weeks, saw fashion sales slump at the high street giant. Meanwhile, rivals NEXT, ZARA and H&M saw an uplift according to data, insights and consulting company Kantar.

The M&S website usually accounts for about a third of its fashion sales, but Kantar’s figures show the impact of the cyber attack meant sales fell by a fifth year-on-year in the four weeks to 25 May, while online sales didn’t fully restart until 10 June.

That was despite fashion sales soaring by 11.5% at M&S in the three months prior to the cyber attack.

While M&S lost sales, NEXT saw sales grow 4.8% (up from 1.6%) in the same period. ZARA’s sales rose to 27.8% (up from 16.1%) reported in the prior month, while H&M saw an uplift of 18.1% (up from 8.9%) previously.

However, M&S did say that its fashion sales in-store remained strong during the disruption, particularly as customers sought out products that they couldn’t order online.

Among those retailers that didn’t benefit from M&S’s misfortune was Primark, despite it rolling out its click and collect service to all of its UK stores. Sales growth reportedly narrowed to 2.7% from 3.1%.

Despite M&S's online hiatus, the retailer confirmed the phased return of its online orders on 10 June. Online orders for home delivery are gradually being restored as part of a staggered rollout, although the click-and-collect service remains unavailable for now.

Richard Price, Managing Director for Fashion, Home & Beauty, said: "We are bringing back online shopping this week. A selection of our bestselling fashion ranges will be available for home delivery to England, Scotland and Wales.

"More of our fashion, home and beauty products will be added every day and we will resume deliveries to Northern Ireland and click-and-collect in the coming weeks."