Marks & Spencer Revives Online Shopping in Ireland After Four-Month Hiatus
British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has officially resumed taking click and collect orders for clothing on its Irish website, bringing an end to a four-month hiatus following a devastating cyber hack and data theft. The 141-year-old company had initially restored all online operations on its UK website just last week.
On April 25, M&S disclosed a "cyber incident" and subsequently halted taking orders through its website and app for clothing and home deliveries and collection from stores. Initially, the retailer allowed customers to place online orders for delivery, but click and collect services remained suspended for an extended period.
However, in an email sent to customers today, M&S announced that it has now reinstated online shopping in Ireland. "You can now shop all our fashion, home and beauty ranges on marksandspencer.ie and through our app," the company stated. "Shop all our fashion, home and beauty ranges online for free home delivery on orders above €50 or use our free Click & Collect service to pick up your order from any M&S store across Ireland. Online orders can also now be returned to our Irish stores," it added.
The cyber attack had significant implications for the retailer, with a forecasted £300m loss in operating profit in its 2025/26 financial year due to the hacking of its systems. However, M&S aims to mitigate this impact through insurance and cost control measures. As part of its management of the hack and data theft, M&S took other systems offline, leading to reduced availability of clothing and food items in stores.
Rivals such as Next in clothing and Sainsbury's in food have benefited from M&S' temporary suspension of online shopping services. In May, CEO Stuart Machin informed investors that the group would be over the worst of the fallout from the incident by August.
Chairman Archie Norman had also hinted at the involvement of the hacker group DragonForce in carrying out the ransomware attack. With M&S' Irish website now back online, customers can once again shop and collect their orders with ease.
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