British retailer Marks &Spencer resumed taking online orders in the UK for some clothing lines today after a 46-day hiatus following a damaging cyber attack.
Online orders on the Irish site remain paused.
The 141-year old M&S, one of the best known names in British business, said on its website “select fashion ranges now available to buy online”.
M&S stopped taking clothing and home orders through its website and app on April 25 following problems with contactless pay and click and collect services over the Easter holidayweekend.
It first disclosed it had been managing a “cyber incident”on April 22.
M&S said last month it expected online disruption tocontinue into July and forecast the attack would cost it about 300 million pounds ($404 million) in lost operating profit in its 2025/26 financial year, though it hopes to halve the impact through insurance and cost control.
The disruption to systems also affected M&S’ ability to get food and clothing into stores, which meant it lost out on demand boosted by warm and sunny weather.
Analysts have predicted the end of season clothing sale will be larger than normal and with deeper discounts.
Taking account of Tuesday’s rise, M&S shares are down 9.5% since it disclosed the attack.
M&S said hackers broke into its systems by trickingemployees at a third-party contractor, skirting its digital defences to launch a cyber attack.
The group has said it will use the crisis to accelerate improvements to its technology.
In recent weeks, several other major retailers across the globe have disclosed cyber incidents, including UK grocer the Co-op Group, German sportswear group Adidas, luxury jeweller Cartier and US lingerie company Victoria’s Secret
