Business reporter, BBC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Marks & Spencer has suffered a “bruise” to its reputation after it was forced to stop taking online orders following a cyber attack, an analyst has said.<\/p>\n The retail giant has paused orders on its website and apps since Friday as it attempts to restore operations.<\/p>\n But analysts say M&S stands to lose out if the problem is not resolved quickly, with shoppers likely to turn to rival brands when buying summer clothes.<\/p>\n Kate Hardcastle, consumer specialist at Insight with Passion, said the incident was “a bruise to M&S’s trusted brand image”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She said: “Customers expect a retailer like M&S to keep their data safe and services running, so an incident like this can shake confidence.”<\/p>\n However, she added that because M&S had responded quickly and been open with its communication the long-term damage should limited.<\/p>\n “It’s a setback, but with the right actions it can be just a bruise rather than a lasting scar.”<\/p>\n About a third of the retailer’s clothing and household goods’ sales in the UK come from its online operations. <\/p>\n Natalie Berg, retail analyst at NBK Retail, said such incidents “erodes consumer trust in the brand”.<\/p>\n “I think shoppers are generally forgiving when these incidents occur, but they expect it to be resolved quickly.”<\/p>\n Customers began reporting problems last weekend – with people struggling to use contactless payments, click & collect, and gift cards – and on Tuesday the retailer confirmed it was facing a “cyber incident”.<\/p>\n Then on Friday M&S said it was pausing taking orders through its UK & Ireland websites and apps and some international websites.<\/p>\n It apologised for the inconvenience and said it would refund orders placed by customers on Friday.<\/p>\n M&S says contactless payments are now working and gift cards can be used.<\/p>\n Online grocer Ocado, which sells M&S food on its platform, is unaffected by the problems as it runs on an entirely separate system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n With warmer weather due this week, and shoppers turning their thoughts to summer, analysts said M&S could be missing out on sales at a critical time, as people were likely to turn to rival retailers to get what they want.<\/p>\n “The turn in weather means shoppers will be thinking about refreshing their wardrobes and homes,” said Ms Berg.<\/p>\n “It’s certainly not an ideal time to suspend online orders.”<\/p>\n Catherine Shuttleworth, from Savvy Marketing, said the online impact “is very quick and immediate”.<\/p>\n “Given the ‘buy it now’ culture other retailers will benefit from this opportunity.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n M&S’s sales and profits have improved in recent years and it has been seeking to expand its online operations.<\/p>\n Last year, out of \u00a33.9bn of sales in its clothing and home business, nearly \u00a31.3bn came online.<\/p>\n In September, it said increasing the percentage of online sales was “a critical objective”.<\/p>\n Ms Berg said problems caused by the cyber attack were “an operational catastrophe”.<\/p>\n “M&S is firing on all cylinders today, but there’s no doubt that this is a significant setback”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Last week, a spokesperson from the Information Commissioner’s Office told the BBC it was “assessing the information provided” after the retailer told it about the incident.<\/p>\n The firm previously said on Tuesday it had reported the incident to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and the National Crime Agency told the BBC<\/a> it was working with the NCSC to support the firm.<\/p>\n The retailer is the latest major brand to experience significant disruption to its online services in recent months.<\/p>\n Morrisons faced huge problems<\/a> with its Christmas orders last year, while Barclays<\/a> and Lloyds<\/a> were both hit by banking outages in the first two months of this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/79a9\/live\/d8c65130-2365-11f0-beaa-09e98685e1a2.jpg.webp\")
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