To think the M&S cyber attack has shown up how awful the shops are?

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I have a wish list full of things I can’t buy online so have taken trips to the two M&S’s closest to me to try and buy in person instead. The selection of clothing and homeware was awful.

I’m occasionally a size 8 in M&S trousers but neither shop stocked an 8 in any trousers. Nothing seemed to have a full selection of sizes with only 5/6 of each item.

The homeware bits weren’t available or were only available on the wrong sizes (e.g. every size sheets but double in the style I wanted).

Not a single navy cardigan in either shop.

If only I needed towels - the only thing they seemed to have in abundance!

I really like M&S. I don’t buy their adult clothes much as I don’t really buy much for myself but often see things it like.

Their kids and homeward ate good quality and i enjoy the higher quality food that M&S Food offers.

I was in there today, I bought some apple sunglasses for my little girl that were really cute for £6 which I also thought was pretty good.

All of DH’s suits are M&S. I really hope they survive this as I think they’ve made a really effort to stay current.

They are rebuilding their systems from scratch. Most likely due to not paying the ransom and rightly so. The amount they are losing daily combined with the fines they will receive from the ICO will be catastrophic for the business. Many businesses would not survive this.

I agree with the OP. They never have any jeans in an 8 or 10 long in the 2 branches closest to me. Always the same answer when I enquire 'you will have to order online'.
M&S should never have been this vulnerable. I have been getting emails for weeks from M&S about mystery prizes, treats, hampers etc. I have obviously deleted without opening but I am annoyed M&S have been so careless with my data.

I was in my nearest large M&S the other day and it was really well stocked and had lots of choice. I was surprised as was expecting more issues with stock availability.

I work in one of the shops recently been affected by cyber attacks. It’s surprising the number of people who have heard all about the cyber attacks….yet haven’t figured out that’s why we have little to no stock!

Our local m&S (in a city centre) never has any size 10s and hasn't for years. It's like size 10 just doesn't exist.

I am 5ft 1 so finding trousers in the right leg length and size is hard. I hardly ever find what I need in the shops, last time it was all sold out online too (pair of white, short leg trousers in a 10). So yes, literally pointless going to the shops.

This may have been affected by the cyber attack of course but you raise a very valid point.

I was in a large mountain warehouse shop and saw a rain coat I liked, it was not on sale, it was a new line they were clearly pushing. They had loads of them but none in a size 12 which is what I wanted, there were loads of small and very large sizes and nothing in between. I know this will be driven by the fact the they are maybe ordered as sets (a selection of different sizes are bundled together as one SKU) but it is annoying. I asked the shop and they said you can order it online or we can do that now for you. But that isn’t the point I wanted to try it on first size not order multiple sizes to try and return the ones that don’t fit and I wanted to support a real shop.

I had the same in Debenhams once where I went back multiple times over a 2 week period to check if they had a dress in my size and no the size I wanted never came in so I ordered it online.

If this carries on there will be no where to look at anything or try anything on as we will all be online shopping.

I agree with this. I would love it if when I check out as a guest, which I often do, the company then deletes my name and address from their order date after 30 days.

Having seen the impact of a cyber attack on a local business, don't underestimate how long M&S will take to recover from this, if they can fully recover. It impacts every department and every process for months on end, even after the attack ends.

Shops nowadays are more like showrooms though, they have a couple of sizes so you can see what they are like and feel the fabric but you are then meant to order it online, there are notices saying as much in stores, this isn't just M&S, it is most stores. Our store though seems to be as stocked as it ever was

I'm tall and have never been able to buy in store in any shop, I can look at the normal length trousers in store then order the long size online, it has been like this for years in all shops

What makes you think it’s a teenagers?

I know what you mean. Their lighting department is superb, really nice designs and quality that give expensive companies a run for their money but our massive out of town M&S doesn’t have a lighting department. Having bought 2 really lovely shades I have my eye on another shade I wanted 2 of so that’s that then I guess. Zero possibility of buying it.

They have some really great clothes but the good stuff never seems to have my size(14) in store but they have/ had loads online. 🤷‍♀️

I like to see and touch what I am buying and not just in pictures, so I don’t buy much online either. It’s not all bad news, the state of the shops and their lack of stock is saving me a fortune!

i haven’t shopped for clothes in an M&S store for years. Their stores have a poor range of sizes and lengths in almost everything. I find it much easier to order online in different sizes, try on and return as appropriate.

They haven’t been careless with your data, it was a cyber attack, ffs 🤷‍♀️

I agree. The stock in our local town is dreadful. You can’t just go shopping. You have to order, collect, try it on in store and either take it home or return it. They have all this space in store and so few options.

I have huge sympathy for any business that suffers a cyber attack and completely respect that they haven't paid the ransom.
There's no guarantee that their system would be left intact even if they had paid up. Plus after being compromised they might have to rebuild their systems from scratch anyway.

M&S have upped their game in recent years, and just as importantly, there's a still a high street shop I can easily get to.

Plus I love their pistachio cookies.

We have an old fashioned department store in our town -smart, polite staff, nice range of clothes. I don’t see why M&S can’t set up a few old fashioned stores, properly staffed, that can accept cash in the old fashioned way for times like these -I don’t see cyber attacks going away -surely the cleverer the geeks get , and the vast amounts they can extract from the companies, the more there will be.
A proper well stocked, well staffed store might be an attraction.

I went in a medium sized Coop yesterday. The green grocery department seemed ok, but the stock levels in some other sections looked like the first week of lockdown in March 2020!

Ours has been awful for years. Nothing to do with a cyber attack a couple of weeks ago. I've regularly walked in M&S and walked out again after seeing nothing I could buy. The few things I'd actually want havn't been available in my size (12). Last time, there was a lovely pastel coloured light Summer jacket - an entire rack full of size 20s! - no other sizes at all. Just why do they do that? I can understand it during the annual clearance sale when they obviously have warehouses to clear, but this was mainstream, not discounted. The jacket was also in other colours, and whilst not as obvious, the availability was also not consistent across sizing - they had several 12s but no 10s or 14s (I was trying on other sizes to check which size I needed to order online of the colour I liked). When I look online, there's so much I can buy in sizes/colours/designs that I like but they're never in the shops. It's not just that I only go to a small local one either. I've been to shops all over, including some very large ones, and they still have the same limited ranges and still often don't have a full range of sizes. They're driving people online - I don't think they actually want to keep the shops open for clothing. And no, it really isn't just the last couple of weeks after the cyber attack. It goes back years. Go into other major chains and their racks have a good range of sizes, i.e. 2 of each sizes 8 through to 18, but M&S have 1 size 8 and then 10 of size 20! It makes no sense, as if they'd started with 10 of all sizes, they'd not have fitted on the rack, so it was a conscious choice to send so many of a single size to a particular store and few/none of other sizes.

The stock is poor because everyone has move to shop online. I think the co op attack is causing chaos else where but not getting the coverage as middle class journos don’t shop there. Cyber crime is getting worse. Scams are the norm…. Through a work thing I was shown the video here and it’s heart breaking https://solutions.lseg.com/LSEGRiskIntelligence_facevalue

Since covid the stock levels and ranges in most shops have been reduced. Its because we all had to shop online and never went back to the shops afterwards. OP starts with a wishlist of things she can't buy online..... Only went to the store because she can't shop online..... That's what everyone is doing and that's why shops don't have the full range of colours, sizes and products in their physical stores.

That's what I don't get. Went into a large M&S in York a few weeks ago - so sparsely kitted out with stock - racks/shelves spaced wide apart, all stock on one level (nothing high or low). They could probably have fitted in two or three times more stock and still have full accessibility. Went next door to Next and the difference in stock levels was obvious - not fill "floor to ceiling" racks like in places like JD Sports, but certainly 2, if not 3 levels of stock, i.e. racks of suit jackets above racks of suit trousers in menswear, whereas in M&S next door, it was racks of jackets next to racks of trousers, so twice the floor space taken up. Same with jeans/T shirts etc that were folded on shelves where there were 4/5/6 shelves whereas in M&S they were on racks with just two shelves, In M&S you could see from one end of the store to the other because no racks were over 5 feet tall! Just padded out to make it look like the shop was full, but it's really not. Then they whinge about too many people buying online and returning most of it - what choice do people have if their shops don't actually have stock? Same with Clarks shoes - barely ever have any real choice in stores - that's also become a "showroom" where they tell you to order online rather than having enough stock to actually sell in store.