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Original poster

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

112 replies

CaterpillaNavilla · 15/05/2025 22:37

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!

OP posts:
DBD1975 · 26/05/2025 13:15

RedToothBrush · 17/05/2025 15:30

I don't feel sorry for M&S.

The attack was due to shit IT. The contractor they used was one DH has come across before and they have a reputation for being utterly useless.

On company he knows who used them specified a number of IT staff they wanted. But didn't give any criteria for standards of this staff. So they hired anyone they could find in India even if they couldn't code a thing to meet the numbers in the contract.

He's unsurprised this contractor has been involved.

There's a lot of companies that are doing similar and not hiring good quality IT staff or contractors cos they are trying to cut costs and then they wonder why it goes horribly wrong.

M&S probably can reclaim at least some money from the contractor.

This totally, instead of paying out millions to shareholders and paying a £450,000 salary to their chairman they should have been investing in robust IT systems

Paellama · 26/05/2025 14:52

Obviously this is down to the cyber attack. And there are many sarcastic posts trying to reiterate it.

But how? How is it that some items can be out of stock everywhere (there must be some in a warehouse somewhere?) because of a problem withthe same computer system that allows other things to be delivered and available.

Needtosoundoffandbreathe · 26/05/2025 16:01

@Paellama because they rely on their IT system to know what stock they have where. Once that information goes to pot, and stock takes aren't being recorded accurately,whether I'm a warehouse or a shop, then they don't know what they have where and they don't know what to order from suppliers.

taxguru · 26/05/2025 16:05

Needtosoundoffandbreathe · 26/05/2025 16:01

@Paellama because they rely on their IT system to know what stock they have where. Once that information goes to pot, and stock takes aren't being recorded accurately,whether I'm a warehouse or a shop, then they don't know what they have where and they don't know what to order from suppliers.

The cost of manual stock takes to restore their stock control system is tiny compared to the millions they're losing in lost sales due to being unable to sell stuff meaning customers are buying from competitors instead. It's insane to deliberately hold stocks in warehouses and not sell stuff just because it'll be difficult and time consuming to get their stock control systems back. It's the tail wagging the dog. The stock control should support sales, not hold them back!

Paellama · 26/05/2025 16:05

Needtosoundoffandbreathe · 26/05/2025 16:01

@Paellama because they rely on their IT system to know what stock they have where. Once that information goes to pot, and stock takes aren't being recorded accurately,whether I'm a warehouse or a shop, then they don't know what they have where and they don't know what to order from suppliers.

Okay, but in my local shop,for example, there are no ice lollies. The freezer compartment is empty and someone has put the little labels to say sorry out of stock. As trivial as ice cream might be, that means to order some, as it's clearly not in stock. It is possible to make a list without IT, and it's not the items themselves affected, as shown by the compartment full of frozen veg.

JenniferBooth · 26/05/2025 16:21

RedToothBrush · 17/05/2025 15:30

I don't feel sorry for M&S.

The attack was due to shit IT. The contractor they used was one DH has come across before and they have a reputation for being utterly useless.

On company he knows who used them specified a number of IT staff they wanted. But didn't give any criteria for standards of this staff. So they hired anyone they could find in India even if they couldn't code a thing to meet the numbers in the contract.

He's unsurprised this contractor has been involved.

There's a lot of companies that are doing similar and not hiring good quality IT staff or contractors cos they are trying to cut costs and then they wonder why it goes horribly wrong.

M&S probably can reclaim at least some money from the contractor.

Its not just retail either. My HA uses SAP which has been installed on the cheap

RedToothBrush · 26/05/2025 16:32

Paellama · 26/05/2025 16:05

Okay, but in my local shop,for example, there are no ice lollies. The freezer compartment is empty and someone has put the little labels to say sorry out of stock. As trivial as ice cream might be, that means to order some, as it's clearly not in stock. It is possible to make a list without IT, and it's not the items themselves affected, as shown by the compartment full of frozen veg.

Show quote history

It is possible to make a list without IT.

The problem is partly that companies have reduced staff numbers to levels which are as low as possible for most 'efficiency'. They have the minimum amount of staff they possibly can to function.

This means they don't actually have spare staff to stock take whilst operating the shop...

Nanny0gg · 26/05/2025 16:42

Theunamedcat · 17/05/2025 09:51

I feel for the staff their systems are down they are having to write in a book when they clock in and out plus keep track just in case payroll messes up stocktaking is done on paper teams went down early on so they couldn't get messages to and from there immediate supervisors all the little shortcuts technology has given us to make work go faster gone they arnt getting longer to do the job but the job is taking longer to do then they have to deal with the general public who are not nice at the best of times

Just how it was when I worked there 50 years ago!

It's very scary how reliant we are on tech and how easily we can't cope when it's gone wrong.

Power down today and couldn't even make a phone call...

Nanny0gg · 26/05/2025 16:43

RedToothBrush · 26/05/2025 16:32

It is possible to make a list without IT.

The problem is partly that companies have reduced staff numbers to levels which are as low as possible for most 'efficiency'. They have the minimum amount of staff they possibly can to function.

This means they don't actually have spare staff to stock take whilst operating the shop...

Show quote history

And the company at the other end is probably not set up to take orders over the phone...

taxguru · 26/05/2025 18:37

RedToothBrush · 26/05/2025 16:32

It is possible to make a list without IT.

The problem is partly that companies have reduced staff numbers to levels which are as low as possible for most 'efficiency'. They have the minimum amount of staff they possibly can to function.

This means they don't actually have spare staff to stock take whilst operating the shop...

Show quote history

The thing is that the staff clearly aren't spending time on putting stock on the shelves, so they could be spending that time on writing lists of what's missing instead. Same in warehouses, there'll be staff who are not handling the goods in/out, as nothing is moving.

We do seem to suffer from paralysis in this country when something goes wrong, whether it's motorway crashes, train line blockages, damages to roads or utilities, etc - it seems to take an inordinate amount of time to gets things moving again and during that time, it seems to have become acceptable just to leave people stranded in limbo.

Where are the "Plan B's"? Where are the resilience planners?

RedToothBrush · 26/05/2025 18:57

taxguru · 26/05/2025 18:37

The thing is that the staff clearly aren't spending time on putting stock on the shelves, so they could be spending that time on writing lists of what's missing instead. Same in warehouses, there'll be staff who are not handling the goods in/out, as nothing is moving.

We do seem to suffer from paralysis in this country when something goes wrong, whether it's motorway crashes, train line blockages, damages to roads or utilities, etc - it seems to take an inordinate amount of time to gets things moving again and during that time, it seems to have become acceptable just to leave people stranded in limbo.

Where are the "Plan B's"? Where are the resilience planners?

Show quote history

No they aren't putting stock on the shelves.

But they are also dealing with grumpy customers.

And it's not just the retailer that's dropped staff. It's the warehouse too. So you have hundreds of individual shops and a few of central warehouses - but these warehouses only supply a certain number of products.

The staff in the shop therefore have to know which warehouse each product comes from and then contact each individual warehouse with the right products. And the warehouses have to take multiple calls from hundreds shops often with shop assistants asking for products that come from another warehouse.

The complexity of this and the reduction is staff is MASSIVE.

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