M&S website and app down for several hours as retailer issues apology to shoppers

Retail giant Marks and Spencer says "technical issues" have caused its website and app to go offline for several hours this afternoon.

Shoppers visiting the website this afternoon have been met with a message reading: "Sorry you can't shop with us right now. We're working hard to be back online as soon as possible." M&S has apologised for the inconvenience and said they are 'working on' fixing the issues.

Frustrated customers have taken to social media to vent their frustration. One X user asked the retailer: "Is your app working? Can't get it to open, thx." Another posted: "What happened to the MandS website?" A third commented: "Marks and Spencer, app and website down?"

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In response to customer queries, M&S assured customers that they were "working on it". An M&S spokeswoman told the BBC that a problem with a third party provider was "temporarily affecting access". The company added: "We hope to be back up and running soon and are sorry to customers for the inconvenience caused."

According to the BBC, the website came back online at around 5pm for a short time before going down again, while the app is showing a message about a technical glitch.

In a similar incident last month, Sainsbury's issued an apology after a technical fault disrupted customer deliveries. On April 25, an IT problem resulted in missed online grocery deliveries, which Sainsbury's later said had been fixed, affecting only a "small" number of customers.

To make amends for the disruption, Sainsbury's offered compensation in the form of supermarket vouchers to those impacted, promising the vouchers would appear in their accounts within 24 hours.