Despite suffering one of the UK’s most significant retail cyberattacks in April 2025, Marks & Spencer (M&S) has bounced back to report a 25% rise in sales, according to the company.
M&S has tackled with the fallout from losing customer trust after the hacking group Scattered Spider carried out a cyberattack that disrupted both its fashion and food sales during the 2025 Easter trading period.
But with the viral success of products such as the Red Diamond Strawberry and Creme Sandwich, Speckled Egg Cookies, and its popular ‘picky bits’ range, M&S’s social media presence may have helped maintain the customer perception of the brand.
“That was an extraordinary year,” said M&S Chief Executive Stuart Machin, introducing the retailer’s latest full-year results for the 52 weeks ending 28 March 2026.
For M&S, that description feels particularly fitting.
Emily Jade, a food and lifestyle influencer with over 517,700 followers on TikTok, said: “They’ve also done a great job of making the people behind the products part of the story.”
Disruption from the attack still did take its toll as despite a rise in sales, pre-tax profit fell 29% year-on-year, dropping from £511.8million to £364.6million.
Food performance proved more resilient, with the division still delivering a 7.1% increase in Q1 profits compared with the same period the previous year.
The brand’s fashion, home and beauty division was hit particularly hard, with online sales bearing the brunt of the impact.
Overall, the division reported a 20.8% year-on-year decline in Q1, generating £762.8million in statutory revenue.
Performance gradually recovered over the course of the year, culminating in Q4 when sales increased 4.3% year-on-year to £919million in statutory revenue.
M&S was forced to suspend online orders for almost seven weeks following the attack.
The disruption, along with reputational impact during the incident, led to a 58.6% year-on-year decline in online sales for the Fashion, Home & Beauty division.
This decline gradually eased over the following quarters, with online sales returning to growth by Q3 – up 1% – and strengthening further in Q4, when they rose 6.1%.
Overall, M&S reported a 25% increase in sales over the same period, significantly ahead of the 8% rise recorded in the previous financial year.
However, excluding sales from Ocado, growth was more modest at just 2%.
Removing Ocado performance, the figures suggest that while M&S has maintained underlying momentum and strengthened its brand resilience following the cyberattack, much of the headline growth is driven by external factors.
So how exactly did M&S manage to bounce back from such a major disruption?
M&S has become the go-to supermarket for the “picky bits” trend – no-cook meals made up of small portions of finger foods, tapas-style dishes and grazing items, sometimes referred to online as “British tapas”.
Last year, the retailer even marked 27 June as National Picky Bits Day.
According to a survey of 40,000 M&S customers, 61% of 18–34-year-olds bought their summer picnic food and drink from M&S, compared with 36% of over-55s.
Jade said: “I’ve definitely seen a rise in viral M&S products over the past few years.
“Not only are their products unique and inventive, but they’re also incredibly watchable on social media.”
Last year, M&S launched a limited-edition Red Diamond Strawberry and Crème Sandwich, which quickly went viral on social media.
Priced at £2.80 for a single half-sandwich, its popularity led the retailer to follow up this year with a Chocolate, Strawberry and Pistachio Crème version, priced at £3.50.
“The strawberry sandwich is a great example – it put its own spin on the already popular strawberry sando trend, making people curious to try it and share it,” explained Jade.
The hashtag #mands has generated over 74,400 videos on TikTok, with thousands of creators sharing their favourite M&S products.
Jade said: “Social media has transformed these launches into almost limited-edition drops, creating anticipation around every new release and encouraging people to try them before they sell out, helping introduce M&S to audiences who might never have considered shopping there before.”
Alongside the sandwiches, M&S cookies – priced between £2.10 and £3.90 depending on variety and pack size – have also become a trending snack, frequently selling out in stores due to high demand.
Jade said: “Once one product starts gaining traction on social media, it creates a ripple effect where people want to try it for themselves to see if it lives up to the hype.
“They also do a brilliant job of creating products that feel made for social media.
“Products like the cookie cups are visually exciting and aren’t the kind of products people would typically expect to find in a supermarket, making them the sort of launches people naturally want to film and share.”
Alongside its popular snack products, M&S has demonstrated a strong ability to capture attention on social media.
“I think other supermarkets are having their own viral moments too, but M&S has been particularly consistent,” Jade said.
Using the trending Justin Bieber sound ‘EVERYTHING HALLELUJAH’, one creator adapted the meme by replacing the lyric with “M&S hallelujah”, inspiring more than 665 videos of users featuring M&S ‘picky bits’ and cookies.
M&S has also successfully turned some of its employees into influencers in their own right.
Kathryn Turner, the retailer’s director of product development, has amassed around 50,000 followers in just one month.
Jade said: “Seeing Kathryn share behind-the-scenes content gives people someone to connect with, making new launches feel more personal rather than just another supermarket releasing a product.”
The social media reach also extends to the shop floor, with 600 stores running their own Facebook pages and 200 maintaining TikTok accounts, where they post trending content promoting products to millions of viewers.
If any supermarket knows how to retain its consumers’ interest, it’s M&S, and the past year has proved exactly that.
M&S was approached for a comment.
Featured image credit: Unsplash
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