M&S buckles under pressure of Black Friday sales backlog
Marks & Spencer has been forced to change Christmas delivery times for online orders as it struggles to cope with a surge in sales around its Black Friday promotion.
Currently, the standard delivery option will see some orders take up to 10 days to reach customers, compared with its normal service of up to five days.
Click and collect deliveries could take up to four days to reach stores.
The next-day delivery option was initially withdrawn from the website, however it has now been restored.
A spokesperson told The Drum that this will be reviewed on an hourly basis as it works through the backlog of Black Friday and Cyber Monday orders.
"Our customer is always our top priority and that is why we’ve extended some of our delivery options,” the spokesperson said.
However, sales for online retailers today (8 December) - dubbed 'Manic Monday' - are expected to eclipse Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, according to figures from IMRG.
The spokesperson declined to comment on the extent to which delivery times might be further affected.
M&S was unable to give an indication of whether delivery times will return to normal before Christmas day.
This was the first year that M&S participated in the event, offering up to 30 per cent off footwear, perfume and clothing in a 'Four Magical Days' campaign.
It is not the first retailer to have been forced to delay deliveries. Argos changed its delivery options following an unexpected rush in orders over the Black Friday weekend.
Overall, only one per cent of social media conversations about delivery of products ordered on Black Friday have been positive, according to the analysis of 65,500 UK Twitter conversations from Pelipod.