Product availability still recovering after tech outage, says Morrisons
Product availability still recovering after tech outage, says Morrisons
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Morrisons has said the availability of products in its stores has still not fully recovered after a major IT systems outage before Christmas. The UK’s fifth-largest supermarket chain said its recent turnaround progress was “set back” by the issue, which has caused weaker sales growth in recent months.
Boss Rami Baitieh said the company was unable to see its product availability and stock levels for four days after a cyber incident hit its technology supplier, Blue Yonder. We found a work around very quickly but our availability fell significantly and we very sadly let down some customers. The incident did set back our progress.
“We found a work around very quickly but our availability fell significantly and we very sadly let down some customers,” he said. “The incident did set back our progress. “Our availability is improving but it is not yet back to where it was before the incident, although product availability is still better than we were a year ago.”.
Chief financial officer Jo Goff said Morrisons expects to recover costs caused by the incident as it seeks to make a claim with its insurers. The group added that sales for the current quarter, which covered the key Christmas period, were positive but saw slower growth than the previous quarter.
It came after Morrisons’ sales jumped last year, with the supermarket saying it took market share from competitors and grew its loyalty card scheme. The company said like-for-like sales rose 4.1% in the year ending October 27, while earnings jumped to £835 million from £751 million in the previous 12 months.
