Co-op stock levels are on the road to recovery, with the convenience retailer informing suppliers it is turning orders back online tomorrow, The Grocer can reveal.
In a notice sent to suppliers, the Co-op said it was “pleased to inform that systemic-based orders will resume for ambient, fresh, and frozen products commencing Wednesday 14 May”.
It follows widespread availability issues that have crippled Co-op stores across the country as it has continued to fight the devastation from a cyberattack since 30 April.
The attack had “necessitated the temporary shutdown of certain elements of our supply chain and logistics operations”, it said.
As the Co-op turns orders back online, it has warned suppliers it is unable to provide “accurate product forecasting ahead of Wednesday’s orders”.
“Suppliers are advised to anticipate inflated order volumes as we work to recover availability. We acknowledge that production forecasts have been impacted by the disruption and request that you make every effort to fulfil orders as requested.
“We anticipate some volatility in order volumes over the next few days as our systems update and return to normal operational efficiency. During this period, some suppliers may experience sporadic inclusion or exclusion of product lines in their orders, and in some cases, full orders. We will do our absolute best to minimise these disruptions and appreciate your patience as we work towards resuming full supply.”
A Co-op spokeswoman said: “Following the malicious third-party cyber-attack, we took early and decisive action to restrict access to our systems in order to protect our Co-op. We are now in the recovery phase and are taking steps to bring our systems gradually back online in a safe and controlled manner.
“In our Food business, there will be improved stock availability in our Food stores and online from this weekend and we are working closely with our suppliers to restock our stores. Our stock ordering system is now fully online, and we have switched all our orders back to the normal supply processes and systems. All forms of payments including contactless, and chip and pin are working across our entire store estate.
“We’d like to thank all our colleagues, members, partners and suppliers for their support so far. We will provide further updates to our members as we continue to make progress from this cyber-attack.”
Co-op first revealed it had shut down parts of its IT estate, having “recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems”, late last month. At the time, it said the damage was limited to “a small impact to some of our back office and call centre services”.
Days later, as it experienced “sustained malicious attempts by hackers”, the retailer said the hackers had been able to access data from one of its systems associated with current and past members.
Co-op Group CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq then issued a communication to customers that the attackers had been “able to access a limited amount of member data”, which was “obviously extremely distressing for our colleagues and members”. A guide on the Co-op website says the accessed data includes member names, residential addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth, but not passwords or bank or credit card details.
The attack last week also knocked contactless card payments offline at nearly one in 10 stores, forcing customers to use cash or enter their PINs.
Co-op’s struggle comes amid a spate of cyberattacks on UK retailers, among them M&S and Harrods.
Technology publication BleepingComputer, citing multiple sources, reported both the M&S and Co-op attacks started with hackers impersonating employees and convincing helpdesks to reset passwords so they could gain access to the network.
Richard Horn, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre – which is investigating the “complex and ongoing situation” with the National Crime Agency – last week said the spate of attacks “should act as a wake-up call to all organisations”.
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