With the cost of living crisis showing no signs of slowing down, getting the best value for money doing the weekly shop has never been more important.
Costs rising across the board have seen many Brits look for ways to pinch pennies – whether that be on their monthly bills, or while shopping for essentials.
In a busy modern world, many of us opt to have our groceries delivered right to our doors to save time browsing the shopping aisles – and save money on impulse purchases.
However, many of us do not consider whether this way of shopping does actually save us money, or whether it could actually be costing us more on our favourite items.
So is it more expensive to buy groceries from delivery apps? Here’s what you need to know.
Is buying groceries from delivery apps more expensive?
New data from consumer choice brand Which? has found that ordering groceries from apps and online sites such as Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats often costs more than buying direct from the same supermarket.
To collect the data, they compared the price of a basket of 15 popular grocery items at five major supermarkets against what you’d pay if you ordered the same basket, from the same supermarket, to the same postcode, via a delivery app.
They found that most of the items they purchased were either more expensive on the delivery apps or the same price, meaning that it is cheaper to shop directly from a supermarket.
The basket of items – which included branded and own-label goods – would have cost £36.63 from Iceland. Getting those same items delivered from the same Iceland store by Just Eat would have cost £50.50 – a whopping 38% premium on your grocery bill.
These are the full findings on price differences from the survey:
Which? findings on whether it is more expensive to shop directly from a supermarket or online
Asda
Supermarket price – £45.60
Deliveroo price – £49.59 (9% more)
Just Eat price – £49.68 (9% more)
Uber Eats price – £54.39 (19% more)
Iceland
Supermarket price – £36.63
Deliveroo price – N/A
Just Eat price – £50.50 (38% more)
Uber Eats price – £48.33 (32% more)
Morrisons
Supermarket price – £41.99
Deliveroo price – £48.22 (15% more)
Just Eat price – N/A
Uber Eats price – £56.25 (34% more)
Sainsbury’s
Supermarket price – £37.27
Deliveroo price – £47.85 (28% more)
Just Eat price – £47.85 (28% more)
Uber Eats price – £47.85 (28% more)
Waitrose
Supermarket price – £57.59
Deliveroo price – £69.75 (21% more)
Just Eat price – N/A
Uber Eats price – N/A
Morrisons groceries are also available to order on Amazon, depending on your postcode, so Which? did a similar comparison looking at 35 items.
They found that you’d pay on average 8% more on Amazon than you would by ordering directly from Morrisons.
As well as the cost of the food itself, delivery fees and minimum order amounts are important considerations when considering the price of a shop.
Which? found supermarket delivery fees usually range from free to around £7, though most offer annual delivery passes that can save you precious pounds.
Many also have a set minimum spend to qualify for home delivery, which can range from £25 with Morrisons and Sainsbury’s to £50 at Tesco, which wasn’t available through the apps the survey looked at.
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