Wed. Sep 18th, 2024
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IF you regularly get your weekly shopping delivered, but you don’t have a delivery pass, you could be overspending by hundreds of pounds a year.

How much you’ll save with a pass depends on how regularly you shop and when you typically get shopping delivered, but if you’re doing a weekly shopping order, you should always be quids in.

We found there is a disparity in how much supermarkets charge for deliveries

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We found there is a disparity in how much supermarkets charge for deliveries

If you only shop fortnightly, you’re still likely to save some money with a pass, but it will be less overall.

Here, we round up the best options for discounts so you can get your groceries right to your doorstop as cheaply as possible.

Asda – save up to £190.50 on a weekly shop

Asda delivery costs vary depending on what time of day you book.

For instance, delivery to an address in North London costs £5 on Friday and weekend mornings, £4.50 on weekday mornings, £3.75 for afternoons, and as little as £1.50 if you’re happy to get your shopping after 9pm in the evening.

Asda also has two delivery pass options, depending on how much flexibility you need. 

The midweek pass allows you to have your shopping delivered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. It costs £3.95 a month, or you can save more money by buying an annual pass, which costs £39.50 a year.

The anytime pass means you can get shopping delivered whenever you want, subject to availability. It costs £6.95 a month, or you can save more money by buying an annual pass, which costs £69.50 a year.

Someone who normally uses the £3.75 afternoon slots each week would save £155.50 over the course of the year by buying an annual weekday pass.

Meanwhile, someone who prefers to get their shopping on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday morning for £5 each time, would save as much as £190.50 with an annual anytime pass.

Iceland – save up to £208 on a weekly shop

Iceland doesn’t do delivery passes, but it does offer free next-day delivery if you spend £40 or more online.

Equally, if you’re in store and shopping, the supermarket will deliver your shopping home for you, free of charge, the very same day.

Iceland has a minimum order of £25 for home delivery, and if you spend less than the £40 required for free delivery, you’ll be charged £4 each time. 

For weekly shops, that means you’ll save £208 if you make sure each delivery is over £40 rather than doing lots of littler shops and paying the £4 fees. 

It also means that Iceland is likely to be cheaper delivery-wise than supermarkets where you have to buy a delivery pass, as long as you’re planning and shopping less often, rather than buying things you don’t need or want.

Morrisons – save up to £176 on a weekly shop

Just like Asda, Morrisons’ typical delivery costs depend on when you want your delivery.

Looking at slots for an address in London, The Sun found that the prices varied massively, with choices including £1.50 for 9:30pm on a Sunday, £2 for 9pm on a Saturday, £3.50 for Friday evening, all the way up to £7 for a Saturday morning slot.

Morrisons also has two delivery passes available. The midweek pass allows for deliveries on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and costs £5 a month, £25 for six months, or just £40 for the year.

The supermarket calculates how much you can save based on a weekly shop with average delivery costs of £4.15. The biggest discount is with the annual pass, which the supermarket says will save you £176.

An anytime pass is more expensive, setting you back either £8 a month, £45 for six months, and £70 a year.

This would only save you £146 if you were paying the average £4.15 delivery fee, but if you regularly use the slots costing over £6 on the weekends then it could save you considerably more.

Ocado – save from £115.49 with a weekly mid-week shop

Ocado, which also delivers a range of M&S food and drink, says its delivery charges range from 99p to £6.99 depending on what slots are available when you book.

If your order is less than £75, there’s a minimum charge of £2.99 applied.

However, the Ocado smart pass gives you free delivery and also guarantees you 10% off on certain products. You also get exclusive access to half price sales.

A midweek Tuesday to Thursday pass costs £3.99 a month, £22.49 for six months, or £39.99 a year. 

If you want more flexibility, an anytime pass costs £8.99 a month, £49.99 for six months, or £89.99 a year.

Assuming you pay at least £2.99 for a weekly order of less than £75, you’d save a minimum of £115.49 with the cheaper pass and £65.49 with the more expensive pass.

Of course, if you’re regularly selecting more expensive slots, you’ll likely save much more.

It’s worth noting that delivery passes are suspended over Christmas, so you’ll likely have to pay delivery fees for your festive Ocado shop.

Sainsbury’s – save up to £206 with a weekly shop

Sainsbury’s delivery costs change depending on when you want to book.

Looking at slots for a London delivery, the costs ranged from £4 either very early in the morning or late at night, up to £5.50 on a Friday evening.

However, the supermarket offers delivery slots from just £1 if you’re happy to accept a longer four-hour window. The £1 slots tend to appear early in the morning or late in the evening, with prices peaking at £3 at more popular times.

Alternatively, you can book a delivery pass subscription. You can choose midweek, which costs £4 a month or £40 annually. Assuming you’d typically spend £4 on a weekly slot, this would save you £168 if you made the one-off payment.

An anytime pass costs £7.50 a month, £43 for six months and £80 a year. If you were always booking the most expensive slots each week at £5.50, this deal would save you £206 a year.

One thing that’s important to note is that delivery pass orders are still subject to a minimum order of £40. If your shop is lower than that, you’ll be charged a hefty £7 for your delivery.

Tesco – save £176 on a weekly shop

Tesco says its standard delivery costs range from £3-£7 depending on your location and when you want your shopping to arrive.

Alternatively, you can book a delivery saver pass. There are two options available – either off-peak, which lets you book any available slot after 3pm, or anytime, which lets you book any slot including same-day delivery.

Off-peak costs £4.99 a month if you book for six months, or £3.99 a month if you book for the whole year.

Anytime costs £7.99 a month if you sign up for half the year, but just £6.99 if you commit for twelve months.

The supermarket says customers will save £176 a year, based on someone who normally pays weekly £5 delivery charges instead signing up to an annual anytime plan.

Waitrose

Waitrose typically charges £4 for a one-hour delivery window, but you can save some money by opting for a longer four-hour slot. This typically costs £2, meaning a 50% reduction.

The supermarket does not offer a delivery pass.

How to save money on your supermarket shop

THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.

You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.

If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.

Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.

Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.

This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.

Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.

For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.

If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.

Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.

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