Cheapest supermarket delivery services revealed from Tesco to Sainsburys

It is safe to say that grocery delivery from supermarkets has become much more popular in recent years.

With more of us opting to have our weekly groceries delivered to our door for convenience, the major supermarket chains are eager to adopt our custom.

But they now have a number of options from annual passes, monthly passes and cheaper deals if you can deliver during the week.

There are also minimum spending requirements – and Britain’s largest supermarket is making changes from Monday.

Tesco delivery minimum shopping basket will be increased from £40 to £50.

In addition, the minimum cart price will be increased from £5 to £4 – this is the charge added to orders that do not meet the minimum cart value.

This is Money takes a look at the UK’s largest supermarkets and breaks down how much they charge for delivery, in order of size.

Aldi and Lidl, Britain’s fourth and sixth largest supermarkets respectively, do not offer home delivery. We based the findings on a £60 weekly supermarket shop.

tesco

Tesco is offering a forever pass for £83.88 for a year of free delivery that is payable upfront – although it currently has an offer to pay for it at £6.99 a month instead of £7.99.

The off-peak plan is a one-off payment of £47.88 for the year or is currently offered at £3.99 per month instead of £4.99.

The off-peak rate offers free delivery after 3pm, with the exception of Whoosh. This is Tesco’s fast delivery service that aims to have your goods at your door within 60 minutes. This plan gives you next day home deliveries.

If you want a same-day delivery with this plan, you’ll have to pay a cost that is between £2 and £9.

Tesco’s anytime plan includes same day delivery and includes Whoosh. It also includes priority slots at Christmas that the off-peak plan doesn’t have.

In addition to 12-month subscriptions, Tesco also has an option for 6-month subscriptions. For a prepayment of £29.94 or £4.99 per month you can get a 6 month off peak pass. It costs £47.94 or £7.99 for a 6-month forever pass.

You save 22 percent over 12 months compared to a 6-month off-peak subscription and 13 percent for an whenever you want pass.

There’s another option at Tesco – click + collect anytime – this is £14.94 upfront or £2.49 per month. This gives you same-day click+collect, the ability to pick up orders at any time, and access to priority collections for Christmas and Easter.

For Tesco deliveries without a delivery card, it can cost between €2 and €7 to have groceries delivered.

Pronunciation: If you’ve had a £60 meal delivery once a week and are flexible enough to have them delivered after 3pm it will cost 92 cents a week with current prices with the off-peak offer – the cheapest way to get your Tesco deliveries.

Otherwise it costs £1.61 with the all-year pass. If you want to stick your toe in with a six-month pass, it’s £1.15 a week for off-peak hours and £1.84 a week for any time.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s always offers passes and midweek passes.

A monthly pass costs £7.50 per month. A 6 month pass is a one off payment of £40 and a one year pass is £80.

Sainsbury’s anytime passes give you up to one free delivery each day.

With the midweek passes you get one free delivery any time of the day between Tuesday and Thursday.

Monthly midweek passes are £4 at Sainsbury’s. If you want to commit to a 12 month midweek pass, it’s a one off payment of £40.

Sainsbury’s has a free delivery minimum of £40. Without a delivery card, shops under £40 have a standard delivery charge of £7 and orders over £40 cost between £1 and £5.50.

Pronunciation: If you have a meal delivery of £60 once a week and you can deliver food between Tuesday and Thursday then the cheapest way to get your groceries from Sainsbury’s is to buy a midweek annual pass at 77 pp a week.

If you are unable to deliver during the week, it is £1.54 per week with an annual pass at any time.

There’s also the 6 month anytime option and this would also cost £1.54 a week to get your groceries delivered, meaning there’s no discount for taking out a longer term pass.

Asda

Asda offers delivery passes from £3.50 per month. They have offers for 12 month anytime or midweek passes. You can pay monthly or pay once.

A pass is always £65 for 12 months if you pay in one installment or £6.50 per month. For a mid-week pass option – for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday deliveries – Asda are offering a 12-month pass for a one-off payment of £35 or if you choose to pay monthly, it’s £3.50 per month.

The minimum food shop for free delivery with a delivery card is €40. There is a minimum cart fee of £3 if your store falls below £40.

Both the anytime and midweek passes do not include express delivery, so if you want this you’ll need to pay £8.50 per store on top of the delivery pass. The aim is to get your groceries to your door within an hour, in certain postal codes.

Pronunciation: Asda offers the cheapest delivery passes of the lot if you pay in advance rather than monthly for a midweek pass. You could do your shopping 67 pp per week if you buy the midweek pass.

Otherwise, if you want the flexibility of an whenever you want pass, it costs £1.25 per week to get your groceries delivered.

Morrisons

At Morrisons you can choose from monthly, 6 month or annual delivery cards.

A forever delivery pass is £8 per month, while a midweek monthly pass is £5 for groceries delivered on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

If you get an annual pass you can make a one off payment of £70. A midweek annual pass costs £40 in advance.

There’s also a 6-month subscription that costs £45 for the anytime pass and £25 for the midweek pass.

Morrisons delivery card holders will get first coupons on Christmas delivery slots.

If you don’t have a delivery pass, Morrisons delivery slots start from £1.50 and most of their click & collect slots are free with a small handful of peak times for 50p.

Those who have Amazon Prime, which costs £8.99 or £95 for the year, can get Morrisons deliveries in certain postcodes. This is at no extra cost at stores over £40 or £50 depending on location.

Pronunciation: The cheapest option to have your groceries delivered with Morrisons is with a midweek annual pass, cost price 77 pp a week.

If deliveries during the week aren’t an option for you, it costs £1.35 with an annual pass at any time.

The minimum basket value for Morrisons home delivery is the lowest of the supermarkets at £25, useful for small shops or if you prefer to do two shops a week.

Ocado

Ocado offers customers a Smart Pass with anytime and midweek rates.

Anytime monthly passes are £8.99 and midweek monthly passes are £3.99. With the Ocado midweek pass you have free delivery on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

If you have a midweek pass and book a delivery outside of these days, you will be charged an additional delivery fee of up to €6.99, depending on the time of day you book.

If you want a one-year delivery pass, the annual pass is one payment of £89.99. Ocado’s midweek annual pass costs £39.99 per year.

There are also options for a 6 month pass. The Anytime Pass is £49.99 and the Midweek Pass is £22.49 on this plan.

With a Smart Pass you can save up to 10 percent on over 500 items and access priority slots during Christmas.

However, during Christmas week, when Ocado’s Smart Pass delivery benefits are suspended, delivery charges will apply.

If you don’t have a Smart Pass, Ocado’s delivery costs can be as high as £6.99, depending on slot availability.

If your order is less than £75 you will be charged a minimum of £2.99 and a maximum of £6.99.

For standard orders of £75 or more, you may be offered free delivery.

Pronunciation: It will cost you 77 pp per week if you have your groceries delivered between Tuesday and Thursday with an annual Ocado midweek Smart Pass.

However, you can essentially lower this price further with the current three-month free pass option – although it will move to a paid option after three months if you don’t trade. Use code: VOU1808002 at checkout.

Alternatively, an annual pass is £1.73 per week, the most expensive of the bunch.

You get some extra benefits with an Ocado Smart Pass, such as exclusive 50 percent off sales and savings of at least 10 percent on hundreds of different products.

The best of the rest: free delivery in Iceland…

Iceland doesn’t offer delivery passes, instead they have free next day delivery with a minimum spend of £40.

Co-op does not have a delivery card. Their minimum spend is £15 and delivery starts from 99p depending on the slot you choose.

Waitrose also does not have a delivery pass. The minimum spend is £40 for home delivery. There is a pick and pack fee, although the price of this isn’t clear – click and pick up is free.