Double trouble: Supermarket groceries bought on delivery apps could cost shoppers twice as much, Which? warns

Time-pressed shoppers ordering everyday supermarket essentials from Deliveroo, Just Eat or Uber Eats could be paying at least 20 per cent more for the privilege, Which? has found, with some items more than double the price.

In a snapshot investigation, the consumer champion compared the prices of up to 50 popular grocery items – across four supermarkets - Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Waitrose available on the three big food delivery apps. Which? also checked Tesco's Whoosh service to see what kind of prices shoppers could expect to pay for groceries compared to buying directly from the supermarket.

On average, Which? found that Sainsbury's Nectar holders had the most to lose by using a delivery app to fast-track their food shopping. While the supermarket offers thousands of discounts to Nectar card holders in-store and online, these are not currently passed on via delivery apps.

According to Which?'s research, members of Sainsbury's loyalty scheme would see the biggest mark-up with Uber Eats where they would pay an average 45 per cent more. They would see a 41 per cent increase in prices with Deliveroo and 40 per cent with Just Eat compared to shopping in-store with their loyalty card.

Which? found several products that Nectar card holders would pay double for via a delivery app. Birds Eye Cod Fish Fingers (280g) were £3 with a Nectar card, but £6.25 through all delivery sites. Similarly, Quorn Chicken Nuggets (300g) were £1.75 for Nectar card holders but £3.50 through the delivery sites.

Meanwhile for non-members at Sainsbury's the differences overall were less stark, customers could expect to pay 25 per cent more at Uber Eats, 23 per cent more at Deliveroo and 22 per cent more at Just Eat. One example Which? found was Sainsbury's White Seedless Grapes 500g, which were £3 on all three delivery apps but £2 bought directly from the supermarket.

Which?'s analysis showed that people shopping at Waitrose could be paying a third more (33%) by shopping through Uber Eats instead of directly with the supermarket. The mark-up was less, although still significant, at both Just Eat (30%) and Deliveroo (25%).

Two products were consistently double the price of buying directly at Waitrose, including nappies - Pampers New Baby Nappies Size 3 (40 pack) were £12 via Just Eat and Uber Eats, but only £6 at the supermarket.

The same was found with Tilda Microwave Basmati Rice, which was £2 from Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats but £1 in Waitrose.

Which? researchers found that shoppers buying groceries from Morrisons via Deliveroo and Uber Eats were likely to find a similar mark-up compared to buying directly at the supermarket (both 28%). Meanwhile, Just Eat was 26 per cent more than buying direct.

As with the other retailers, however, Which? found some products to be much more expensive than the average. This included Quorn Vegetarian Chicken Nuggets (300g) which were £2.65 on Deliveroo, £3.10 on Just Eat and £2.81 on Uber Eats, but £1.32 at Morrisons.

Which? also found Mr Kipling French Fancies (8 pack) were £3.90 via Just Eat, £3.70 via Deliveroo, and £3.45 on Uber Eats but £2 direct from Morrisons.

On one of the days that Which? checked, it found Just Eat price-matched Asda, so the average price difference was lower than overall. However, the mark-up of Asda groceries at Just Eat was still an average of 19 per cent.

According to Which?'s research Asda groceries at Deliveroo and Uber Eats were significantly more, at 31 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.

Tesco has its own speedy same-day service called Whoosh, and it is not available on the other delivery apps. 

Which? found that Clubcard holders would have paid a quarter more on average for our list of groceries by using Whoosh versus shopping directly with Tesco. This was because some Clubcard offers with Tesco were not available via Whoosh, including New York Bakery original bagels on offer for £1 using a Clubcard at Tesco, or £2.15 via Whoosh, with no offers available.

When Which? looked at the mark-up for non-Clubcard holders, it found that they could expect to pay 18 per cent more shopping via Whoosh, but were not missing out on the substantial savings that loyalty card holders were.

Which? didn't include delivery charges in the overall totals for the delivery services or the supermarkets, as these vary depending on several factors including location and time of delivery.

The delivery apps told Which? that prices are set by grocery partners, and that they prioritise value for customers. Sainsbury's said that each of its services has clear, competitive pricing and regular promotions, while Tesco said that the prices for groceries delivered by Whoosh reflect the extra costs of rapid delivery. Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose did not provide Which? with a comment. 

Reena Sewraz, Which? Retail Editor, said:

“Shoppers won't be surprised that buying groceries through a delivery app will cost more than popping to the shops or ordering directly from the supermarket and for many, convenience is priceless when they are pressed for time.

“But our research shows that in some cases customers could be paying more than twice as much for specific items as buying directly from the supermarket, so it's worth working out how desperately you need to fast-track those nuggets, nappies and wine before you place your order.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Research:

Which? researchers collected the prices of up to 50 popular groceries at Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats and compared them with prices at the supermarkets Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Waitrose on three days within a two-week period.

Percentage differences based on a basket of up to 50 groceries, although the number of items varied day-to-day dependent on availability. Comparison doesn't include delivery charges for the supermarkets or delivery apps. 

Which? also analysed the prices for Tesco's Whoosh rapid delivery service against the usual Tesco prices on two days in the same period.

The list of groceries included branded items such as Cathedral City Mature Cheddar Cheese, Coca Cola, Heinz baked beans, Weetabix and Cadbury dairy milk alongside a handful of own-label items such as milk, cucumber and apples. The number of products varied on each day depending on availability.

Right of replies:

Supermarkets 

A Sainsbury's spokesperson said, “Customers can choose to shop with us in store, online or via third party apps for rapid delivery. Each of our services have clear, competitive pricing and regular promotions, helping customers to make the choice that's best for them.”

A spokesperson for Tesco said: “Whoosh is our superfast delivery service, getting groceries to customers' doors in as little as 20 minutes. The prices for groceries delivered by Whoosh reflect the extra costs of rapid delivery and provide market-leading value when compared with other major services providing rapid grocery delivery.”

Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose did not provide Which? with a response.

Delivery apps

An Uber Eats spokesperson said: “These findings fail to reflect the breadth of inventory and deals available for our customers on Uber Eats. Every Uber Eats partner sets their own prices and we have clearly flagged in-store price match ranges available on hundreds of products. We also invest heavily in value initiatives like our weekly Fresh Monday grocery offering and further discounts for Uber One members.” 

A Deliveroo spokesperson: “Deliveroo provides groceries fast and on demand, giving people the convenience they value. We encourage all of our partners to set fair pricing and we are always looking at new ways to ensure great value for our customers, including the integration of supermarket loyalty schemes and a newly launched offer of 50% off a range of groceries every Monday.”

Just Eat spokesperson said, “Whilst prices are set by our grocery partners we ensure customers can access great value, as well as unbeatable convenience, with ongoing deals such as ‘Half Price Wednesdays' and encouraging our partners to price match on the most popular products”.