Online groceries and delivery apps versus cooking

Delivery is genuinely useful when you are ill, it is 45°C outside or you have three deadlines. But delivery fees, small-basket charges, service fees and tips can quietly make food much more expensive. Know the real cost, then choose on purpose.

Four ways to get food without going to the shop

• Supermarket home delivery: you book a slot, often a day or more ahead, and pay a delivery fee that may depend on the slot and the basket size.
• Click and collect: you order online and pick up from the shop, which can avoid delivery fees (lovemoney).
• Rapid grocery apps: delivery in under an hour, usually with delivery and service fees and sometimes higher item prices.
• Restaurant delivery apps: cooked meals, with a menu price plus fees and often a tip. This is usually the most expensive way to eat.

What the extra charges looked like (UK, March 2025)

• lovemoney reported Tesco's delivery fees at 3 to 7 pounds, plus 5 pounds on baskets under 50 pounds.
• Sainsbury's was reported at 1 to 5.50 pounds on orders over 40 pounds, and 7 pounds on orders under 40 pounds.
• Asda was reported at up to 8.50 pounds, plus 3 pounds on baskets under 40 pounds.
• Delivery passes existed too: for example, Tesco's Delivery Saver was reported at 6.99 pounds a month on a yearly contract (7.99 on a six-month one).
• These figures are from one article updated in March 2025 and will have changed. Always read the fees on the checkout screen before paying.

Worked example 1: a small supermarket order

• Basket: 30 pounds of groceries at a shop that adds 5 pounds under a 50-pound basket and charges a 4-pound delivery fee.
• Total: 30 + 5 + 4 = 39 pounds. That is 9 pounds extra, or 30 per cent on top of the food.
• Option A: plan a bigger fortnightly order that passes the minimum, if the extra items keep (tins, rice, frozen food).
• Option B: share one order with flatmates and split it fairly, agreeing who pays what before you order.
• Option C: click and collect, or walk to the shop with a list.

Worked example 2: takeaway versus cooking (illustrative AED)

• Delivery dinner: a meal at AED 45, plus AED 7 delivery, AED 3 service fee and AED 5 tip = AED 60.
• Home-cooked equivalent: a chicken and rice dish from your weekly shop, roughly AED 12 a portion (illustrative).
• Difference: AED 48 a meal. Three delivery dinners a week for a 12-week term is 48 x 3 x 12 = AED 1,728 more than cooking.
• Even swapping one of those three meals for cooking saves 48 x 12 = AED 576 a term.
• Staffordshire University's 'fakeaway' idea works too: a supermarket pizza or ready-to-cook meal is usually far cheaper than takeaway.

Do delivery passes pay off? Do the sum

• Work out what you would pay without the pass: number of deliveries a month x the usual fee.
• Example: 2 deliveries a month at 4 pounds = 8 pounds, more than a 6.99 pound pass, so the pass saves about 1 pound a month.
• Example: 1 delivery a month at 4 pounds = 4 pounds, so a 6.99 pound pass costs you about 3 pounds a month extra.
• Check the contract length and cancellation rules before you sign, and put the renewal date in your calendar.

Use delivery on purpose

• Good reasons: illness, extreme heat, heavy items (water, rice, tins) with no car, or a planned treat with friends.
• Shopping online with a list can help: the NHS budget leaflet notes that shopping online lets you see the cost as you go.
• Watch for impulse buys: 'you might also like' suggestions and offers near the checkout are designed to add items.
• Set a monthly limit for takeaways and delivery fees in your budget, and keep a few 'fakeaway' meals in the freezer for tired nights.
• Check halal status with the restaurant, not just the app tag (see the halal lesson).