Asda and Sainsbury's raise price of many delivery slots in online groceries shake-up - MSE News 17 November 2020 at 3:38PM edited 13 February 2021 at 8:06AM in Gone off! 6 replies 769 views

Former_MSE_Naomi

Asda and Sainsbury's are making big changes to what they charge for online grocery deliveries, with many shoppers set to pay more as a result...

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'Asda and Sainsbury's raise price of many delivery slots in online groceries shake-up'

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Browntoa

Cheap or free delivery slots have always lost the supermarkets money. 

Long overdue market correction . 

People will moan but unless the supermarkets make money doing deliveries ( or at least cover costs) then they will stop doing them or raise the cost of their products

BooJewels

I'm one of the customers that is losing out through this - from free deliveries as a priority pass customer, funded by the government, to now having a mid-Sunday (seemingly a priority time, but the only slot available when I set it up) delivery costing £7 - although I only have it fortnightly, not weekly.

But I think I've now had 17 or 18 free deliveries since my husband has been Shielding - so if they'd had an average fee of £4, then it would have cost me £72 to date.  So if I pay for the next 10 deliveries at 7 pounds, it's still only averaging £2.50 per delivery.  I've said all along that I would have been happy to pay for my deliveries (them and Iceland have been a massive help to us) and don't have any issue with them charging for the service, so I'm certainly not going to complain now.

My only beef with it (and I told them as much), is not being advised in advance and spending some time trying to get through on the phone, after my delivery on Sunday was charged at £6, which I simply thought was a mistake, as there was nothing in my account details to suggest anything had changed.  I can apparently cancel my current slot and try and find a cheaper one, but I'm not sure I want to risk it and it suits us to keep weekdays free for hospital attendances, which are often at short notice.

GaleSF63

I think we have to separate it in our minds as part of the cost of the shop and see it purely as paying for the service; like paying to post parcels at a post office, courier etc.. Logically I appreciate the service, which I need, but I still feel a touch of irritation every time i get to the payment part of a Tesco order and see £4.50 get added on! I know I'm being unreasonable. (I don't use them enough for a delivery pass). 

cymruchris

If you go to the supermarket and load your own trolley - you pay £50 for your shopping (random figure for example). You don't get a discount for loading your own trolley. Your shopping costs £50 as it's always cost £50 for the same time and effort you put into it.

If you sit at home, and tell the magic box connected to the interweb to deliver the same amount of shopping, the supermarket has to pay someone to go around and put that stock in a trolley for you, and then pay someone else to bring it to your door. (Again simplistic - as Ocado for example pick from a warehouse)

Those persons time isn't free - If they whizz around picking your order in 20 minutes, and then do two more, that'll be 3 orders picked in an hour (I'm sure they do more than that)  when they probably earn £10 an hour - which will then get loaded into a van (that needs maintenance, fuel, a driver before you even factor in the lease cost of the vehicle itself) before it arrives at your front door.

That's really what your £5 delivery fee is paying for.  Yes it feels like we shouldn't have to pay for it - but if an increasing number of us want shopping delivered - we have to support the costs of the infrastructure to do so. 

calleyw

I am sure I have mentioned this before.  It costs a supermarket between £7-£15 to pick and pack and deliver your shopping.   When the profit margin is between 1-4% you can see why they have to charge.

I think cymruchris is on to something I want a discount for picking, packing and delivering my own shopping

Yours

Calley x

MrsStepford

I am on Waitrose's Priority list, which just enables me to see all available slots. I don't get free food and only get free delivery if I spend over £40. I wouldn't accept free food because I want to choose my own and have organic, not tinned fruit and biscuits. 

Delivery passes give supermarkets money up front but that doesn't make them a profit, if customers then use it a lot and fill their trolley with special offers. I just ditched my Ocado SmartPass cos I couldn't get slots. and they charge 99.99 a year now. Got a 7 month refund of £58 something.