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Grocery delivery services began proliferating during the pandemic, combining the benefits of safety and convenience for people who were uncomfortable venturing out of their homes.
Many have opted not to retain the convenience of online shopping now. But are they sacrificing cost for convenience? A recent breakdown published by CNET showed that delivery doesn’t cost as much as you might think. And when you factor in costs that are variable and harder to measure, including the price of gas and impulse purchases you might be tempted to make while you’re browsing the aisles, grocery delivery may actually cost less.
In-store Shopping vs. Delivery: The Methodology
The CNET shopper compared the prices of 39 popular grocery items in a variety of categories. Whenever possible, they selected the cheaper option, which eliminated organic foods and pricey specialty items.
The shopper compared prices on these items at FreshDirect, Amazon Fresh, and Stop & Shop in the Northeast as the in-store location. It’s important to note that Stop & Shop is a mid-range grocery store in the Northeast. It’s not as inexpensive as Lidl, Aldi, or Walmart, but also not as pricey as Whole Foods or Gristede’s. Also keep in mind that these prices are from the Northeast, so other regions might have lower in-store prices.
Which Is Cheaper: In-Store or Delivery?
When you don’t count the tip or membership fee associated with online shopping, the three options came in very similar. In fact, you might be surprised to see that online shopping costs less without fees or tips.
It cost $196.64 to complete the shopping list at Stop & Shop, $182.27 through FreshDirect and $183.76 through Amazon Fresh. But if you had a $20 tip to each of the delivery services, (a little more than 10% of the total order price) FreshDirect costs $202.27 and Amazon Fresh costs $203.76, putting both between $6 and $8 more.
Amazon Fresh and FreshDirect both have delivery or membership fees associated with shopping. The cost for Amazon Prime membership, with comes with free grocery delivery, is roughly $15 a month. SNAP beneficiaries and students may qualify for a lower cost membership. If you subscribe to Amazon Prime for all the other benefits, including streaming and fast, free delivery on other items, you may not want to factor this into your grocery costs. If you only use your Prime membership for grocery delivery and you shop every two weeks, it’s $7.50 per trip for delivery.
FreshDirect charges a flat rate of $6 per delivery or you can subscribe to a delivery plan for $6.50 per month, adding just $3.25 to each delivery if you shop every two weeks.
These delivery costs put the price of FreshDirect up to $205.52 and the price for Amazon Fresh up to $211.26.
Bottom Line
You can expect to pay between $5 and $15 more for grocery delivery compared to shopping in a mid-priced store, depending on how much you choose to tip and what delivery service you use.
If you’re inclined to make impulse purchases in a grocery store rather than sticking to your list, that price difference could be as small as one bag of family-size potato chips.
Grocery delivery doesn’t just save time. It could save money and help you avoid sabotaging your budget and your healthy eating goals.
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