What’s covered in this post?
- Online grocery industry stats and players
- Ecommerce Grocery Business in the US, UK, and Canada
- How online grocery business works?
- How an online grocery store makes money?
- What are the features of online grocery store?
- What are the challenges in online grocery business?
Online grocery shopping is catching up with consumers rapidly. According to a Nielson study, in developed countries like US, UK, Japan, etc., about one-fourth online shoppers are already shopping groceries on the internet and 55% are willing to do it in the near future.
To cater to this growing customer base, online grocers are also increasing at a 3x rate year-over-year. And the whole sector is growing at an impressive annual rate of 13% (even the booming online travel industry is at 9.5%).
Online Grocery Business in the US, UK, and Canada
We analyzed the current state of the online grocery supermarket business across various countries and provide historical background to identify key grocery industry trends.
Ecommerce Grocery Business in the US is Just Getting Started
To gain insight into the current and future state of the online grocery business in the US, we scrutinized both incumbent companies and innovative newcomers.
According to eMarketer, a subscription-based market research company, the US grocery ecommerce is the fastest-growing product category online.
The online grocery delivery industry in the US is currently lying around $20-$25 billion. By 2021, this number will reach $38.16 billion.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Effects on Grocery Business in the United States
Faced with a global pandemic unprecedented in modern times, the online grocery shopping in the US is exploding. As Americans prepare for potential quarantine conditions, items such as bread, salty snacks, frozen dinner have been in high demand.
Major grocery chains in the US such as Walmart, Kroger, and Stater Bros are working 24-hours a day. According to Apptopia, grocery delivery apps have begun seeing record numbers of daily downloads. Instacart, Walmart Grocery, and Shipt have seen their daily downloads surge by 218%, 160%, and 124%, respectively.
How the US grocery business is dealing with COVID-19?
- WholeFoods, Waitrose, and Sainsbury’s have designated the first hour after opening for elderly and vulnerable customers.
- Grocers in the US are providing adequate cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer for workers to wash their hands.
- Several grocery delivery services in the US have promoted the fact they would add a “contactless” delivery option.
How to win over the US grocery customers? (Online Grocery Shopping Habits in the US)
To lure the young, affluent, and urban US households, you have to work on 3 major things:
- Seamless Customer Experience on your online grocery marketplace.
- Eliminating the logistics and supply chain hurdles.
- Entice Millennials
Online Grocery Business in the United Kingdom (UK)
Online grocery shopping in the United Kingdom is the fastest-growing purchase channel. According to Statista, the UK will become the second-largest grocery market after China in 2020. No doubt, when we talk about edible grocery sales, the online grocery supermarket business in the UK has changed a lot because of Asda, Ocado, and Tesco. But yes, there is a huge scope of new online grocery websites in the country.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Effects on Grocery Business in the UK
With all the major grocers’ online delivery slots booked up weeks in advance, the online grocery business in the UK is all set to touch the new high. As an impact of coronavirus on the grocery business, shelves have been stripped bare and many retailers are rolling out special hours for old or vulnerable people.
How the UK grocery business is dealing with COVID-19?
- Because of higher demand, online shopping delivery service Ocado has suspended its online food delivery service.
- Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda will not let a shopper buy more than three of any particular items.
- Tesco is all set to appoint 8,000 new drivers to help with grocery deliveries.
How to win over the UK grocery customers? (Online Grocery Shopping Habits in the UK)
Attentive service and friendly interaction play a major role throughout the entire ecommerce grocery experience. Also,
- Overall low Grocery Bills
- Easy to Navigate eCommerce grocery website
- Better Loyalty Scheme
Ecommerce Grocery Business in Canada
In the emerging eCommerce horizon, Canadians want their groceries to be delivered directly to their homes. Currently, they are spending around $6.4 billion per year on online grocery shopping.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Effects on Grocery Business in Canada
Grocery delivery services in Canada are seeing a surge in demand due to coronavirus. For a smooth delivery process, retailers are engaging with vendors to make sure that their supply chain will not create any problem. Further, they are apportioning the number of each food item customers can buy. But, of course, regardless of this, panic-buying is happening.
How the Canadian grocery business is dealing with COVID-19?
- Toronto grocery stores can now accept the 24-hour deliveries to keep shelves stocked.
- Many Canadian Grocers are offering seniors-only shopping hours to ensure that they get access to all the necessary grocery items.
- Fresh City Farms reported that online grocery business has tripled or quadrupled and the company has hired more than 12 restaurant workers to increase the production of their home-made products.
How to win over the Canadian grocery customers? (Ecommerce Grocery Shopping Habits in Canada)
By analyzing the Canadians shopper journey and working aggressively at every step of their purchase journey is the key step in winning them over.
- Free Shipping
- Organic Grocery products
- Seamless Customer Experience
In this post, we will do a critical analysis of online grocery business and cover its important aspects in the following order –supermarket business model & possible revenue models, critical website features, challenges & solutions.
Also Read: A Guide For Canadian Entrepreneurs To Start An Online Grocery Business
Looking for an eCommerce grocery solution to quickly launch your online grocery marketplace
Online Grocery Business Model
Assuming you know the basics, (which are – an online marketplace/store to sell groceries and deliver them at customers’ doorsteps) the critical aspects of an online grocery business are:
a) Tie-ups with local grocery producers/whole sellers (given you are not one yourself), and
b) Establishment of a robust delivery network to make sure orders reach customers in a timely manner
As for how this business makes you money, usually, a commission is cut by marketplace owners on each order, before transferring the payment to the grocery seller; or if you are the seller yourself, then through service charges for delivery & convenience.
View Canvas Model for Online Grocery Business
How Ecommerce Grocery Platform Makes Money? – Revenue Model of Online Grocery Business
Commission
As just explained, the commission-based revenue model is pretty straight forward. However, to accelerate business growth & maximize profit margins you can implement different commission rates for different products. For that, do market research to identify:
- Most popular products
- Growth in the demand for a product
Subscription
Typically, the subscription-based revenue models waive off some charges, provide discounts, or better service to customers over a period of time. For example, Instacart offers a yearly subscription for free 2-hour or scheduled deliveries. Another example, Thrive Market offers a 25-50% discount on all orders with its yearly subscription. Note that you can also use both the commission & subscription-based revenue models at once.
Service Charges
For those online grocers who operate their business independently, (especially brick & mortar grocery sellers who are planning to go online) making money from the service charges is the most viable revenue model. They can also add the subscription-based model as an additional revenue stream.
Secondary Revenue Streams
- On-site promotion for merchants/grocery sellers (applicable for marketplaces only)
- Hosting banners ads
- Start blog and publish sponsored content on it
- Sell useful merchandise such as jars, reusable carry bags, etc. (it will also help you in branding)
- Sell user data to market research firms
Which revenue model & streams will bring you maximum benefit depends on many factors, such as:
- Target market
- Business size
- Budget, age, and popularity of the business, etc.
So, analyze each of these options against your business goals & needs, and choose the ones that suit you the best.
Launch an Online Grocery Website along with Ready-made Mobile Apps
Critical Website Features for Online Grocery Store
Understanding business requirements & implementing the right revenue model will help you establish your online grocery startup. But it is your website that will help you interact with buyers, engage them, and turn them into loyal customers. So, it is essential that your website is quick to load, easy to use, mobile-friendly, and has the following unique features:
Repeat Orders
Many a time people take the same grocery items home. Keeping this common consumer behavior in mind, you should provide your customers the option to save an order to their profile, which they can re-order, instead of adding same items to the cart time & again.
Shareable Cart
Grocery shopping is often a family activity, in which different members can have different demands. So, it would be quite logical to offer a feature that allows users to share shopping cart with other registered users so that they can add additional products, and get them all delivered in one single order.
Recipes & Ingredient List
This would be like going the extra mile and will be totally worth it. Add some recipe ideas on your website and recommend them on product pages (if the product is one of the ingredients). This will definitely catch customers’ attention and might even engage them to buy more items from you.
Discount Coupons
These days, it is a common practice among businesses to send discount coupons to make the most out of seasonal sales. So it is important that your website has the feature to receive & process these discount coupons.
Friend Referral
Offers like providing free first delivery or x% discount to customers who invite their friends to buy from you are becoming a popular practice among online businesses. Not only do they encourage customers to buy more from you, but they also help you keep the customer acquisition cost down.
Shopper Module
In developed eCommerce markets, there is a trend catching up among customers to hire shoppers. These shoppers take the list from customers and do grocery shopping online on their behalf. If you are operating in a market where customers seem inclined to that option, make sure to include it in your website feature list.
Other than these, make sure your online grocery store also have these basic, but critical features & functionalities:
Product Categories: Classify your inventory in proper categories and sub-categories and implement it on your website to make it easier for customers to find the right product.
Search Tool: If customers can’t find what they are looking for by browsing product categories, they should be able to search for it. To enhance customer experience, search tool should have the auto-suggest feature & should be error-tolerant to minor spelling mistakes.
Customer Profile: Like any other eCommerce store, your registered customers should have an account where they keep a record of their orders, save items, save repeat orders, etc.
Merchant Module: If you are opening an online grocery marketplace, then you also need to work on a separate section for merchants (grocery sellers), which allows them to manage their individual inventories, orders, payment, etc.
Social Commerce Features: Features such as sharing products on social media, social signup, or selling directly on Facebook, would also help your business get a good exposure.
SEO Ready: Make sure that your website has all keys features to get easily crawled by search engine bots and to rank better.
Mobile-Friendly: It is certain that most customers will buy from you on mobile. So make sure to enhance your store’s on-the-go purchase experience, whether you make the website responsive, build a separate mobile website, or an app.
Housing all the above-mentioned features on your online grocery supermarket is a challenge, which definitely will take lots of time, effort, and investment. The best approach to go about this challenge is to build your grocery store with a technology solution (readymade script) that offers most of these features by default and allows you to easily add unique features.
At FATbit Technologies, we have developed a similar product called Growcer that enables entrepreneurs to instantly launch a feature-rich online grocery store. With the freedom to customize a compelling mobile app, it offers everything that a grocery store needs to implement unique functionalities.
Get a readymade, feature-packed online grocery marketplace
Now, let’s discuss the challenges you will face when running an online grocery business and its possible solutions.
Challenges Associated with Online Grocery Business
As mentioned earlier, the unique challenges this business model presents are due to the nature of grocery products, which are either perishable or intended for immediate consumption. Let’s discuss the major ones in detail:
Storage & Delivery Infrastructure
Regular online stores can afford to tackle instances like delays in delivery, wrong item delivery, returns, etc. But for online grocery stores, it will be a pretty much ‘do or die’ situation. Therefore, the entire supply chain – from farms/manufacturers to storehouse & then to the customers – needs to be very robust & time-efficient.
Additionally, since perishable food products need to be stored & delivered in refrigerated chambers, storage infrastructure would add up the business operations cost marginally.
There are certain steps you need to take to combat these challenges. Some of which are:
- Integrate a robust, Just-in-time (JIT) inventory management system API with your grocery store that automates things to reduce storage cost & wastage
- Partner with a reliable delivery service provider that can meet your customers’ expectations with assurance
- Segment the delivery network into hyper-local networks to manage deliveries better & make them faster
Low-Profit Margins & Quality Assurance
Today, people shop online not just for convenience but also because they expect to get better prices. Online grocers face the same challenge of offering competitive pricing. But with too much money spent on building & maintaining the storage infrastructure & efficient supply chain, keeping satisfactory profit margins might become difficult.
Other than that, when it comes to vegetables & fruits, most customers prefer to buy only after physically checking them for their freshness & quality. When shopping online, such an option is not possible. So, to persuade customers to buy groceries online remains a persistent challenge.
There are a bunch of steps you can take to address these problems:
- Add more non-perishable categories to your store, such as packaged foods, personal care & beauty products, household items, etc. as their storage & delivery cost less
- Merge your online & offline grocery business to enhance customer experience and to cut down the operation cost wherever possible. Below we have a breakdown of ways to do it:
- Customer checks products online for availability & buys them at the store after confirming the quality
- Customer orders online & pick up order at the store (both a & b will save the delivery cost)
- Customer visits store & orders online to get groceries conveniently delivered at home
- Self-checkout at stores by using technologies like iBeacon (reduce operation cost & enhance customer experience)
Conclusion
Grocery consumption is the basic human need, and people are increasingly relying on online shopping. So, online grocery business idea fits perfectly in the current dynamics, despite the above-mentioned challenges.
The important thing for entrepreneurs planning to enter this sector is to be aware of these challenges & know how to go about them by leveraging the right technology, trends & tactics. And that’s where this post serves as a valuable resource.
Looking for experts’ advice to make your online grocery business more profitable?
Disclaimer: The Blog has been created with consideration and care. We strive to ensure that all information is as complete, correct, comprehensible, accurate and up-to-date as possible. Despite our continuing efforts, we cannot guarantee that the information made available is complete, correct, accurate or up-to-date. We advise – the readers should not take decisions completely based on the information and views shared by FATbit on its blog, readers should do their own research to further assure themselves before taking any commercial decision. The 3rd party trademarks, logos and screenshots of the websites and mobile applications are property of their respective owners, we are not directly associated with most of them.
Food delivery: quick links
Grocery delivery
- Amazon Fresh – grocery delivery to select cities
- Amazon Pantry – order everyday food essentials with Prime delivery
- Asda – no delivery slots available
- Co-op – restricted to 20 item limit, not available in many areas
- Iceland – prioritising elderly or vulnerable customers
- Morrisons – no new delivery slots available
- Ocado – no delivery slots available
- Sainsbury’s – some slots available but not accepting new customers
- Tesco – new delivery slots throughout the day
- Waitrose – prioritising elderly or vulnerable customers
Recipe box and meal delivery
- Allplants – plant-based meal delivery, cooked by chefs
- Feast Box – £20 off your first world food recipe box
- Mindful Chef – healthy recipe boxes with fresh ingredients for you to cook
- SimplyCook – Get a £3 trial recipe box to cook at home
Pizza delivery
- Domino’s – 50% off pizza when you spend £35 or more
- Pizza Hut – get two medium pizzas and a classic side for £20
- Papa John’s – contact-free pizza delivery
Takeaway delivery
- Deliveroo – takeaway delivery from top restaurants
- Just Eat – takeaway delivery from local restaurants
- Uber Eats – takeaway delivery from your favourite restaurants
Alcohol delivery
- Beer Hawk – free delivery on beer orders over £50
- The Drink Shop – 20% off selected wine, beer and spirits
- Vinatis – up to 50% off select wines
Grocery delivery: our process
We signed up to all the major supermarkets below, and created a shopping basket full of popular goods. We then compared five different locations to provide a sense of what stock is available in each area and whether delivery slots are currently offered.
Your situation may differ, but the locations we covered were: London, Leeds, Portsmouth, Manchester and Bath. Here’s the latest on which supermarkets are offering online grocery delivery today…
Tesco
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
Update (01/04/20): While we saw a couple of Tesco food delivery slots pop up a few days ago for April 3, we’re now not finding any in the areas we’re testing. However, we have heard from people who checked back regularly throughout the day and managed to book a slot.
Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has reached out to customers in a new message this week: “We know that it’s difficult right now to get a delivery slot for online shopping. We are at full capacity for the next few weeks and we ask those who are able to safely come to stores to do so, instead of shopping online, so that we can start to free up more slots for the more vulnerable.”
Tesco has a decent selection of food items online, but getting hold of them at the moment can be tricky. Most brands are in stock, but eggs, hand soap, pasta, milk and bread are the exception, with some items sold out.
According to Tesco, new food delivery slots are offered up as and when they’re available each day.
Matt@mjwoonton84@Tesco any idea when you will look to release online grocery slots after 18th April?
Just checked and saw 4 weeks instead of 3 are now fully booked!
Tesco
✔@Tesco
Hi there, thanks for getting in touch. New slots are opened up each day 3 weeks in advance at around 23:30 – 00:30. I hope that helps. TY – Barrie
How to sign up for an account
Enter a valid email address and password, and confirm whether you have a Clubcard or not. You’ll receive one automatically upon registering if you don’t. Fill in your personal details, including your phone number and UK Postcode. You can then select if you’d like to receive offers and vouchers from Tesco or not.
Benefits and perks
Online shoppers can collect Clubcard points and Tesco has begun price matching Aldi on both its own-brand and branded products. A Delivery Saver pass is also available for regular customers, and comes with the added benefit of priority delivery slots during the busy Christmas and Easter periods.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Customers who shop online are encouraged to shop in-store where possible to help free up delivery slots for the elderly customers and those who are self-isolating.
Due to increased demand, Tesco isn’t accepting any new Delivery Saver customers right now either. A restriction of only three items per customer on every product line is in place, and multi-buy promotions have also been removed.
An 80 items limit is now in place for all online orders.
Sainsbury’s
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
Unless you’re already registered as a Sainsbury’s online customer, Sainsbury’s has paused all new online registrations.
Update (01/04/20): If you have an existing account, we found some food delivery slots for March 31 and April 1 earlier in the week, but the elderly and vulnerable are being prioritised. The amount available will vary depending on your area, but it’s a positive sign that Sainsbury’s are beginning to cope with the unprecedented demand. The company offers a click & collect service but this is still unavailable.
In a message to customers, Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Mike Coupe has provided more insight into how the company is delivering to the elderly or vulnerable: “Many of you have written to me to tell me you are elderly or vulnerable and are struggling to book online delivery slots. We are doing our absolute best to offer online delivery slots to elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers. These customers have priority over all slots.”
Sainsbury’s revealed that their customer Careline has had “one year’s worth of contacts in two weeks”. Mike Coupe went on to add, “I apologise to our regular online customers, who I know are feeling very frustrated at not being able to book slots. Please bear with us and I hope you can understand why we feel the need to prioritise elderly and vulnerable customers at the moment.”
How to sign up for an account
Due to the huge increase in online orders, new registrations have been paused for the time being. To sign up for a Sainsbury’s online account, enter your email address and fill in your details on the following page. Once you’ve finished, you can start shopping.
Benefits and perks
You can collect and spend Nectar Points with each online food shop. A Delivery Pass is also available, which can help you save up to £156 per year.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Elderly customers and those deemed as vulnerable will be offered priority delivery slots.
Sainsbury’s
✔@sainsburys
We are continuing to work around the clock to feed the nation in these challenging times, and have taken further steps based on what you have told us in the past 24 hours. Please read the latest from our CEO Mike Coupe here: http://spr.ly/60111tSmD
Asda
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
Update (01/04/20): Asda will still let you register as new online customer, but online delivery slots are not available up until April 19. Click & Collect slots are also unavailable.
Similar to Ocado, Asda has now implemented a queue system to deal with the high volumes of traffic its website is receiving. There’s no estimate as to where you are in the queue, though, or how long you’ll have to wait. Items such as pasta, hand soap and toilet roll are also in high demand.
In an email to customers, Asda CEO Roger Burnley has shared some information regarding how the company is working to deliver online shopping: “We’re providing our drivers with hand sanitiser and gloves, and making as many online shopping slots available as we can. We’re encouraging those that are able to safely shop in person to do so – this allows us to deliver to the highly vunerable.”
Roger Burnely went on to add “If you are self-isolating or have additional needs, please advise us in the ‘other information’ section when placing your order.”
How to sign up for an account
Registering is quick and easy with Asda (it says as much on its website), simply enter your email, a password and then enter your delivery postcode and you’re good to go. You can choose whether to receive exclusive offers and the latest info from Asda too if you’d like.
Benefits and perks
Competitively priced and with a Delivery Pass available, Asda online shoppers can save up to £80 and £100 by choosing a 6-month or 12-month pass. Offers are clearly highlighted on the Asda website, so you’re never likely to miss a cracking deal.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Customers are limited to a three item maximum on all food, toiletries and cleaning products when ordering online.
When placing an online delivery order, anyone who is self-isolating is advised to fill in the ‘Other information’ section to advise where their order should be left, i.e. on the doorstep.
Ocado
Next delivery date: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
Update (01/04/20): No more slots are available, according to Ocado’s website. The company has seemingly ditched its queuing system in favour of a daily update that states whether or not delivery slots are available.
The company is also bringing order cut-off times forward, so customers are encouraged to complete their order in one session to avoid disappointment later. If you visit the Ocado website you’ll be placed in a virtual queue, which can take up to four hours (the brand has paused the app due to high demand).
In an email to existing customers on 25 March, Ocado Retail CEO Melanie Smith has said that “no matter how hard we work, we will not have enough capacity to serve the unprecedented levels of demand”.
She went on to say that “new delivery slots will be released every day for the coming week, as and when we have capacity”.
It’s currently unclear whether Ocado is allowing new customers. If you do not have a delivery booked already, Ocado’s website notes that there is “limited availability over the next few days”.
Natalia@nut_geDear @Ocado I’m waiting since 10AM. It is still possible to shop online or not?! I tried also earlier this morning and no slots were available
#onlineshopping
ocado
✔@Ocado
Thanks, Natalia, we’re doing everything we can to serve as many customers as possible and our teams are working around the clock. Please keep checking back on the website for updates on placing new orders and when new delivery slots will be available.- Ruby
How to sign up for an account
You can sign up to Ocado using a Facebook and PayPal account, or simply fill in your details such as your email address and postcode to register.Tick the box if you’d like to opt out of Ocado’s offers, vouchers and gifts before you hit ‘Register’.
Benefits and perks
New customers can enjoy three months free delivery with Smart Pass, and Ocado also offers one-hour delivery windows.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Ocado had to temporarily suspend its service due to high demand, but is now its back online. Customers can only book one delivery slot every seven days to free up more slots for other customers.
Some products are limited to one or two per order, and a small number of bulky items have been removed from sale to make more room in each delivery van. The company has shared how stockpiling has affected its service during the coronavirus outbreak.
Anytime Smart Pass members who joined before 2020 will be placed in a temporary priority queue so they can book a delivery slot each week. Ocado will send an email and text message between the hours of 09:00 and 17:00 to give members access to the queue.
ocado
✔@Ocado
We know our service has never been as important to the daily life of the country, and we want to keep you informed.
This simple infographic explains why and how stock-piling food has affected our service and why putting limits on certain products is fair for everyone.
Morrisons
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
The Morrisons website has recovered after being down for a few days, but there are still no delivery slots available at this time. There is also a very small selection of pasta.
How to sign up for an account
To sign up for a Morrisons online account, firstly enter your postcode to check if Morrisons deliver in your area. Once you’re given the all clear, enter your details and a password to register. You can also receive tailored offers, coupons and communications from Morrisons.
Benefits and perks
You can use a Facebook account to sign in, and Morrisons Quick Shop fills your trolley with the top things you might be wanting to buy with a single click. A Delivery Pass is also available with regular choices for those looking to do their weekly shop online.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Orders must be finalised 48 hours before delivery. Morrisons are working on introducing a number of measures to help reduce the amount of substitutes and missing items that some customers are encountering with their online food shops:
Sarah Lamb@Sarahsw0rld@Morrisons had a food shop delivered last night, half was missing or substituted. No where has any slots for the foreseeable future. We can not leave the house as my son appears to have the virus and is rather poorly. What can I do? Are there plans to help people like us?
Morrisons
✔@Morrisons
Hi! Sorry about that. We are experiencing a high demand at the moment which is causing the lack of availability & delivery slots. We’re introducing a number of measures to ensure our customers can get the products they need and will communicate these when we can – Matt
Waitrose
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
Waitrose is still accepting new customer registrations – however, all delivery and click & collect slots are unfortunately unavailable right now. You can still amend or cancel existing orders, though.
Update 01/04/20: Waitrose has updated its website to inform customers its supporting the vulnerable and elderly by giving them priority access to its home delivery and Click & Collect slots.
It doesn’t look like many will open up in the near future either, as the brand isn’t confirming any new slots at the moment – but that could well just be a lack of communication to the social media team:
Lyn@Lyn51451800@waitrose May I ask what you are doing about more delivery slots becoming available? I have been looking daily on your website and there are never any available? I am advised to self isolate for 12 weeks but can’t get a delivery
Waitrose & Partners
✔@waitrose
Slots are filling up quicker than usual and our team is doing all they can to offer the maximum number available. Please bear with us, as soon as slots are available they will go live on our website and app. – Matthew
How to sign up for an account
Signing up to Waitrose is simple – just fill in your details, such as your address and contact number, then click ‘next’ and you can start shopping straight away.
Benefits and perks
Waitrose has a number of attractive introductory offers, including a £30 saving on your first three online grocery shops. The website also includes hundreds of recipes and lists the ingredients so you can quickly add them to your basket.
Coronavirus measures and policies
The company has paused its online voucher codes along with any offer incentives until further notice. Some products have are restricted for a limited time, with customers only allowed to buy a maximum of two packets of toilet roll and three of any specific grocery item.
Entertainment products are also no longer available to order online for the foreseeable future. Substitutions for online orders cannot be returned to your driver if they have been handled, and drivers will not enter homes.
All online deliveries will be bagged as well to make them easier to collect quickly.
MEAL DELIVERY
Mindful Chef: healthy recipe boxes, frozen meals and smoothie delivery
Healthy recipe box company Mindful Chef delivers fresh, nutritious recipes to your door. Choose a meal and they’ll deliver all the fresh ingredients for you to cook at home – or if you’re feeling lazy, you can pick from their chef-prepared frozen range. Browse Mindful Chef recipe boxes
Allplants: Save 12% on plant-based meal delivery when you subscribe
Allplants aims to help you eat well without any hassle. The meal delivery service’s chefs cook 100% plant-based meals, and they’ll deliver them frozen to your door. All you have to is heat them up. There are over 22 to meals to choose between, and if you subscribe to the service you can save 12%. Browse meals at Allplants
PIZZA DELIVERY
Domino’s: Get up to 50% off pizza + contact-free delivery
Domino’s sets its deals by region, but plenty of stores around the UK are offering up to half price on their pizzas when you spend over a certain threshold. Just enter your delivery information to see how much you can save on pizza delivery this week. Plus, there’s contact-less delivery too, if you order and pre-pay online.
VIEW DEAL
Pizza Hut: 2 medium pizzas and a classic side for £20
You can grab two medium pizzas and a classic side for just £20 at Pizza Hut right now, or upgrade to large for just £2 extra. There are also plenty of other Pizza Hut deals to take advantage of – just pop your postcode in to see what your local restaurants have on offer. Pizza Hut is doing contact-less delivery too.
ALCOHOL DELIVERY
Amazon UK: Browse all wine, beer and spirits
Amazon doesn’t just do food delivery, it also sells a huge range of alcoholic beverages: wine, beer, spirits, cider, sake and more. What sets Amazon apart from other alcohol delivery services is its Prime delivery, which means that in normal times you’ll be able to get your hands on a bottle or keg in double-quick time.
The Drink Shop: 20% off selected wine, beer and liquors
Alcohol delivery service The Drink Shop is currently still open, and you can get 20% off selected booze this month. Head over to the online store now to check out its selection of lagers, ciders, wines, spirits, mixers and everything in between.
VIEW DEAL
Vinatis: Save up to 28% on select bottles of wine
Wine retailer Vinatis is currently offering free wine delivery on all orders over £150, as well as discounts of up to 28% on select bottles over in its flash sale. The company has a wide range of whites, reds, roses and sparkling wines in stock today, and is also offering a £5 off voucher if you sign up for its newsletter.
VIEW DEAL
Beer Hawk: Free delivery on beer orders over £50
Beer delivery service Beer Hawk is one of your best bets right now if you’re looking for a keg or want to restock on craft beers. The retailer is currently donating £1 of every beer delivery order to support hospitality workers affected by pub and bar closures brought about by the COVID-19 crisis – which is even more reason to browse its excellent beer selection.