Consumer group CHOICE has released an investigation revealing consumers could be paying as much as 40% more for groceries ordered from Woolworths, Aldi, and Coles through delivery apps like DoorDash, UberEats and MilkRun.
CHOICE’s investigation found that individual items were on average 11% more expensive when purchased via a third-party delivery service, but some items were as much as 42% more. Adding delivery app charges alongside the product prices increased the total order cost by up to 39%.
The breakdown
“With grocery delivery from Coles, Woolworths and ALDI now available via apps such as MilkRun, UberEats and DoorDash, we decided to compare prices across a comparable list of 13 grocery products to find out how much you’re really paying for convenience,” says CHOICE Editorial Director Mark Serrels.
For Coles, CHOICE compared the products with what you’d pay in-store versus via UberEats and DoorDash. For Woolworths, CHOICE compared in-store prices to prices through MilkRun and UberEats, and for ALDI, CHOICE looked at in-store costs and the price when delivery was made via DoorDash.
“Of the 13 items we compared, seven of the products from ALDI were priced higher on DoorDash when compared to the price you pay in-store. Twelve of the 13 items were priced higher on a Woolworths MilkRun order, and for all other comparisons, the prices for each item were higher when purchased via the third-party service when compared to what you would pay if you actually went in-store,” says Mr Serrels.
For example, a 400g tub of Lurpak purchased in-store from Woolworths, was $9. The same item purchased via UberEats was $10.20.
The biggest markup CHOICE discovered was for Coles Vanilla Ice Cream Cones 4-pack. They were just $3.70 in-store, but 42% more ($5.25) through DoorDash or Uber Eats.
Costs vs convenience
“Getting groceries delivered straight to your door within an hour or so is ideal if you have a busy schedule, a sick child or if you need a last-minute ingredient for dinner,” Mr Serrels says.
This convenience, however, comes at a price.
“Unfortunately, the costs keep adding up – there are also delivery costs, which may include service fees, delivery fees, and sometimes bag fees ranging from $5 to just over $11,” says Mr Serrels.
“When we compared, the flat fee for a fast delivery from the Coles and Woolworths websites was $15. This matched the price of our Coles orders from DoorDash and Uber Eats, but for Woolworths, the MilkRun order was the cheapest option.”
More price comparison details can be found here.
