With a little bit of know-how, you can make sure you get the lowest possible price for your supermarket deliveries and even get free delivery.
As if constantly changing prices aren't confusing enough, over the past few months all the supermarkets have changed their delivery charges, making it very easy to unwittingly book an expensive slot.
Cheap delivery days
The key to saving a few extra quid each week is spotting the cheapest slots and fitting your routine around them.
Tuesday and Wednesday are typically the least popular days for supermarket shopping, so if you can switch to a midweek shop you will only pay £4 at ASDA rather than £4.50 or £5 for the rest of the week. At Tesco you can pay anywhere from £3.75 for a quiet slot to £6.50 at busier times.
Spend over £70 at Sainsbury's and you can pay as little as £2.50 for delivery on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday instead of the usual £5/£6. Ocado even offers certain delivery slots for free if you spend over £75 while ASDA offers free delivery if you spend over £99 and use an ASDA credit card.
Buy more less often
If your trolley comes close to the threshold, think twice before buying more just to get free delivery - the supermarkets are hoping that you'll get sucked into this habit. It's cheaper to adjust your shopping habits so that you shop slightly less frequently but buy more items.
Compare supermarkets
Delivery charges usually vary depending on where you live - you may be able to make significant savings on delivery charges with another supermarket.
Getting the delivery time you want
You can now pick your preferred delivery slot and check which supermarket will offer you the lowest delivery charge at that time.
The best delivery slots tend to dry up approaching bank holidays and Christmas, leaving you with little choice but to brave the local store.
Before you resort to shopping trolley combat, our supermarket comparison page lets you check whether there are slots available from other supermarkets.
You can also save pounds on your bill: fill your trolley, we'll compare prices across the top stores and you checkout with the best deal - dead simple.
