The online grocery industry is a burgeoning one, and with good reason.

Affordable and convenient, such sites allow you to place your grocery orders online and delivers them straight to your doorstep. All you have to do is fork out a tiny delivery fee, and you’re good to go.

But some online grocery sites have tinier delivery fees than others – and tinier price tags altogether.

We pit five local online grocery platforms against each other (RedMart, Purely Fresh, Kenny Grocery, NTUC Fairprice Online and Cold Storage) to find out which one has the most competitive prices. 

Six items of the exact same brand and weight were picked out from each site:

1. San Remo Spaghetti (500g)
2. Ayam Brand Tuna Chunks in Water (150g)
3. Maggi Instant Chicken Noodles (5 x 77g)
4. Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips (184.2g)
5. SCS Unsalted Pure Creamery Butter (227g)
6. Pokka Jasmine Green Tea (1.5L)

All prices are accurate at the time of comparison, and includes any available promotional prices.

Here are the results:

RedMart

1. San Remo Spaghetti (500g): $2.40
2. Ayam Brand Tuna Chunks in Water (150g): $2.45
3. Maggi Instant Chicken Noodles (5 x 77g): $2.20
4. Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips (184.2g): $4.25
5. SCS Unsalted Pure Creamery Butter (227g): $5.15
6. Pokka Jasmine Green Tea (1.5L): $2.05

Total: $25.50, inclusive of $7 delivery fee.

Details:

RedMart delivers seven days a week from 10am to 10pm. They also deliver on weekends and public holidays. Shoppers can choose their preferred two-hour delivery slot by reserving it for 60 minutes during checkout.

For first-time shoppers, RedMart provides free delivery if orders are above $30. Returning customers get free delivery as long as they hit a minimum order of $49. Otherwise, RedMart charges a flat fee of $7.

Purely Fresh

1. San Remo Spaghetti (500g): $2.40
2. Ayam Brand Tuna Chunks in Water (150g): $2.95
3. Maggi Instant Chicken Noodles (5 x 77g): $2.65
4. Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips (184.2g): $4.95
5. SCS Unsalted Pure Creamery Butter (227g): $5.95
6. Pokka Jasmine Green Tea (1.5L):$2.45

Total: $27.35, inclusive of $6 delivery fee.

Details:

They deliver 7 days a week, from 10am to 12 midnight.

Delivery will be free for orders above $69. For orders below $69, a delivery fee of $6 will be charged. A minimum purchase of $49 is required, however, before the site allows users to proceed with checkout.

Kenny Grocery

1. San Remo Spaghetti (500g): $2.30 (U.P. $2.50)
2. Ayam Brand Tuna Chunks in Water (150g): $2.65
3. Maggi Instant Chicken Noodles (5 x 77g): $2.20
4. Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips (184.2g): $4.35
5. SCS Unsalted Pure Creamery Butter (227g): $5.15
6. Pokka Jasmine Green Tea (1.5L): $2.05

Total: $25.70, inclusive of $7 delivery fee.

Details:

Kenny Grocery offer a same day delivery, but only deliver from Mondays to Saturdays (apart from Public Holidays). They also only have 2 timeslots for delivery: 1pm-3pm (mainly for offices, Bukit Timah & Holland Area) and 4pm-7pm (islandwide).

They have an ongoing promotion right now – instead of the usual $80, customers will be entitled to free delivery as long as they make $50 worth of purchases. Otherwise, delivery fees are $7.

NTUC Fairprice Online

1. San Remo Spaghetti (500g): $1.95 (U.P. $2.40)
2. Ayam Brand Tuna Chunks in Water (150g): $2.45
3. Maggi Instant Chicken Noodles (5 x 77g): $1.95 (U.P. $2.20)
4. Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips (184.2g): $4.45
5. SCS Unsalted Pure Creamery Butter (227g): $5.15
6. Pokka Jasmine Green Tea (1.5L): $1.65 (U.P. $2.05)

Total: $28.30, inclusive of $10.70 delivery fee.

Details:

NTUC only delivers Mondays to Saturdays, 10am-10pm. Sundays and Public Holidays are not covered.

For orders $60 and below, delivery charges are $10.70. For those above $60, $7.49 is charged. However, free delivery is given to orders above $150, but only if charged to Plus! Visa / NTUC Plus! Visa Credit / Debit Card.

Cold Storage

1. San Remo Spaghetti (500g): $2.40
2. Ayam Brand Tuna Chunks in Water (150g): $2.25
3. Maggi Instant Chicken Noodles (5 x 77g): $2.20
4. Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips (184.2g): $4.45
5. SCS Unsalted Pure Creamery Butter (227g): $5.20
6. Pokka Jasmine Green Tea (1.5L): $2.05

Total: $30.55, inclusive of $12 delivery fee.

Details:

Their FAQ did not specify delivery days, but according to a review by a user on Yelp, they deliver from Monday to Saturday apart from Public Holidays.

For orders above $60, delivery fees are set at $7. For anything less than that, a flat fee of $12 will be charged.

Getting The Best Deal

It’s pretty clear that getting the cheapest groceries doesn’t necessarily translate to a lower overall cost – delivery charges also play a great deal in making or breaking the final prices.

Also, 50-cent price differences might seem paltry at first glance, but a little scrimping can amount to a significant amount in weekly grocery savings, which will certainly be worth something in the long run.