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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
These groceries cost 45% more from Uber Eats than in-store
Inspired by a La Presse experiment, I learned the cost of convenience. It's not just the expected fees that add to the hefty totals for groceries ordered via food delivery apps, though. Overall, ordering from Sobeys' Uber Eats storefront was 45 per cent more expensive than shopping IRL. My bill jumped from $73.16 at a Toronto brick-and-mortar Sobeys location to $105.88 via the delivery app. Bag, service and delivery fees, tip and taxes notwithstanding, my items cost 16 per cent more in-app, and the on-shelf sales applied only two-thirds of the time. La Presse journalist Marie-Eve Fournier's groceries increased 116 per cent, from $38 in-store to $82 from the same Montreal IGA on Uber Eats. Fournier admits she 'cheated a little' by selecting items from the flyer. My only guiding principle was choosing products I usually buy at Sobeys: chicken thighs, dried beans, yogurt, cheese, arugula, frozen blueberries, sparkling water, tortilla chips and toilet paper. Four of the nine items I bought were Sobeys' house brand, Compliments. Three were on sale in-store, two of which were reduced in-app. I added products to my virtual cart at the same time as my physical one, making sure there was plenty of stock so my Uber Eats shopper wouldn't have any issues fulfilling the order. It occurred to me as I completed my purchase that we were in the store at the same time. As I fumbled at the self-checkout, my shopper was already walking the aisles. They delivered my order a little over an hour after I placed it. Regular-priced items such as arugula, dried beans, sparkling water and tortilla chips were five per cent more expensive in the app than in the Sobeys store. Of the in-store sale items, yogurt and frozen blueberries cost 17 per cent more online, and toilet paper went up 40 per cent. Let that sink in. Call me naive, but I assumed the prices in an online storefront would match those on physical shelves. 'Join the club,' says Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab, a colleague of Fournier's but not involved in her Uber Eats column. 'I used Instacart a few times during COVID, and that's it. So, I wasn't aware of these price discrepancies at all, and I suspect many Canadians aren't either.' According to Keerthana Rang, corporate communications lead at Uber Canada, 'Merchants are responsible for setting their own prices on their Uber Eats storefronts. Prices set by merchants in the Uber Eats app may differ from those in-store. Merchants that do offer in-store pricing on Uber Eats are highlighted with an 'in-store pricing' badge in the app, such as Metro, Food Basics, LCBO and Giant Tiger.' So, why do some retailers set higher grocery prices on delivery apps than in stores? Sobeys, which has partnerships with Instacart and Uber Eats, didn't exactly answer the question. 'The pricing on these platforms reflect different service models. In-store promotions and promotions featured on Voilà may not be applicable on Uber Eats and/or Instacart,' Sobeys said in an email to National Post. At time of writing, a Sobeys spokesperson hadn't responded to a request for more information on the nature of these service models and how they affect the prices of regular (non-sale) items. On Voilà, the supermarket chain's home delivery service, prices for the products I bought matched those in-store. 'We've grown to accept or expect that prices are going to be consistent in-store and online,' says Jenna Jacobson, the director of Toronto Metropolitan University's Retail Leadership Institute and an associate professor focused on retail management. 'But there are many, many times, even in regular retail, where that's not the case, where things may be more expensive in-store even.' A disconnect between prices can happen in other sectors, but an online surcharge is especially common with groceries, takeout and restaurants, Jacobson explains. 'It's quite a complicated consumer marketplace, and every app or retailer gets to set the terms. The power consumers have is determining whether they buy into it, whether it's worth it for them or not.' Pricing inconsistencies are just one part of the issue — there are also the fees. On May 28, Toronto-based law firm Koskie Minsky LLP filed a statement of claim against Uber Eats Canada, alleging it charges customers a hidden fee of roughly 10 per cent of the cart. The firm told CTV News that the levy is a 'quintessential example of drip pricing practices' (when companies draw customers in with low prices only to add mandatory fees at checkout). Similarly, on June 9, the Competition Bureau announced it's suing DoorDash for its 'deceptive price and discount advertising.' (DoorDash has disputed the Competition Bureau's allegations.) Does rice contain arsenic? Yes, here's how you can reduce the risk Protein coffee is gaining momentum, with Tim Hortons and Starbucks joining the fray Allegations of drip pricing aside, I was aware of the fees applying to my grocery order before I authorized the transaction: bag fee ($1, which 'may apply if mandated by law or charged by the merchant,' says Rang), service fee ($6.99), delivery fee ($2.99) and tax ($4.82). (Plus a 15 per cent tip; $14.55.) What wasn't apparent, though, is that the grocery prices were higher. Despite my surprise, the 45-per-cent increase I experienced aligns with what Jacobson would expect. Fournier's 116-per-cent increase 'would be a lot.' Individual grocery items could cost from five to 15 per cent more online, which is also mostly what I experienced. (The 40 per cent toilet paper increase was the outlier.) Mark-ups vary across platforms, restaurants and retailers, making them challenging for consumers to detect. On average, though, they equate to 'a significantly higher bill,' says Jacobson. They can depend on the time of day or length of the delivery window. You could join a subscription model, in which you pay a set fee each month in exchange for lower service and delivery fees, or you could pay the standard fees plus 'an optional, but often expected' tip. In the case of Uber Eats, 100 per cent of the tip goes 'directly to the delivery people,' says Rang. Earnings also include the fare, which is based on the estimated distance and time. 'Additionally, in B.C., and beginning July 1 in Ontario, a government-initiated minimum earnings standard is in place, ensuring that delivery people receive a guaranteed base pay for their engaged time.' Factoring in the fees and potentially higher item prices, 'your typical delivery app order for your groceries is certainly going to have a large convenience premium,' says Jacobson. For some consumers, these premiums may be justified. 'When you're talking about grocery, there's a pretty significant amount of time that people are spending in the grocery store going around, picking their fruits and vegetables and finding the produce.' Jacobson suggests consumers be strategic: Avoid paying more for last-minute or evening delivery slots and determine which platform works best for what you need, which changes over time. Charlebois also highlights the 'sky-high' cost of convenience when using apps like Uber Eats for groceries. The ethics of the issue are critical, he adds. 'I think everyone agrees that there's a price to pay for convenience. But does that price go up when greed is involved? And when you have seniors and people that are chronically ill — they just got an operation, they're not able to be mobile for a while, they can't leave their home — they have to get their food delivered, and they're paying extra for all that.' Some people who use food delivery apps for groceries have options, 'but many do not,' says Charlebois. According to Statistics Canada's consumer price index, the food inflation rate fell from 3.8 per cent in April to 3.4 per cent in May. On June 24, 'I posted that and online, people are saying, 'Oh, my God, it's too much.' We're talking 45 per cent,' says Charlebois, referencing the price difference I encountered. 'Forty-five — for food.' Jacobson says there's 'big growth' in grocery delivery, with players such as Uber Eats offering promotions to entice people to place their first orders and move from in-store shopping. According to Statista, the revenue of the grocery delivery market alone is expected to grow by 10.8 per cent in 2026. This year, the average revenue per Canadian grocery delivery user is estimated to be roughly $753. Consumers need to know what's playing into the premium they're paying before they can make an informed decision about whether the extra cost is worth it to them or not. When I ask Jacobson who's responsible for sharing this information, she said, 'There's definitely a shared responsibility (between retailers and platforms). But at the end of the day, it's the consumer who makes the decision as to where they want to spend their money.' So, after all of this, who should I be mad at? One thing's for sure: not my shopper, who left the comfort of their air-conditioned car to haul groceries on the hottest day since July 13, 2016. Thank you for your service. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our cookbook and recipe newsletter, Cook This, here.
National Post
2 days ago
- Business
- National Post
These groceries cost 45% more from Sobeys' Uber Eats than in-store
Article content Inspired by a La Presse experiment, I learned the cost of convenience. It's not just the expected fees that add to the hefty totals for groceries ordered via food delivery apps, though. Overall, ordering from Sobeys' Uber Eats storefront was 45 per cent more expensive than shopping IRL. My bill jumped from $73.16 at a Toronto brick-and-mortar Sobeys location to $105.88 via the delivery app. Article content Article content Bag, service and delivery fees, tip and taxes notwithstanding, my items cost 16 per cent more in-app, and the on-shelf sales applied only two-thirds of the time. Article content Article content Article content La Presse journalist Marie-Eve Fournier's groceries increased 116 per cent, from $38 in-store to $82 from the same Montreal IGA on Uber Eats. Fournier admits she 'cheated a little' by selecting items from the flyer. My only guiding principle was choosing products I usually buy at Sobeys: chicken thighs, dried beans, yogurt, cheese, arugula, frozen blueberries, sparkling water, tortilla chips and toilet paper. Article content Four of the nine items I bought were Sobeys' house brand, Compliments. Three were on sale in-store, two of which were reduced in-app. Article content I added products to my virtual cart at the same time as my physical one, making sure there was plenty of stock so my Uber Eats shopper wouldn't have any issues fulfilling the order. It occurred to me as I completed my purchase that we were in the store at the same time. As I fumbled at the self-checkout, my shopper was already walking the aisles. They delivered my order a little over an hour after I placed it. Article content Article content Regular-priced items such as arugula, dried beans, sparkling water and tortilla chips were five per cent more expensive in the app than in the Sobeys store. Of the in-store sale items, yogurt and frozen blueberries cost 17 per cent more online, and toilet paper went up 40 per cent. Let that sink in. Article content Article content Call me naive, but I assumed the prices in an online storefront would match those on physical shelves. 'Join the club,' says Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab, a colleague of Fournier's but not involved in her Uber Eats column. 'I used Instacart a few times during COVID, and that's it. So, I wasn't aware of these price discrepancies at all, and I suspect many Canadians aren't either.' Article content According to Keerthana Rang, corporate communications lead at Uber Canada, 'Merchants are responsible for setting their own prices on their Uber Eats storefronts. Prices set by merchants in the Uber Eats app may differ from those in-store. Merchants that do offer in-store pricing on Uber Eats are highlighted with an 'in-store pricing' badge in the app, such as Metro, Food Basics, LCBO and Giant Tiger.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Aldi Shopping Secret That Blew My Mind
This article may contain affiliate links that Yahoo and/or the publisher may receive a commission from if you buy a product or service through those links. Savvy grocery shoppers know that when it comes to great deals on groceries, Aldi delivers. The German supermarket chain utilizes some smart strategies to keep prices low: The stores are often small and minimal in design, and Aldi prioritizes private-label products to keep costs even more affordable. And notably, the chain saves money by not providing free shopping bags (bring your own!) or shopping carts. Instead, to access the store's carts you'll need a quarter. In this digital age of tap-to-pay everywhere and Venmo lemonade stands, I don't always happen to have change on hand — and I have a feeling I'm not alone in that. So when I heard about a product that allows me to skip the quarter altogether, I was intrigued. Writer Kristina Vänni shared her solution for the quarter dilemma with Cubby, and it couldn't be easier. Her under-$5 product is the perfect solution for when you need to make a quick Aldi run, but you don't have a quarter on hand. Now with this handy gadget in my pocket, I can pop by Aldi at a moment's notice — no more searching through my center console for one lone quarter! The solution comes in a pack of two, so I can also share one with my partner. Win-win!Read all about it: It Turns Out You Don't Need a Quarter for Aldi's Shopping Carts — Not if You Have This on Hand! Home: Where Your Story Starts How a Cheerful DIY 'Drop Zone' Made This Whole Space Work Smarter 3 DIY Paint Projects with Pro Results Sign up for Apartment Therapy's Daily email newsletter to receive our favorite posts, tours, products, and shopping guides in your inbox.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Aldi named as Australia's cheapest supermarket - here's how it stacks up against Coles and Woolworths
Visiting more than one supermarket has proven to be the smartest approach for shoppers, as data shows prices for everyday essentials continue to vary widely. Data from consumer advocacy group Choice found that, even without specials, prices differed across the big four supermarkets, with Aldi emerging as the best for overall value. Choice sent mystery shoppers to 104 supermarkets across Australia in March to compare the prices of 14 common grocery items. The items included popular winter buys such as vegetable stock, sour cream, drinking chocolate, butternut pumpkin, quick oats, garlic, and onions. Choice says the products were matched as closely as possible based on pack size, ingredients, and country of origin. The data showed Aldi offered the most value, with the full basket of products costing just $55.35. Woolworths was not far behind at $58.92, while the Coles basket without specials came in at $59.22. The most expensive shop was IGA at $69.74, although it did prove cheapest for carrots and garlic. Without specials, Coles had the best deal on apples, while Woolworths had the cheapest chicken breasts and pumpkin. 'All up, if you're planning a hearty porridge breakfast, or wanting a cup of hot chocolate to keep you feeling snug, Aldi should be your first stop,' Choice chief executive Ashley de Silva said. 'But, as always, there are lots of other ways to save on your weekly grocery shop. Checking the unit pricing, keeping an eye on specials, shopping around, and trying out house brand products can all add up to significant savings.' The cost comparison comes just months after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released its final report into supermarkets, finding major chains had little incentive to be competitive on pricing due to their large market share. The commission said Coles, Woolworths and Aldi faced little competition and had increased average product margins over the past five years, but stopped short of accusing them of price gouging. Aldi holds a market share of approximately 9.5 per cent, making it the third-largest supermarket chain in the nation, behind Woolworths at 37.1 per cent and Coles at 27.9 per cent. The smallest of the four major supermarkets, IGA, holds a 6.9 per cent share of the market.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Weight-loss jabs ‘could be hitting supermarket food sales' as 4% of households now take them
The growing popularity of weight loss jabs could be affecting shopping habits in UK supermarkets, a leading research group has said, as 4 per cent of households are now using them. The amount of groceries bought by shoppers fell over the past four weeks, the first year-on-year decline in 2025, data analysts Kantar said. Overall grocery volumes fell by 0.4 per cent in this period, as grocery price inflation, which hit 4.7 per cent this month, reached its highest level since March 2024. But inflated prices are not the only factor that could be influencing changing shopping habits, with Kantar speculating that the surge in uptake of weight loss jabs across the country could also be playing a part. 'Overall grocery volumes fell slightly by 0.4 per cent over the last four weeks, the first year-on-year decline this year. A small part of this fall could also be down to changing health priorities such as the growing use of GLP-1 weight loss drugs,' Fraser McKevvit, the head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar said. 'Supermarkets and grocery brands are entering new territory as weight loss drugs become more popular, with four in 100 households in Great Britain now including at least one GLP-1 user. 'That's almost twice as many as last year, so while it's still pretty low, it's definitely a trend that the industry should keep an eye on as these drugs have the potential to steer choices at the till. 'Four in five of the users we surveyed say they plan to eat fewer chocolates and crisps, and nearly three quarters intend to cut back on biscuits.' Despite a drop in the volume of groceries bought by UK shoppers, footfall hit a five-year high over the four weeks to 15 June, and take-home grocery sales grew by 4.1 per cent compared with last year. It appears that the recent bout of warm weather has also influenced the nation's shopping habits, as consumers bought 2,400 packs of strawberries every minute in the last four weeks. Sales of mangoes and blueberries also climbed by 27 per cent and 10 per cent each. However, a rise in frequency was balanced out by a drop in average trip spend, which fell back by three pence to £23.89. On Monday, a mass rollout of weight loss injections began across the NHS, with GPs able to prescribe Mounjaro for the first time. The drug, also known as tirzepatide and manufactured by Lilly, is an antidiabetic medication that works by lowering blood sugar levels and slowing down the digestion of food. From Monday, GPs will be able to offer Mounjaro to severely obese individuals who also suffer from a range of other health complications. Under the previous system, patients could only access such treatments through specialised weight loss services. This major initiative is expected to reach approximately 220,000 people across England over the next three years, targeting those identified as having the "greatest need" for intervention.
