In a country whose people are known to work the longest hours in the world, coupled with the fact that people are a lot more comfortable with the e-commerce space now, behaviours are shifting very rapidly.
Make no mistake, if you go to a supermarket over the weekend you will still encounter massive crowds, but here’s 4 very key reasons why online grocery shopping will soon become the new normal here:
1. Pricing
You might not mind taking a short trip to the supermarket, and perhaps you’re the sort who wants things relatively fast. But here’s the real kicker as to why the online grocery industry has been so successful – pricing. Back when everything first started, the general impression was that places like NTUC Fairprice were still cheaper. This might have been out of familiarity or the misconception that online supermarkets weren’t able to sell at scale like big chains like NTUC Fairprice or Cold Storage.
That has all changed, and when it comes to prices, as you might have seen in our previous comparison of online grocery shopping in Singapore, RedMart has been leading the pack in offering competitive prices for groceries. Don’t believe us? Here are a few things that you might not know about:
Price Match Guarantee
RedMart actively monitors prices from NTUC Fairprice across a wide range of products, and gives competitive offers to beat these prices. But the real safety net here is their Price Match Guarantee.
If you’ve made a purchase of a product from RedMart and find that their regular selling price is higher than an identical product (of the same brand, make, model, size, colour, version, packaging and quantity) NTUC Fairprice’s regular selling price online or in-store within seven days, all you need to do is let them know and they will pay you double the difference in RedMart credits.
On top of this, as mentioned, they are constantly running offers daily, with close to 20,000 different products on sale every day, which brings us to…
2. Offers
To attract more users into the online supermarket shopping space, companies like RedMart are consistently pushing out attractive offers not just for new users, such as their current 10% sign up discount but also on products as well. For new customers who are Citi Card members, you can also use a code to get $20 off.
For regular supermarket goers, you’ll know exactly how hard it is sometimes to spot discounted items on the small electronic price tags displayed on the shelves. Obviously, that is no longer an issue with online grocery shopping.
Apart from competitively matching the lowest prices found in supermarkets, RedMart also actively offers deep discounts on products every week. Here’s just a simple example of some of the discounts and savings you could enjoy:
| Item | Regular Selling Price | Promo Price | Savings |
| Sapporo Premium Draft Beer (6 cans) |
$20.55 | $15.50 | $5.05 (24.5%) |
| Dove Beauty Nourishing Moisture Body Wash (1L) | $9.70 | $6.70 | $3 (31%) |
| Dynamo Power Gel Detergent (3L) | $13.35 | $8.15 | $5.20 (39%) |
| Merries Diapers Newborn (60 pieces per pack) | $20.95 | $17.40 | $3.55 (17%) |
| Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream | $13.90 | $9.95 | $3.95 (28%) |
| Australian Broccoli (280g) x 2 | $2.40 x 2 = $4.80 | $1.60 x 2 = $3.20 | $1.60 (33%) |
| Large bananas | $2.85 | $1.45 | $1.40 (49%) |
| Royal Umbrella Fragrant Rice (5kg) | $15.80 | $13.75 | $2.05 (13%) |
| Ribena Blackcurrant Juice Cordial (2L) | $13.60 | $12.50 | $1.10 (8%) |
| Fancy Feast Grilled Chicken Feast Case | $28.80 | $21.80 | $7 (24%) |
| Total | $144.30 | $110.40 | $33.90 (23%) |
These are just a really small subset of the number of items on discount on RedMart. But on top of that, there are other ways in which you can save shopping online as well. The LiveUp programme allows you to enjoy a 5% rebate on every order, as well as benefits from a host of other providers such as Netflix, Uber and Lazada.
In addition, Citibank cardmembers also benefit from 8% cashback from grocery spend with a total minimum spend of $888 every month. Here’s a breakdown of what you would save based on this simple scenario:
Savings from promo prices: $33.90
LiveUp rebate: $5.52
Discount with Citi promo code: $10
Citi rebates: $8.83
Total savings: $58.25
That’s a whopping 52.8% savings on what you would have originally paid!
3. Convenience
One of the most immediately obvious benefits of shopping for anything online is the ability to do so without having to leave the comfort of your living room. But when it comes to shopping for groceries, this benefit is amplified by the sheer amount you have to carry out of the supermarket and lug back home.
Most online supermarkets offer free delivery with a minimum purchase that generally isn’t very hard to hit, especially if you are buying groceries for your family. RedMart has a low threshold of $40 so, as you saw from our example, even with the discounts in play you will still qualify for free delivery. So unless you’re trying to use your weekly supermarket visit as a substitute for a gym workout, it really makes no sense to spend more money on petrol and parking, not to mention the time to crowd with everyone else when you can easily do it online.
4. Speed
It’s important to consider that given the nature of ordering things online, nothing is really going to be as fast as going to the actual physical location and picking it up yourself. That’s just the way things work.
But here’s the thing – it’s not as if online supermarkets are going to make you wait ages for your deliveries either. In fact, it makes planning a lot easier. For example, RedMart actually allows you to reserve your preferred two-hour delivery slot before you shop or during the checkout process. And they deliver every day (including weekends and public holidays) from 7am till 10pm, so instead of waiting till your fridge is barren, you can actually plan in advance and order ahead of time.
But how can fresh food from places like RedMart be better than normal supermarkets?
One of the earliest misconceptions that people had about online supermarkets was the freshness of the food that was being delivered. This was really borne out of the difference between seeing the fresh produce on location versus it just showing up at your doorstep. However, contrary to popular belief, here’s why the fresh foods being delivered to you are fresher than those from offline retailers:
Shorter Supply Chain
Because the food is delivered to you directly, there’s a much shorter gap in terms of time and distance from supplier to customer as compared to regular supermarkets. This impacts both freshness as well as quality. Here’s how:
Reduced Handling (Quality)
Online supermarkets like RedMart ensure that there is minimal contact on the product , with a seamless handling process from the point the stock is received to order and delivery. And of course, unlike your regular supermarkets, you won’t have random aunties touching and squeezing all the fresh produce before you actually purchase it. The entire process is executed within 24 hours with the most optimised supply chain process to ensure a high quality level of food.
Cold Chain (Freshness)
The produce that reaches your door is kept at the optimum temperature from supplier/warehouse to delivery. This is very different from offline supermarkets where the freshness is lost once it leaves the warehouse and gets transported to the intermediate location that is the supermarket.
So the real question is – What are you waiting for?
If the combination of these 5 factors isn’t enough to bring out the true-blue bargain hunting Singaporean in you, then pay attention to how you feel the next time you’re stuck in a long queue at the supermarket when you could be enjoying a relaxing weekend at home with your family and get your grocery shopping done in a matter of minutes.
For MoneySmart readers who are new to RedMart, here’s what you need to know for even bigger savings:
Coupon code: SMART17
Mechanics: 15% off first time order, min. spend of $40
T&Cs: For first time order only, limited to one redemption per household. 15% off limited to the first $200 spend. Valid till 30 Sep 2017. Full coupon conditions here: rm.sg/coupon
Can’t wait? Start shopping now!
This article is brought to you in collaboration with RedMart.
Photo by Nicolas Barbier Garreau on Unsplash