Online Groceries in Singapore—Which Supermarket Has The Cheapest Delivery Fees?

One of my favourite things to do when I’m overseas is visit the supermarket for cheap local snacks and discounted bentos if you’re in Japan. But in Singapore, who has time to go supermarket shopping when we’re so busy with work and other commitments? 

That’s why shopping for groceries online is one of the easiest and most convenient ways because you can search for items easily, check for deals and discounts and even have your cart saved for the next time you need to replenish certain items. 

But, the catch is that many of these come with pretty high minimum orders to qualify for free delivery. So if you forget an item, you can’t just order it online and have it delivered to you for cheap. We compare the online groceries in Singapore and find out which supermarket has the best delivery fees.

 

Online supermarkets in Singapore delivery fees

	Delivery fees	Minimum spend for free delivery
RedMart	– $7.98 (6-hour slots) – $3.99 or $9.98 (2-hour slots)	– $60 (6-hour slots) – $150 (2-hour slots)
FairPrice	$5 (orders below $59) + $3.99 service fee	$59 (service fee still applies)
Cold Storage	$7	$80
Sheng Siong	$6 + $1.99 PickNPack fee	$100 (PickNPack fee still applies)
Giant	$15	$200 (or $150 with the UOB One Card)
Amazon Fresh	$7.99	$60 (requires Prime membership at $4.99/month or $49.90/year)

• Cheapest grocery delivery: RedMart ($3.99 for 2-hour timeslot with minimum spend of $60, or $7.98 for 6-hour delivery for orders below $60)
• Lowest min. spend for free delivery: FairPrice ($59)
• Most expensive grocery delivery: Giant ($15)

Still on the fence? Read more for our take on the different online grocers.

1. RedMart
2. NTUC FairPrice Online
3. Cold Storage Online
4. Sheng Siong Online
5. Giant Online
6. Amazon Fresh

Plus, scroll to the end for bonus tips on getting a timeslot + recommended credit cards for grocery shopping!

 

RedMart (via Lazada)

Delivery type	Order amount	Shipping fee	Service fee	Total delivery fee
Saver (6-hour scheduled)	Above $60	$0.00	$0.00	Free
	Below $60	$5.99	$1.99	$7.98
Standard (2-hour scheduled)	Above $150 (selected slots)	$0.00	$0.00	Free
	$60–$150	$0.00	$3.99	$3.99
	Below $60	$5.99	$3.99	$9.98
Express (same day scheduled)	Above $60	$0.00	$5.99	$5.99
	Below $60	$5.99	$5.99	$11.98

Source: FAQ about RedMart delivery

RedMart was one of the first to make a name for itself in the online grocery delivery scene in Singapore even before the regulars, NTUC FairPrice and Cold Storage. 

It became popular for offering many items at cheaper rates that what we’d fine in the usual supermarkets we went to, as well as a variety of items that you can find overseas such as products from Aussie supermarkets Woolworths and Coles and England’s Sainsbury’s. 

You can get free Saver 6-hour delivery if you spend at least $60, which shouldn’t be too difficult if you have many people in the family or large household items to buy. Or just top it up with extra snacks like I do. 

Otherwise, the Standard 2-hour delivery comes free if you hit a minimum spend of $150.

With the Standard 2-hour delivery, you can choose a 2-hour time slot between 7 am to 11 pm for the next day. For the Saver 6-hour delivery, you choose between two 6-hour time slots for next-day delivery: 8am to 2pm, or 2pm to 8pm. 

Most of the time, it’s cheaper to just opt for a 6-hour time slot if you’re unable to hit the minimum order. But if you want your groceries to reach you as fast as possible, RedMart also offers a same day scheduled delivery service that will set you back by $5.99 for orders above $60, or $11.98 for orders below $60. 

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NTUC Fairprice Online 

NTUC FairPrice Online	Delivery fee
Orders below $59	$5 + $3.99 service fee = $8.99
Orders $59 and up	Delivery charge waived + $3.99 service fee

Source: FairPrice

If you’re a loyal FairPrice shopper, good news, as you can now shop online from your favourite neighbourhood supermarket without having to leave your home. Iirc, the minimum order for free delivery used to be really high but you now just need to hit $59 and above to qualify for free delivery.

BUT, there’s still a $3.99 service fee on all online orders, even if your items in the cart add up to $59 and above. 

That makes our beloved FairPrice one of the most expensive online supermarkets to order from. That’s a shame because FairPrice’s grocery prices are known to be quite competitive.

Additionally, the website says that you may be charged extra depending on the delivery slot you pick during peak periods. I have no idea how much that could be but if you want to avoid the charges, it’s best to choose a non-peak period, probably a weekday afternoon. 

While there is incentive to buy more and get your delivery charge waived if you spend $59 and up, FairPrice also doesn’t want you to buy too much, Orders of more than 600 items will incur a hefty $26.75 delivery fee.

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Read also: Best Credit Cards to Use at NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong, Cold Storage, Giant & RedMart

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Cold Storage Online

Cold Storage Online	Delivery fee
Orders below $80	$7
Orders $80 and up	Free

Cold Storage Online has one of the simplest delivery fee pricing structures: It’s $7 for orders below $80; anything more and it’s free. There are also no hidden charges, which is nice.

That said, it’s known that Cold Storage tends to charge higher prices for certain products. Cost will be a key consideration, but some people continue to shop at Cold Storage because they sell certain premium products you might not find at your regular NTUC FairPrice.

Cold Storage also has a nifty system that lets you ‘chope’ a delivery slot when you start browsing. Once you reach the site, you’ll be prompted to pick a time slot based on your postal code. After choosing a slot, it will be reserved for 30 minutes. You must check out before then or else it’ll be released to others in the queue.

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Sheng Siong Online 

Sheng Siong	Delivery fee
Orders below $100	$6 delivery fee + $1.99 PickNPack fee
Orders $100 and up	$0 delivery fee + $1.99 PickNPack fee

Sheng Siong has also established its online grocery delivery presence offering free delivery for orders $100 and above. Anything below that will cost you a $6 delivery charge.

The downside is that there’s still a $1.99 PickNPack fee that applies no matter how much you spend. This fee is basically something like a service fee, with Sheng Siong saying this:

“Since the pandemic and recent events around the world, we have seen ever-increasing costs of providing service to our customers. Therefore, to stay committed and to ensure continued quality, we will be introducing a $1.99 PickNPack Fee to cover some of these inflationary costs. This small increase means we can upgrade our picking facility, hire new drivers (P.S. we’re hiring!) and fulfil more of your orders.”

Now $100 is a lot and considering that Sheng Siong is one of Singapore’s cheapest supermarkets out there, you would have to buy quite a lot of items to hit that minimum order. For those who go to Sheng Siong, it may be more worth it to head to the physical supermarket if there’s one near your house or really wait until you consolidate orders to get free delivery. 

Another problem is that the site is a bit less search-friendly than most of the others, with products sometimes not appearing if your search term isn’t exactly what they’re looking for.

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Giant Online

Giant Online	Delivery fee
Orders below $200	$15
Orders $200 and up, or $150 and up with the UOB One Card	Free

Like Sheng Siong, fellow budget supermarket chain Giant also has an online store. Delivery-wise, Giant is one of the most expensive, with a delivery fee of $15 for orders below a whopping $200. This minimum spend is reduced to $150 if you check out with the UOB One Card—which also earns you up to 8% cashback on groceries.

The thing is, Giant’s products are priced affordably. It doesn’t make sense to do your budget grocery shopping on Giant only to be slapped with a $15 delivery fee, so it’s better if you can consolidate $200 worth of purchases to get free delivery. Now, that is a large sum, but buying more premium products or a large number should do the trick.

Just take note that Giant does not deliver any fresh, chilled, and frozen items, and refrigerators and washing machines may incur separate delivery charges.

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Amazon Fresh

Amazon Fresh	Fees
Prime membership fee	$4.99/month or $49.90/year
Orders under $60	$7.99 (2-hour delivery) OR $12.49 (1-hour delivery)
Orders over $60	Free (2-hour same day delivery) OR $9.99 (1-hour delivery)

Amazon Fresh is the name of Amazon’s grocery delivery service in Singapore. It was formerly known as Amazon Prime, but I guess it’s been changed because they don’t want you to confuse it with the video streaming platform. 

Amazon Fresh delivery is more worth it if you sign up as an Amazon Prime member which costs $4.99 a month or $49.90 a year. This lets you get free 2-hour delivery if you spend $60 and above, or $7.99 if you spend less. 

For those who aren’t Amazon Prime members, you can still of course order from Amazon Fresh. However, you’d have to hit $100 and above to get free delivery within a 2-hour time slot. Otherwise, for orders above $60, delivery fee is $4.99, and below $60, it’s $8.99. 

Want your groceries even faster? 1-hour delivery is also available at $9.99 for orders $60 and above, or $12.49 for orders below $60. Their 1-hour delivery charges are the same whether or not you’re an Amazon Prime member.

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Bonus tips for a successful online groceries experience

We too want to find out the cheapest way to get our groceries delivered without forking out any more than we’d have to so we did some digging. Here are some pro tips for you:

1. Use Pandamart, GrabMart or Deliveroo for small orders

Most online supermarkets require a minimum spend of about $60 or more to get free delivery. If you can’t hit that amount, then try using one of these food delivery apps instead.

Foodpanda, GrabFood and Deliveroo all deliver from minimarts and supermarkets on demand, and the minimum order is usually quite small. Orders typically arrive in less than an hour, too, so no need to shell out extra cash for Amazon Prime membership.

2. Check out with a good cashback credit card

There are many credit cards that give you cash back and rebates for online spending or grocery shopping (online shopping included). Here are our favourites:

Before you hit “check out”, make sure you’re paying with one of these credit cards and you’ll get extra discounts in the form of cash rebates on your bill.

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