Amazon hikes free same-day grocery delivery minimum spend to £60 in some areas
Amazon Prime members will have to spend £20 more to get free same-day delivery, as well as free click and collect order pick-ups from next month – but only in certain areas.
If you live in Birmingham or Worthing you’ll have to spend more than £60 from 3 February to avoid fees on your online food shopping with Amazon.
Here, Which? explains what the changes mean and how much you need to spend to get free delivery or click and collect pick-up at other major supermarkets.
Amazon Prime members will need to spend more for free delivery
The minimum basket size for Amazon Prime members to get free delivery has been £40 since it was introduced as a perk in July 2020. But if you live in either Birmingham or Worthing, the minimum spend to get your complimentary delivery will climb to £60 next month.
The £60 charge will apply in Birmingham for Amazon Fresh shopping and in Worthing it will apply to Morrisons groceries. Amazon said you’ll be emailed if you’re impacted by the threshold increase.
The minimum spend to qualify for free delivery will remain at £40 for customers in other areas.
For orders below the threshold for free deliveries, the same delivery fee of £3.99 will remain, as will the £1.99 charge for click and collect orders.
This change follows the cost of a monthly Amazon Prime subscription climbing by £1 from £7.99 to £8.99 in September 2022.
- Find out more: Amazon Fresh review
Why is Amazon changing the threshold in some areas?
Constituencies in Birmingham feature heavily in our Priority Places for Food Index.
The innovative new study, undertaken with researchers from the Consumer Data Research Centre at the University of Leeds, ranks areas across the UK on the likelihood of people needing support to keep themselves fed. It looks at factors such as a lack of large supermarkets nearby and poor access to online shopping deliveries, plus circumstances such as low income or no car, which can make it difficult for people to get access to affordable food.
Which? asked Amazon why it was making the change to its minimum threshold for free same-day delivery in Birmingham and Worthing specifically, but it did not respond.
Find out more: the most at-risk areas for access to affordable food revealed
How to get free delivery and click and collect at the supermarkets
The table below outlines the minimum online spend to get free delivery and click and collect pick-up at the UK’s most popular supermarkets, as well as the range of delivery and click and collect charges (which depend on factors including your location and time of the delivery or collection). The table is ordered alphabetically and the links take you through to our reviews of each retailer.
| Supermarket | Free delivery conditions | Free click and collect conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Aldi | N/A | £4.99 with no minimum spend |
| Amazon | £40 minimum spend (£60 for customers in Birmingham and Worthing from 3 February) for a two-hour delivery slot. £3.99 for orders under £40. | For Morrisons orders only: £1.99 with minimum spend of £25, or free if you spend over £40 (or £60 in Worthing from 3 February). This is available from select Morrisons stores including Birmingham, Worthing, Cardiff, London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Sheffield, Plymouth and Nottingham. |
| Asda | No free delivery. £40 minimum spend, plus delivery charges of between £3 and £7. Express delivery is £8.50, but there's no minimum order spend. Orders under £40 incur a £3 additional charge. | No free click and collect. 50p for standard option, same-day is £1.50 and express is £3.50. All with £25 minimum spend. |
| The Co-op | £15 minimum spend for free delivery. Any orders under £15 cost between 99p and £3.99. | £15 minimum spend for free pick-up slot. |
| Iceland | £40 minimum spend for free next-day delivery. All slots have a £25 min spend. Orders worth between £25 and £40 will incur a charge (Iceland did not reveal the range). | N/A |
| Morrisons | £25 minimum spend for free delivery. Orders under £25 incur a fee of £1.50-£7. | Free – no minimum spend. |
| Ocado (including M&S own brand) | £75 minimum spend for free delivery. All slots have a £40 min spend. Orders worth £40 to £75 will incur a charge up to £6.99. | N/A |
While home delivery and click and collect fees are important to consider when you're deciding which supermarket to buy your groceries from, there are other elements to think about as well, such as the location of your local supermarket, customer service, price, quality, value for money, stock availability and range of products.
Delivery passes
If you regularly do your food shopping online and with the same supermarket, it may be cost effective to purchase a delivery pass to minimise how much you need to spend on delivery charges.
Asda, Ocado, Sainsbury's and Tesco told us they have delivery pass options available.
Asda has the cheapest passes at £3.50 per month, while Ocado's option is £3.99 a month, the same as Tesco's pass (for off-peak delivery slots only and with a £25 minimum spend).
Tesco also has a £6.99 a month option, which gets you free delivery and click and collect slots at any time (including same day slots,) as well as early access to Christmas slots, and its click and collect plan includes free click and collect slots at any time (including same day) and early access to Christmas slots.
Sainsbury's delivery passes, meanwhile, start at £7.50 per month.
- Find out more: the best and worst supermarkets
Which? Affordable Food for All campaign
Which? has launched a campaign calling on the big supermarkets to take action and make a real difference to communities across the UK struggling to access affordable food.
With the price of essential products soaring, supermarkets have a crucial role to play. Which? research has found that millions of families are skipping meals to survive the cost of living crisis.
We're asking supermarkets to commit to clear pricing, better access to budget ranges that enable healthy choices and more offers for those who need them most.
If you want to see your supermarket take action, sign our petition.
