Make your money work harder
Get the best deals, avoid scams, and grow your savings with expert guidance. £4.99 a month or £49 a year, cancel any time.
Join Which? MoneyBy clicking a retailer link you consent to third-party cookies that track your onward journey. This enables W? to receive an affiliate commission if you make a purchase, which supports our mission to be the UK's consumer champion.
Supermarket Christmas delivery slots are opening – when can you book yours?
Ocado, Waitrose, Asda, Tesco and Morrisons have all announced their Christmas delivery slots for the festive season.
With Christmas fewer than 100 days away, customers who need an online grocery shop for the big day will be paying close attention to when supermarkets open their festive delivery slots.
Here, Which? shares details of the supermarkets that have opened their Christmas delivery slots, how to book a space, plus how you can save money on your Christmas food shop.
Which Christmas delivery slots are available to book?
Asda
Asda says its Christmas delivery slots will open on Wednesday, 15 October, for Delivery Pass customers.
Delivery Pass customers can book a time during the week leading up to Christmas, and will also be able to secure spots up to and including New Year's Eve.
You can get a 12-month Anytime Delivery Pass for £6.95 a month, or a six-month pass for £7.95 a month.
Alternatively, Asda offers a cheaper Midweek Delivery Pass, which costs £3.95 a month for the six-month option or £4.50 a month for 12 months.
If you don't have a Delivery Pass, you will have to wait until Monday, 20 October, to book a Christmas food delivery with Asda.
- Find out more: which are the UK's best and worst supermarkets?
Morrisons
Morrisons opened its Christmas delivery slots on 1 October for its Delivery Pass holders.
These customers can now order food for delivery between 20 and 24 December and will need to spend a minimum of £25.
The Anytime Pass offers delivery seven days a week for £8 a month, or £45 for six months / £70 for a year.
Alternatively, there is the Midweek Pass, which offers delivery between Tuesday and Thursday, and costs £5 a month, or £25 for six months / £40 for a year.
Christmas delivery slots opened to all customers on October 10.
Ocado
Ocado opened its Christmas delivery slots on 23 September for its Smart Pass members.
Smart Pass is a paid subscription service which gives members free delivery, discounts, and exclusive offers, as well as free samples and gifts.
If you have a Smart Pass, you'll receive early access to the supermarket's Christmas delivery slots, although it doesn't guarantee you one.
Also, its free delivery perk is not covered for Christmas week from 20-24 December. Ocado offers members one free delivery voucher, which will be sent to your email address if you have an Active Anytime Smart Pass.
To keep the free delivery, you will need to have an active Smart Pass membership on the day your Christmas shop is delivered. For deliveries during Christmas week, you will need to have a minimum supermarket spend of £90.
You can edit your order as many times as you like before your delivery date. This cuts off by 11:30pm two days before your food delivery date. Ocado says you will be informed when this is.
If you don't have a Smart Pass, you'll have to wait for the general release. The release of the remaining slots will be staggered, so customers will need to check their slot booking page or the app for the latest availability.
Tesco
Tesco's Christmas delivery slots will open at 6am on 4 November for customers who are signed up to an Anytime Delivery Saver or Click-and-Collect plan.
For all other customers, including those with the Off-peak Delivery Saver plan, Christmas delivery slots will open a week later, at 6am on 11 November.
Delivery Saver is Tesco’s subscription-based delivery service, with a range of plans running for six or 12 months.
Currently, the Anytime 12-month pass is available for £6.99 per month, and the Off-Peak 12-month pass can be secured for £3.99 per month.
Once subscribed, customers can get delivery or Click+Collect with no extra charges for booking slots, although normal minimum basket charges apply.
To get the early slots, you will need to sign up for Tesco's Anytime delivery service by Monday, 3 November.
Tesco also has Whoosh delivery, which is its same-day delivery service. It's available in more than 1,500 stores in the UK, including 40 larger ones. Delivery is set at £2.99, with no additional charges, although if an order is less than £15, a £2 charge is added. Christmas Whoosh slot availability will vary between stores, and the selection of items available for a Whoosh order depends on what is in stock at your local store.
Waitrose
Waitrose Christmas delivery slots are now available for all customers.
The supermarket opened its Christmas delivery slots for Delivery Pass holders on 24 September.
The Waitrose Delivery Pass costs £8 a month, £45 for six months or £85 for a year. Pass holders can book up to one delivery slot each day without paying an additional delivery fee for the duration of their subscription. However, it’s not guaranteed that a slot will always be available in your specific postcode on your required day and time. Passes also require a minimum spend of £40 on all orders.
To be eligible for early access to Christmas slots in any year, you will need an active Delivery Pass that you purchased before 1 September.
- Find out more: cheapest supermarket of the month
What about the other supermarkets?
Sainsbury's has not yet confirmed its Christmas delivery slots. We will update this article once they do.
Should you get a delivery pass?
If you frequently order groceries online, a delivery pass can be more cost-effective than paying for each delivery. These often come with the added benefit of giving you priority access to highly sought-after Christmas delivery slots.
| Supermarket | 'Anytime delivery' monthly cost | Midweek or 'off-peak' delivery monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Ocado | £8.99 | £4.99 |
| Asda | £6.95 | £3.95 |
| Morrisons | £8 | £5 |
| Tesco | £6.99 | £3.99 |
| Sainsbury's | £7.50 | £4 |
| Waitrose | £8 | - |
Prices correct as of 2 October 2025. Prices are for monthly passes or for the 12 month option if that doesn't exist.
4 tips to save money on your Christmas food shop
The Christmas food shop is typically more expensive than your grocery shopping at other times of the year, but there are ways you can cut costs.
Take advantage of loyalty cards
The majority of UK supermarkets now have loyalty schemes. Through these schemes, shoppers can earn points which can be converted into money-off vouchers, which can help cut costs at Christmas if you save them up.
Most supermarket schemes, including Morrisons More, MyWaitrose, Sainsbury's Nectar and Tesco Clubcard, now offer lower prices for members on selected items.
If you keep your eye out, you may see some loyalty deals on festive products in the lead-up to Christmas.
- Find out more: loyalty cards compared
Try a Christmas saver scheme
Supermarket Christmas saver schemes allow you to save money over time to spend in store during the festive season, although some schemes offer spending all year.
These schemes often offer bonuses for reaching savings milestones. The amount you can earn ranges from 3% to an impressive 6%. This can really help with the extra supermarket costs at Christmas.
There is often a deadline for when you can save and receive a bonus for each of the different schemes. So make sure you double-check so you don’t miss out.
- Find out more: should you use a supermarket Christmas saver scheme?
Shop ahead
Spreading your shopping over a few weeks can really help with managing the extra costs of the season. For things that are long-life, such as gravy, stuffing,or even Christmas pudding, you can buy them earlier in the year and keep them for Christmas. Just check the use-by date.
Buying things frozen can also help, such as frozen turkey, pigs in blankets, vegetables and roast potatoes. If you were going to opt for these options anyway, buying them early or when they are on offer can help cut the costs.
- Find out more: how to spend less at the supermarket
Wait for price cuts
Over the past few years, several major supermarket chains cut the price of their Christmas veg in the week leading up to Christmas, with prices dropping as low as 10p for carrots, parsnips, potatoes and Brussels sprouts last year.
If you want the fresh stuff, then waiting for a supermarket price war will certainly help you cut costs, particularly as these vegetables are usually priced between 60p and £1. Supermarket chains will start to announce these festive price cuts closer to Christmas.
Most supermarket chains have confirmed that they took the profit hit on the seasonal discounts and said they had long-term deals with their vegetable growers.
This story has been updated since it was first published on Tuesday, 23 September. The last update was on Friday, 10 October, with information about festive delivery slots for Morrisons.
