About shopping at Tesco
Understanding Tesco delivery costs before you shop
Tesco is one of the UK's biggest supermarkets for online grocery shopping, offering standard home delivery, Click+Collect and the faster Whoosh service. But working out what you'll actually pay isn't always straightforward — delivery charges vary by slot, basket size and whether you have a Delivery Saver plan. Before you commit to a weekly shop with Tesco, it helps to understand how the costs work and how they compare to Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Iceland and Ocado.
Grocefully is a UK grocery price comparison tool, not a retailer. We let you build one shopping list and see how the same basket prices up across all six major supermarkets, including Tesco, so you can check whether Tesco is genuinely the cheapest option for your shop this week rather than assuming it.
How much does Tesco home delivery cost?
Tesco charges a delivery fee per slot for standard home delivery, and the price typically depends on how far in advance you book and how popular the time slot is — off-peak slots are usually cheaper than evening or weekend slots. On top of the delivery charge, Tesco also applies a minimum basket spend for online orders; if your basket falls under that threshold, an additional small order charge is added. These thresholds and fees are reviewed periodically, so always check the exact figures at checkout on tesco.com or in the app rather than relying on a number you saw last year.
Tesco Delivery Saver explained
If you order from Tesco regularly, Delivery Saver is a paid monthly or annual subscription that removes the per-slot delivery charge (minimum basket spend rules can still apply). Tesco typically offers a few different Delivery Saver tiers — for example, a plan covering off-peak slots only, and a pricier “Anytime” plan that also unlocks same-day and priority access to busy periods like Christmas. Whether Delivery Saver pays for itself depends entirely on how often you order online: if you're doing a weekly shop, the monthly fee is usually cheaper than paying for individual delivery slots, but for occasional shoppers it can work out more expensive. Tesco has also offered a savings guarantee on some Delivery Saver plans, so it's worth reading the current terms before signing up.
What is Tesco Whoosh?
Whoosh is Tesco's rapid delivery service, bringing a smaller top-up shop to your door in a matter of minutes via bike, moped or car, rather than booking a scheduled slot days ahead. It's aimed at last-minute essentials rather than a full weekly shop, and coverage depends on being near a participating Tesco store — it isn't available everywhere yet. Whoosh doesn't require a large minimum spend the way standard delivery does, but a small order fee usually applies if your basket is under a set amount, and there's a separate delivery or service charge on top. Because Whoosh is designed for convenience and speed rather than value, it's generally not the cheapest way to do a big shop — it's better suited to forgotten items or a quick top-up.
How Clubcard Prices work
Clubcard Prices are Tesco's loyalty discount scheme: certain products are marked with two prices on the shelf or app — a standard price and a lower Clubcard price — and you only pay the lower amount if you scan your Clubcard (physical, digital, or linked to your account) at checkout. Without a Clubcard, you pay the higher shelf price on any product flagged as a Clubcard deal. Tesco also runs “Your Clubcard Prices”, a personalised layer of extra discounts on top of standard Clubcard Prices, based on your past shopping history and refreshed periodically in the app.
Are Clubcard Prices actually cheaper than other supermarkets?
This is where it gets more complicated than it looks. Clubcard Prices can offer a genuine discount on that specific product compared to Tesco's own non-Clubcard price — but that doesn't automatically mean the Clubcard price beats what Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons or Iceland charge for the equivalent item. Discounted items also rotate regularly, so a Clubcard deal that makes Tesco the cheapest option for a particular product this week may not apply next week. The only reliable way to know whether Tesco — with or without Clubcard Prices applied — is cheaper than the alternative for your actual basket is to compare the same list of products across stores at the same time.
When Tesco is (and isn't) the cheapest choice
Tesco tends to be competitive on own-brand ranges, larger pack sizes, and products currently featured in Clubcard Prices or seasonal offers. It can be less competitive on non-discounted branded items, where a different supermarket's everyday price — or another store's own loyalty scheme — may work out lower. Delivery costs also change the picture: a Tesco basket that looks cheap at the till can end up costing more overall once you add delivery charges, especially for smaller orders that trigger a minimum spend fee. This is exactly why comparing like-for-like matters more than comparing headline prices in isolation.
What to check before you order from Tesco
- Whether your basket clears the minimum spend threshold for standard delivery, to avoid a small order charge
- Whether a Delivery Saver plan would be cheaper than paying per slot, based on how often you order
- Whether Whoosh is available in your postcode if you need a fast top-up rather than a full shop
- Which items in your basket currently have Clubcard Prices applied, and whether that beats the same product elsewhere
- How Tesco's price per unit compares to Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Iceland and Ocado for your actual shopping list, not just a handful of items
Compare Tesco against other supermarkets with Grocefully
Rather than guessing whether Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Iceland or Ocado will be cheapest this week, Grocefully lets you build a single basket and see the price breakdown across all six stores side by side, including price per unit so you can compare different pack sizes fairly. It's a quick way to check whether Tesco's Clubcard Prices genuinely beat the competition on your usual shop, or whether splitting your order — or switching stores entirely — saves you more once delivery costs are factored in.