Two of the big four online supermarkets are increasing their delivery charges significantly in the days leading up to Christmas as they look to maximize profits and gain from festive food shopping.
Tesco is putting up its standard fee by up to 100 per cent to £6 and Waitrose delivery service Ocado is pushing up its price to a flat fee of £9.99 from December 20.
Tesco normally charges between £3 and £5 to deliver on a Monday and Tuesday but this will hit £6 next week. Higher charges apply in the early morning, lunchtimes and early evening.
By contrast, both Sainsbury's and Asda are sticking to their normal delivery charges.
At Ocado, from December 20, there is a standard fee of £9.99 as opposed to a typical charge of £4-£5, although it can be £5.99.
In contrast, both Sainsbury's and Asda are sticking to their normal delivery charges.
An Ocado spokesperson said: “The average Christmas order is bigger than a regular order - by around 50 per cent in some cases - so we have less room on each of the vans and we need to have more vans to cope with the extra demand.”
Tesco said: “Christmas is our busiest period of all and we employ more staff who work longer hours to make sure customers get their deliveries.”
Meanwhile, a record number of stores will be open 24 hours a day and hundreds more will be open until late into the night in a landmark bid to generate a last-minute Christmas rush.
More than 740 supermarkets will be trading round the clock in the week before Christmas, which is an all-time high. M&S said 113 of its Simply Food stores will be trading 24 hours a day in the days before Christmas.
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