Spar2U beats Checkers Sixty60 and Pick n Pay in grocery delivery price showdown

Spar2U and Checkers Sixty60 are cheaper than PnP asap! and Woolworths, with Spar edging out the Shoprite-owned retailer by R1.40 in a MyBroadband grocery delivery price comparison.

Competition in the online grocery delivery space has heated up significantly in recent years, with companies like Spar and Woolworths launching online delivery services to compete with Checkers and Pick n Pay.

Many South Africans still prefer to visit a grocery store to shop. However, a recent study by Insider Intelligence estimated that the country’s online food delivery market would be worth R34 billion in 2023, with further growth of 16% inspected in 2024.

The three biggest players are Checkers Sixty60, Pick n Pay Asap!, and Woolies Dash, which all launched before Spar2U.

The biggest — Sixty60 — had 3.1 million downloads by March 2023. It launched in November 2019 and expanded to 466 stores by September 2023.

Woolworths launched its Dash service about a year after Checkers and amassed over two million users by March 2023, partly due to its integration with the company’s older Woolworths app.

PnP asap!’s history is more complex. It was launched as a liquor delivery service called Bottles in 2016 and partnered with Pick n Pay two years later.

The service was rebranded to PnP asap! and relaunched in August 2021.

On the other hand, Spar2U is relatively new in the online grocery delivery space. Spar initially piloted the service with select stores in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs in early 2022 before rolling out to more stores in March of that same year.

It had expanded the service to 373 stores across all major metros by November 2023.

Grocery delivery price shootout

MyBroadband compared prices for ten items common across the four grocery delivery apps to determine which is cheaper.

Our analysis found that while Spar2U was the most expensive option for two of the ten products compared, it was the cheapest overall.

For example, it was the most expensive for a 9-pack of 2-ply Baby Soft toilet paper and a 400g jar of Black Cat Smooth Peanut Butter by R5 over the next-most expensive store.

However, it was the cheapest option for Salt & Vinegar Pringles by R8, a 200g pack of Eskort Wood Smoked Streaky Bacon by nearly R9, and a 700g loaf of Albany Superior White Bread by R2.

Altogether, buying the basket through Spar2U costs R529.50, compared to R530.90 for the next-most affordable grocery delivery service — Checkers Sixty60.

Checker’s online grocery delivery platform offers the lowest pricing for three of the ten products compared.

These include a 500g tub of Flora 50% Fat Spread, a two-litre bottle of house-brand full cream milk, and a 400g Black Cat Smooth Peanut Butter.

PnP and Woolworths offer the best pricing for one item — a two-litre bottle of Original Coca-Cola — at R25.99. Their price is R1 cheaper than the next-most affordable option.

Buying the basket of ten products from PnP asap! and Woolworths costs R538.90 and R572.90, respectively.

All four platforms charge R35 for delivery.

Below is a table comparing Checkers Sixty60, Pick n Pay asap!, Spar2U, and Woolworths across ten products common to each store. If an item was cheaper at one store, we highlighted the lower price in green and higher in red.

It should be noted that Woolworths only sells a small range of products common to other stores, with many of the items it sells, including bread, boerewors, toilet paper, and bacon, being house-branded.

We included prices for Woolworths house-brand products where we ran into this scenario.