Online Supermarkets In Spain

Online supermarkets are gaining market share in Spain, so we decided to check out the biggest sites to see what they can offer. Although you’ll need some Spanish, the websites are all quite easy to use.

Of course you can always shop online with your usual supermarket: Carrefour, Día, Eroski and El Corte Ingles offer a great selection of goods. However an online-only supermarket can be a interesting option too, especially if you take advantage of their introductory promo offers.

Amazon Spain

With thousands of products available, Amazon is aiming to seriously disrupt the online supermarkets sector in Spain. At the Amazon Spain supermarket you won’t find for the moment any refrigerated or frozen items nor those with a short shelf-life.

Shipping costs are free for Amazon Prime members which costs 36€ per year (one-month free trial). Watch out for low value items, marked “Producto Plus”, you’ll need to add other items to reach the 19€ threshold.

On Amazon you can only find branded items, so if you like Mercadona’s Hacendado products then Amazon probably won’t work out cheaper. There are also lots of items that are sold in bulk, think whether you’ll use it all in order not to waste food.

Lola Market, Deliberry & Delsuper

All three companies offer a variation of a “mums who shop” service (their words not mine!). The idea for these sites is that their shoppers are experts in fresh produce such as meat or fish, items that most people still won’t buy online even with the big players such as Carrefour.

Some of these online supermarkets limit deliveries to large cities but have plans to expand across Spain. Often your first delivery will be free, subsequent delivery costs vary depending on your purchase

Take a look at Lola Market, Deliberry and Delsuper for more info.

Ulabox

Ulabox has a clear, easy-to-use website and offers over 10,000 top brand products.

The threshold for free delivery is 59€ and delivery is available in most towns from 9 am till 10 pm. You’ll need to order online before 2 pm to get your delivery the next working day, otherwise it will be delivered the following day. In major cities you can choose from a 2-hour time slot. They currently only deliver to mainland Spain.

Watch out if buying lots of heavy items, such as cans and bottles, as you may have to pay an additional cost. This cost can be cancelled by “balancing out” your purchase with more lightweight items.

Look at the section “promociones” where offers are clearly marked. You’ll often receive a freebie with your delivery when a company wants to promote a new product.

Ulabox offers an “invite a friend” system: friends get a 10€ discount to use on their first order, once they’ve used it you’ll also get a 10€ discount. (Here’s my link if you want to use it!)

Carritus

Carritus difers to the websites above as it compares prices at the following supermarkets based on your postcode: Alcampo, Caprabo, Carrefour, Condis, Eroski, El Corte Inglés, Hipercor, Mercadona and Dia.

When you choose an item, you choose which supermarket to purchase it from. Undoubtedly this could make your shopping experience a bit time consuming, depending on the savings you’ll achieve.

Even though this is a good idea, a problem arises if you split your order up: depending on the amount spent, you may have to pay a delivery charge on each order from a different supermarket. In this case you’d need to calculate whether it’s cheaper to buy everything from the same store.

Conclusions

Buying online is great for families who need to buy in bulk items such as milk, soft drinks, detergent, etc. Using these websites can save on petrol, time, patience and aching arms as someone will deliver your order to your front door!

Single people or smaller households may find it harder to save, often they won’t meet the threshold for free delivery unless they buy in bulk.

If you tend to buy lots of fresh meat, fish, fruit & veg you have to rely on the company to choose the products for you, which might not suit everyone.