Australian households are paying up to 40 per cent more for the convenience and speed of getting groceries delivered through a third-party app, according to Choice.

The consumer group’s latest research comes amid a booming grocery home delivery market which is valued at more than $15 billion and predicted to be worth more than three times that by 2034.

Aldi recently ramped up its fight against the major supermarkets by partnering with DoorDash to offer a home delivery service, while Coles and Woolworths delivery orders can be placed via third-party platforms as well as the supermarkets’ own websites.

Noting that apps such as DoorDash, Uber Eats and Milkrun enable shoppers to receive their order quickly – “in some cases in less than an hour” – Choice compared the cost of a basket of 13 products bought in-store compared with what you would pay for rapid delivery via the third-party platforms.

It found individual items were on average 11 per cent more expensive when bought via a third-party delivery service, with some products as much as 42 per cent more ­– and that’s before you add delivery fees and any other service costs.

“Of the 13 items we compared, seven of the products from Aldi were priced higher on DoorDash when compared to the price you pay in-store,” said Choice editorial director Mark Serrels.

“Twelve of the 13 items were priced higher on a Woolworths Milkrun order, and for all other comparisons, the prices for each item were higher when purchased via the third-party service when compared to what you would pay if you actually went in-store.

“If you purchase a 400-gram tub of Lurpak (butter) in-store from Woolworths, it’s $9. If you forget you’ve run out of spread for tomorrow’s sandwiches and place an order via UberEats, it will cost you a whopping $10.20.”

Overall, the basket of groceries from Aldi cost $53.22 if delivered by DoorDash ­– 31 per cent more than you would pay in-store.

The same items from Coles cost $59.73 delivered by DoorDash or $60.53 via UberEats ­– 33 per cent and 35 per cent more, respectively, than in-store. From Woolworths, Milkrun would deliver the basket for $51.60 (the cheapest option overall), while consumers ordering it from Uber Eats would pay $57.39 (39 per cent more than in store).

These total costs include delivery fees ranging from $5 to just over $11.

Source: Choice

“When we compared, the flat fee for a fast delivery from the Coles and Woolworths websites was $15,” Serrels said.

“This matched the price of our Coles orders from DoorDash and Uber Eats, but for Woolworths, the Milkrun order was the cheapest option.”

In bad news for ice-cream lovers, the biggest price difference for an individual item was Coles vanilla ice-cream cone four-packs, which were $3.70 in store compared with $5.25 ­– 42 per cent more ­– when delivered by DoorDash or Uber Eats.

A block of Choceur milk chocolate from Aldi was $4.99 in the supermarket or $5.79 delivered via DoorDash.

Choice reported that nearly all the supermarkets and platforms in its research said the higher prices of some items reflected the cost of convenience.

Its analysis did not take into account any free or discounted delivery options offered for customers with membership for services such as Coles Plus, Uber One, Woolworths Delivery Unlimited, or DashPass.

Aldi has previously said that “everyday essentials” such as fresh produce, milk and eggs are customer favourites in its orders through DoorDash.

After it launched the on-demand delivery trial in Canberra in July, it found some of the first orders showed shoppers were using the service to “conveniently solve some of life’s messiest problems”.

“One order of nappies and wipes and another containing two bags of cat food and a pack of toilet paper were delivered on the trial’s first day within hours of going live,” it noted at the time.

Since that initial trial, the German-owned supermarket has extended the delivery service to Aldi locations in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Victoria and NSW.

It has also highlighted a few interesting differences between the states:

“Canberrans have a sweet tooth, with shoppers in the nation’s capital choosing the sweet Belmont Biscuit Co Chocolate Flavoured Crème Wafers 125-grams as their ultimate snack, while Western Australians, Queenslanders, South Australians and Victorians favour savoury bites instead.”

Aldi held onto its title of cheapest supermarket overall when Choice released its quarterly report on prices across the country in June.

However, both Coles and IGA disputed that data, saying it failed to capture the full range of discounts available in their stores.