Need to know
- Both supermarkets sell some fresh produce online on a per-item basis
- At Woolworths, you’ll know exactly what you’ll pay when the order is placed, but in most cases you won’t be given an estimated size
- Coles gives an estimated price and size for each item and the final price is based on cost per kilogram
If you regularly shop online for your groceries you may wrestle with the fact that when buying fruit and vegetables it can be hard to know exactly what you're getting.
While shopping online is certainly convenient, it can be frustrating too. You can't select the avocado or banana that has reached the precise level of ripeness you like, and you may even end up with an item you would have rejected due to bruising or other slight imperfections.
Perhaps even more frustrating are the issues of not knowing the weight of each particular item you'll receive in your order and, depending which supermarket you shop at, how much you will pay.
While shopping online is certainly convenient, it can be frustrating, too.
Each of the big two supermarkets uses a different method to sell their fruit and veg online, and there are pros and cons to each approach.
We looked at online prices for a variety of fruit and veg, assessing how they compared to the price you pay when shopping instore.
On this page:
- The pros and cons of buying fruit and veg online
- Coles vs Woolies: Which approach is best?
- Our Woolworths online fruit and vegetable order
- Our Coles online fruit and vegetable order
- CHOICE verdict
Shopping online can be convenient, but buying fruit and vegies this way is not without challenges.
The pros and cons of buying fruit and veg online
According to Statista, some 28% of Australians surveyed between October 2023 and September 2024 had ordered fruit and vegetables online in the previous 12 months. That's a lot of us adding avocados, strawberries and apples to our virtual baskets each week.
There are many conveniences to shopping online – saving time on travel to and from the supermarket, being able to order at any time, and avoiding supermarket queues and the hassle of visiting a shopping centre. But buying fruit and vegies this way is not without its challenges.
Whereas a box of breakfast cereal or any other packaged product is reasonably consistent in terms of weight and price from week to week – the perils of shrinkflation notwithstanding – when it comes to fresh fruit and veg you can't be so certain.
For example, a Cavendish banana might weigh anything from 97g for a small one all the way up to 246g for an extra large version. So how do you know what you're getting when you add that pear or pumpkin to your online basket?
For some, it won't really matter. You know that your family will get through 10 bananas in a week so that's how many go in your basket, whether you're shopping online or instore. That's the case for CHOICE member Nigel, who likes the option to buy according to item count and doesn't mind what size he gets.
"I really like the by-item method. I know we usually have five bananas at a time before they go off. And we accept differences in size as a seasonal/supply thing," he says.
Regular online shopper Cate feels differently. "The per-item price drives me nuts!!! The number of times I've had to go instore to buy extra for a recipe when I've ordered what I thought would be sufficient by volume, only to find they gave me the micro versions and I need to buy more," she says.
The quality of fruit and veg bought online
Have you ever walked into the supermarket intending to buy some watermelon or berries, but changed your mind when you see the quality or ripeness of the produce on offer?
An issue with shopping online for fruit and veg is that you don't get to see what you're buying, and so you may receive fresh produce that isn't up to the standard you'd choose for yourself.
Both the major supermarkets have policies to address this. At Woolworths, their Fresh or Free guarantee covers this, promising to "refund AND replace any fresh food you're not happy with which is sold online or instore".
At Coles, customers can make a claim for a credit or refund if they believe there is a fault or defect with goods purchased.
Coles vs Woolies: Which approach is best?
Both supermarkets sell some of their fruit and vegetables online on a per-item basis, but the way they do it differs.
Woolworths lists items with a firm price per item, and Coles gives an approximate price per item with an estimate of the weight you'll receive and the caveat that the final price will depend on the per kilogram charge.
What does this mean for your online fruit and veg order and bill?
When you buy fruit and veg from Woolies, you may get better value on some items than you would if buying on a per kilogram basis, and be worse off on others – you won't know until the order arrives.
At Coles, you'll pay the same price when shopping online as when shopping instore.
We recently put both methods to the test to see how online shopping for fruit and vegetables compared to shopping in person at both supermarkets.
Our Woolworths online fruit and vegetable order
We bought 11 items of fresh fruit and vegetables both online and instore from Woolworths in late January 2025.
When we received the items we weighed each piece and calculated what we would have paid had we bought the items on a per kilo basis at our local supermarket.
For eight of the 11 items, we paid less online than we would have if buying instore; for one item (grapes) it was more than a dollar less.
For the three items where we paid more, the difference was less than 20 cents in each instance. In total, we saved $4.54 compared to what we would have paid for the same produce had we bought it instore.
For the three items where we paid more, the difference was less than 20 cents in each instance
Other shoppers have told us they've not been so fortunate with their Woolworths orders, complaining that they feel "ripped off" by receiving smaller portions of fruit and vegetables than expected.
A Woolworths spokesperson tells us that their online prices for individual pieces of fruit and veg were calculated using the same price they offer instore.
"The price of individual pieces of fruit and veg sold online are calculated using the same per kilogram price offered instore and an average weight per piece, which fluctuates based on changing produce sizes throughout the season," they say.
"Woolworths conducts regular average weight checks for various produce varieties to ensure seasonal or supply variations are reflected in the average weight used for per-piece pricing online."
Our Coles online fruit and vegetable order
We compared the 11 items we bought online from Coles to the estimated size and price we were given when we made our order.
In total, it was estimated we would pay just over $18 for the 11 items on our list.
On four of the items we paid less, on seven we paid more, and in total the actual charge for the fruit and veg we purchased online was $2.57 more than the estimate given when we added the items to our basket.
In most cases, the difference between the estimated size and the actual size delivered was fairly small
This was, of course, due to the variation in size of some of the items compared to the estimate provided, since the final price was calculated based on the cost per kilogram.
In most cases, the difference between the estimated size and the actual size delivered was fairly small, though one item (a zucchini) was more than twice the size we expected, which meant it was over a $1 more than estimated.
Only two items were within five percent of the estimated size given at the time of purchase.
CHOICE verdict
While customers shopping at Woolworths will know exactly what they will pay for their fruit and veg at the time they place their order, less certain is the size of the item and how that price is calculated.
On the other hand, while Coles provides an estimated size and an estimated cost based on weight, in our experience it wasn't terribly accurate, though the difference this made to the final cost was usually less than 50 cents per item.
Ultimately, there's inevitably an element of uncertainty in shopping online for fruit and vegetables
Ultimately, there's inevitably an element of uncertainty in shopping online for fruit and vegetables.
If you don't want to risk getting slightly more or less than you expected or produce that doesn't quite meet your standards, you may have to sacrifice the convenience of online shopping and head instore if that's an option for you.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
