Where to shop online in HK for groceries: The best eshops, from HKTV Mall to HonestBee,
Which site has the best items, the most accurate searches, and the cheapest prices?
If you plan on doing your grocery shopping online, there are many different websites and retailers to choose from, and it can be difficult to know which will offer you the best selection of products for the best price. We’ve compared four different online grocery and delivery services, in four different categories, to see which is the best.
Ease of use
HKTV Mall’s website was confusing. The page is cluttered with lots of information, and this can make it hard to find the exact product you are looking for.
ParknShop and Wellcome’s websites had issues with their search tool. In one instance, a search for “white bread” on ParknShop’s website returned cleaning products. To find products easily on these websites, you need to select the right product category from the drop-down menus at the top of the page. Overall, ParknShop’s site was slightly easier to navigate than Wellcome’s, and had more detailed product information.
HonestBee’s website was the most modern looking and easiest to use, with the products clearly organised by store and category.
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Selection of goods
ParknShop and Wellcome have a much smaller range of goods on sale compared to HonestBee or HKTVMall. We also found that several items on our list were labelled as out of stock when
we searched on the ParknShop website.
HKTV Mall had the largest range of products and services on sale out of the websites we tested. They have products in all categories, including groceries, health care, beauty products, household goods, and electronics. However, although there was a huge number of different types of products, in the supermarket section we could not find sliced bread – a staple food in most households.
Honestbee supplies groceries from different stores, so they have the most common products at many different price points. Although they deliver from mainstream stores like ParknShop and uSelect, many of the other stores they deliver from sell premium and higher-end products.
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Price
At ParknShop and Wellcome, there was almost no difference in price for the products we searched for. The biggest difference we found between both stores involved fresh foods and items that needed refrigeration, but even then the difference was only a few dollars.
HKTV Mall was generally the cheapest, with most items priced several dollars cheaper than either ParknShop or Wellcome.
Honestbee prices are harder to compare because they are based on the prices in-store on that day, and vary greatly on the quality of the store you choose to buy from.
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Delivery options
All four sites deliver to most residential addresses on Hong Kong Island, and in Kowloon, and urban areas of the New Territories. If you live in a rural area or outlying island, then you might find it harder to get deliveries.
If you live in an area which they don’t deliver to, you can opt to buy online and collect your shopping at Wellcome or HKTV Mall stores. This option is not offered with ParknShop and Honestbee.
Both ParknShop and Wellcome have free delivery for purchases over HK$500, and charge a HK$30 fee for receipts under that amount. At HKTV Mall, the minimum amount is
HK$400.
Honestbee, on the other hand, has a whole host of extra charges that you should be aware of. The minimum spending for free delivery depends on each store and the delivery location, but if you don’t meet the minimum, then a HK$70 delivery fee applies. You also need to pay a HK$28 service fee for every store from which you order from. Additionally, if you choose for your delivery to arrive at a busy time of day, you will be required to pay a small “peak fee”.