What the Basket Really Costs
Delivery Included?
A new CMA warning challenges the way some retailers display delivery fees, reminding shoppers that the cheapest-looking product may not be the cheapest purchase.
A £20 product can cost more than a £23 product. If the first carries an unavoidable £5 delivery charge and the second includes delivery, the comparison changes before either parcel leaves a warehouse.
That hypothetical example captures the problem behind the Competition and Markets Authority’s warning on 2 November 2026. Ahead of Christmas shopping, the regulator said some online retailers remained non-compliant in how they presented delivery charges.
Have shoppers been shown misleadingly low prices? The CMA’s concern supports that possibility where an advertised figure leaves out costs the customer cannot avoid. It does not establish that every delivery fee is unlawful, or that every retailer has broken the rules. The issue is whether customers receive a clear, timely picture of what buying actually costs.
What the CMA Has Told Retailers
The regulator’s letter reminds businesses to include mandatory delivery costs in the total price shown during the purchasing process. Its concern extends beyond the final payment screen to the information that helps someone decide where to shop.
This is a warning about compliance with existing requirements under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. It is not an announcement that delivery must become free. A retailer can charge for getting a product to a customer while remaining transparent about that cost.
The distinction is practical. A clear breakdown can explain where the money goes. An incomplete headline figure can make the same purchase look cheaper than it is. The regulator’s intervention concerns how that information reaches the shopper, rather than whether transport has a cost.
How a Small Fee Reverses a Comparison
Take the two fictional offers in the opening. Retailer A advertises the item at £20 and requires £5 delivery. Retailer B charges £23 including delivery. A looks £3 cheaper if someone compares only the product figures, but its delivered total is £25: £2 more than B.
Nothing about the product has changed. The order of the offers reverses because one comparison includes different information from the other. That is why transparency matters even where the eventual checkout total is mathematically correct.
The timing also affects the work a customer must do. Someone may have chosen a colour, checked availability and entered details before discovering the additional cost. They can still reconsider, but making a fresh comparison now requires retracing decisions they thought were settled.
This example does not estimate how many shoppers complete such purchases or prove deliberate manipulation by a particular business. It shows why finding the total eventually is different from being able to compare it at the start.
Mandatory Delivery and Optional Upgrades
The basic question is whether the customer must pay the charge to obtain the product. If every available delivery option costs money, the cheapest applicable option belongs in the initial total until the customer chooses another.
An optional premium service is different. Where a customer can genuinely choose standard delivery without an additional upgrade fee, an extra charge for a faster service need not be included in the base total. The option and its cost still need to be communicated clearly.
For example, imagine a fictional £30 purchase that includes standard delivery, with an optional £4 express upgrade. Choosing express makes the total £34. That increase reflects an additional service selected by the customer, rather than a compulsory cost revealed late.
The label is less useful than the available choice. Calling a fee an “extra” does not, by itself, establish that the customer can avoid it.
What if the Delivery Price Varies?
Some charges depend on information such as the delivery location. The CMA’s guidance recognises that a complete amount cannot always reasonably be calculated in advance. In that situation, shoppers need prominent information allowing them to work out the cost, followed by an updated total when calculation becomes possible.
There is a difference between missing information and hidden information. A business may genuinely need an address to establish a charge. That does not make a vague reference to possible extras equally useful to a customer trying to compare offers.
Flat charges applying to a whole basket also require care. Consider two items costing £20 and £10, with one £5 charge for delivering the order. The hypothetical total is £35, not £40. Clear presentation needs to explain the order-level charge without making customers mistake it for a separate fee on every item.
Does “Free Delivery” Make an Order Better Value?
Free delivery can be useful, but it does not settle the value of the purchase. The product price, quantity and any spending threshold still matter. A higher-priced item with delivery included may be cheaper overall, or more expensive: the total answers the question.
Suppose a fictional basket costs £42, with £5 delivery, while delivery becomes free at £50. Buying an unwanted £8 item to reach the threshold raises spending from £47 to £50. The customer avoids the delivery charge but spends £3 more overall.
That is not an argument against thresholds, which can benefit someone who already needs another item. It is a reminder to compare the purchase you intended to make with the purchase required to qualify. Saving a fee and reducing total spending are different outcomes.
What Shoppers Can Check Before Paying
A useful comparison starts with the same product, quantity and service level. Check the delivered total rather than assuming the first visible figure is the best measure. If an extra amount appears, establish whether it is compulsory or tied to a choice you made.
For an unfamiliar charge, keep the explanation specific: what is it for, when was it disclosed and can the purchase proceed without it? Saving the relevant price and checkout screens can help if you later need to describe the issue to the retailer. A record is more useful than a general recollection that the bill increased.
The CMA’s warning does not automatically establish a refund entitlement for every previous order. Individual circumstances still matter. Its immediate message is that complete pricing belongs where customers make decisions, rather than being treated as a surprise to resolve at payment.
The best test of an online bargain is simple: could you identify the real cost early enough to choose a different offer? A price earns its usefulness when it lets you make that decision without rebuilding the purchase from its missing parts.
Sources
Competition and Markets Authority — Open Letter to Online Retailers: Including Mandatory Delivery Fees in the Total Price — The 2 November 2026 warning and the regulator’s stated concerns.
Competition and Markets Authority — Providing Clear and Accurate Information About Prices: Summary — Mandatory, optional and variable charges, and presentation of totals.
Competition and Markets Authority — Price Transparency — The CMA209 guidance collection and explanation of drip and partitioned pricing.
Next Reads
McDonald’s Sued Over Alleged AI Price-Fixing As Big Mac Pricing System Faces Antitrust Test — A separate, disputed US case about how prices are determined, rather than how delivery charges are displayed.
How An Oil-Price Shock Reaches Your Bills — And Why The Effects Arrive At Different Times — The distinction between changes in business costs and changes in the prices households pay.
