The change will be introduced from April 7, at which point Sainsbury’s customers will have to spend £50 online, instead of £40, in order to avoid being hit with delivery charges.
The change will also impact shoppers who have a Sainsbury’s delivery pass, which costs £7.50 per month, or £80 for a year.
Previously, the delivery pass meant that shoppers would not pay extra for delivery, but from next month any order of less than £50 will be hit by a £7.50 charge, up from £7.
Shoppers without the pass will pay somewhere between £1 and £5.50 for orders over £50, and £7.50 for orders below £50.
The move has left shoppers angry, with many threatening to switch supermarkets following the increase.
One took to social media to say: “Very disappointed that Sainsbury’s are raising their minimum Delivery Pass spend to £50, I struggle to get to £40 most weeks so now I’ll have to find time to go to the supermarket and carry everything (usually at least three trips a week).
“I understand that Sainsbury’s haven’t raised their minimum, spend for some years but its another blow to single people. No doubt they’ll ignore this.”
Another added: “So disappointed at the rise for online deliveries, you’ve priced me as a single person out of your market.”
A third said: “This isn’t fair on single people.”
While others questioned if they were “declaring war on pensioners”, and said they were “beyond disappointed” in the move.
A Sainsbury’s spokesman told The Sun: “We want to do everything possible to ensure online shopping is as simple and affordable for our customers as possible.
“The spend needed to qualify for standard delivery had remained unchanged for well over a decade, and after a recent review, it will increase next month from £40 to £50 to reflect the costs for our business in providing this service.
“The vast majority of our customers already spend over this threshold and will subsequently see no impact when shopping with us online, while options like our Delivery Pass and Click & Collect can help to reduce costs further.”
