Ordering a week’s food to your rental works well in Sweden, as long as you sort out three things before arrival day: whether the chain reaches your postcode, whether it will give you an account, and who will be there to sign for the bags.
When you need this
You’ve rented a cabin an hour from the nearest town, you’re arriving late, and you don’t want to start the holiday in a supermarket. Or you’re in a city apartment with small children and want the heavy shopping carried up for you. Maybe you have no car, or a delivery has just arrived with half the items swapped and you want to know where you stand.
How online grocery shopping works in Sweden
Most online grocery shopping runs through the same supermarket chains you see on the street. You order on the chain’s website or app, and a store or warehouse picks the goods. Then you either get them delivered within a time window you booked, or collect them at or near a store. Some cities also have delivery apps that bring groceries from partner supermarkets within about an hour.
| Channel | How it works | Where it reaches |
|---|---|---|
| Home delivery (hemleverans) | Packed bags to your door in a booked window | Towns and cities; depends on postcode |
| Store pickup (hämta) | Collect packed bags at the store or at lockers nearby | Wider than home delivery; varies by chain |
| City app delivery | An app delivers from a partner supermarket, within about an hour | Selected stores in some cities |
It is a niche channel. Online orders made up 4.2% of Swedish grocery sales in 2025, around 15 billion of roughly 360 billion kronor, the same share as the year before. Coverage follows population, so the chain’s site only tells you whether it delivers to you once you enter a postcode.
Can a visitor order? The account is the hidden hurdle
Chain websites are built for residents, and logins often assume a personnummer, the Swedish personal identity number. It varies by chain:
- One large chain lets members log in with a personnummer. Its terms say EU citizens without one can apply for a simplified account (förenklat användarkonto). They say nothing about other nationalities.
- Another chain asks new customers for an e-mail address and a mobile number to create an account.
- Payment is normally by card. One chain warns that online card payments may ask you to confirm through your bank’s own check.
Set the account up a few days before you travel, not on arrival evening. If it won’t work, collecting from the store or simply walking in is the fallback. For why so much in Sweden assumes Swedish ID, see BankID for tourists.
The sites are Swedish-first, and so is the food information. Online food sellers must be registered with the municipal food control. For packaged food, all the mandatory information except the date marking has to be available before you complete the purchase, and as a main rule it is in Swedish. Your browser’s translate function handles the rest. If you shop for allergies, see food allergies in Sweden.
Cabins: the postcode question
This is where most cabin plans go wrong. One chain’s own guide says plainly that what you can get “depends on where in the country you live”. Many rural, island and mountain postcodes get no home delivery.
- Enter the cabin’s own postcode, not the nearest town’s. The site tells you at once if it doesn’t deliver there.
- If it doesn’t, order for pickup at a store in the last town on your route. It turns the coverage gap into a ten-minute stop.
- If it does, give directions a driver can follow in the delivery notes. In winter, a driver needs a ploughed, drivable road.
Summer holiday weeks and the run-up to Midsummer fill cabin areas, and popular slots go first. Book as early as the chain allows. For the cabin itself, see renting a stuga and what to expect in a Swedish holiday cabin.
Apartments: getting the driver in
In a city apartment, delivery is usually easy. The usual snag is the street door. Put the door code (portkod) or the name on the intercom in your delivery notes. Our guide to staying in a Swedish apartment explains how codes and intercoms work.
Delivery day: slots, swaps and the doorstep
Slots close early. You pick a day and a window, and full windows are greyed out. One chain holds your chosen slot for only 30 minutes while you shop. It also locks changes at 11:59 the day before for morning slots, and 23:59 the day before for later ones. Forgotten the coffee? It’s too late to add it on the day.
Substitutions are your call. When ordering, decide whether the store may swap out-of-stock items, for the whole order or item by item. One chain says you always pay the lower of the two prices, and nothing for an item you chose not to replace. Another lets you turn down a substitute at the door.
Weighed goods (viktvaror) are priced after picking. One chain’s terms allow the delivered weight to vary by up to 15% either way in exceptional cases.
Someone should be in. One chain’s terms let the driver leave your bags outside the front door if you can’t receive them. Livsmedelsverket, the Swedish Food Agency, advises that chilled food should not stand out in summer warmth for more than two hours, as reported in July 2026. A bag of milk and mince on a sunny porch is not a good start. Book a window you can actually be there for, and get chilled food into the fridge straight away. One chain texts you that morning with a link showing how many stops are left before yours.
Beer, wine and ID at the door
A grocery order can include folköl, beer up to 3.5% ABV. Nothing stronger. By law folköl may not be handed to anyone under 18, and it can only be sold from registered food premises, which is why it can be in a supermarket’s online range. Wine, spirits and stronger beer come only from Systembolaget, the state alcohol retailer. It takes online orders separately, with lead times of several working days. See Systembolaget hours and holiday planning before you count on it.
ID is checked at the door. One chain’s terms require ID at delivery and pickup for alcohol-containing goods, tobacco and pharmacy items, and the courier may also ask for the order confirmation. If someone else receives the order for you, they must show both their own ID and yours. If nobody can, those items go back and are refunded, and the rest of the order stays.
When something is wrong
Food is not like a webshop parcel. Sweden’s Distance Contracts Act gives no 14-day right of withdrawal for goods that spoil quickly or go out of date. Grocery deliveries made on regular delivery rounds can fall outside the distance-selling rules altogether. The sources don’t settle whether ordinary slot-booked deliveries count, so treat food as non-returnable. If plans change after delivery, the food is still yours to pay for.
| Situation | What applies |
|---|---|
| You no longer want the food | No withdrawal right for perishables (law) |
| Non-food item in the same order | Normal 14-day withdrawal right from receipt (law) |
| Item faulty or spoiled on arrival | Reklamation under the Consumer Sales Act: up to 3 years, always in time within 2 months of discovery (law) |
| Unwanted substitute | Refuse at the door where the chain’s terms allow (practice) |
| Missing item | Report to the store promptly (practice) |
Check the bags while the driver is there if you can, and report problems to the store promptly. Our guide to returns, ångerrätt and reklamation covers the rules in full.
Practical information
| Item | What to expect (checked 2026-10-15) |
|---|---|
| Picking fee (plockavgift) | Charged on both delivery and pickup; amount at checkout, varies by chain and store |
| Delivery fee | Added for home delivery; amount at checkout |
| Bags | Stores may charge for the bags your order is packed in |
| Small-order fee | Some stores charge a handling fee below a minimum order value |
| Pant (deposit) | Added on drinks at payment; refunded at a store’s return machine |
| Weighed goods | Priced after picking |
| Changing an order | One chain: until 11:59 the day before (morning slots) or 23:59 the day before (later slots) |
| ID items | Folköl (18+), tobacco, pharmacy goods: ID at the door |
We don’t publish fees or food prices: they vary by chain, store and slot, and the checkout shows them before you pay. For returning bottles and cans, see how pant works.
FAQ
Can I get groceries delivered to my holiday cabin in Sweden?
Sometimes. Home delivery depends on where in the country you are, and many rural and island postcodes are not covered. Enter the cabin’s own postcode on the chain’s site before you rely on it. If it is not covered, order for pickup at a store on your way in, which turns the gap into a short stop.
Can I order groceries online without a Swedish personal number?
Often, but check before you travel. One large chain’s terms let EU citizens without a personnummer apply for a simplified account, and say nothing about other nationalities. Another chain asks new customers for an e-mail address and mobile number. Set the account up a few days ahead; store pickup or a store visit is the fallback.
Do I have to be home when Swedish grocery delivery arrives?
It is wise. You book a time window, and one chain’s terms let the driver leave the bags outside if you cannot receive them. Chilled food should not stand out in summer warmth for more than two hours, according to Livsmedelsverket’s advice. Items needing ID, such as folköl or tobacco, go back if nobody can show it.
Can I order beer and wine with my grocery delivery?
Only beer up to 3.5% ABV, called folköl, which the law forbids handing to anyone under 18; expect an ID check at the door. Wine, spirits and stronger beer are sold only by Systembolaget, which takes online orders separately with lead times of several working days. A supermarket order cannot cover them.
Can I return groceries I ordered online in Sweden?
Not just because you changed your mind. The 14-day withdrawal right does not cover goods that spoil quickly, and grocery rounds can fall outside distance-selling rules altogether. Faulty goods are different: you can complain under the Consumer Sales Act. Non-food items in the same order keep the normal 14-day right.
What happens if an item is out of stock in my order?
You decide when ordering. You can accept substitutes for the whole order or item by item. One chain says you always pay the lower of the two prices and nothing for an item you declined to replace; another lets you refuse a substitute at the door. Weighed goods are priced after picking.
Related guides
- Swedish supermarkets explained: the chains and store formats behind the webshops.
- Systembolaget hours and holiday planning: the separate order you need for wine.
- Staying in a Swedish apartment: door codes and intercoms, so the driver gets in.
- Receiving packages in Sweden: pick-up points for anything that isn’t food.
- Club prices and membership cards: why the price online may assume you’re a member.
Facts verified 2026-10-15. Sources: Sveriges Riksdag (Distance Contracts Act, Alcohol Act), Konsumentverket, Malmö municipal food control, Livsmedelsverket as reported by TT, Svensk Dagligvaruhandel, and the published terms of two supermarket chains — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.