From condoms to aloo bhujia, soft drinks, chips and ice cubes packets, and even men’s underwear, New Year’s Eve (NYE) witnessed record-breaking orders for major quick commerce platforms including Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart. The year came to close on a high note for both the platforms, as Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa and Swiggy Co-founder Phani Kishan, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share notable consumer trends and record order volumes.
In a post on X on 31st December, Albinder Dhindsa said, “Just saw that we’ve already crossed the total number of orders we did on NYE 2023. Happened around 5 PM today!” Blinkit has recently launched its large order fleet in Delhi and Gurugram. The quick commerce platform hit some of key milestones on the day including, highest ever orders in a day, highest OPM (orders per minute), highest OPH (orders per hour), highest total tips given to delivery partners in a day, most chips sold in a day, most grapes sold in a day.
In another post, Albinder Dhindsa had said, “1,22,356 packs of condoms, 45,531 bottles of mineral water, 22,322 Partysmart, 2,434 Eno..are enroute right now! Prep for after party?” Now for the most orders condom flavours, 39.1 per cent of consumers placed orders for chocolate flavoured condoms, 31.0 per cent ordered strawberry flavoured condoms, and 19.8 per cent went with the Bubblegum condoms on NYE. Elaborating on unexpected orders and in high quantities at that, Albinder Dhindsa said, “Another product which I didn’t expect will be ordered in high quantities – men’s underwear.”
In another one in Albinder Dhindsa’s series of posts, he said, “Enroute right now👇2,34,512 packets of aloo bhujia, 45,531 cans of tonic water, 6,834 packets of ice cubes, 1003 lipsticks, 762 lighters. All should be delivered in the next 10 minutes. Party’s just getting started!”
Furthermore, a consumer in Kolkata paced an order worth Rs 64,988 while another in Hyderabad gave the highest tip of the day – Rs 2500 to one of the delivery partners. However, Bengaluru secured the top position as it tipped a total of Rs 1,79,735 on NYE.
Meanwhile, Swiggy Co-founder Phani Kishan, in a post on X on 31st December, said, “We’ve just hit our highest-ever orders, surpassing our previous record from Diwali 2024! We’re on track to double our sales of NYE 2023—and the late-night rush is still ahead. What a way to end the year! Grateful to be bringing unparalleled convenience to Indians across the country.”
Phani Kishan shared updates highlighting the country’s top picks on quick commerce – from the most expensive order in Goa to the highest ice cubes per minute, to the fastest delivery of tonic water in just 4 minutes. The most trending searches on Swiggy Instamart were milk, chips, chocolates, grapes, and paneer. It also saw chips, cold drinks, and soda flying off the virtual shelves as the most sold items. Per the quick commerce platform, over 5 lakh packets of chips were sold on NYE. Further, cold drinks were the real MVPs with 1 in every 8 orders being placed for a cold drink. In the category, cola soft drinks went up by 394 per cent, and clear soft drinks soared by 941 per cent. Also, non-alcoholic beers skyrocketed with 1541.72 per cent jump. Cocktail mixers and soda combined with minty fresh ingredients flew off the shelves, soaring over 2500 per cent in demand.
Consumers also placed orders for games and puzzles, with orders shooting up by 600 per cent.
An unexpected order on Swiggy Instamart on NYE was handcuffs and blindfolds. Another unusual order was placed by a user in Chandigarh, who placed over 50 orders on Swiggy Instamart for milk packets. Another user in Goa placed an order for Rs 70,325.
Commenting on the trends, Amitesh Jha, CEO, Swiggy Instamart, said, “Swiggy Instamart has become an essential part of New Year’s Eve preparations year after year, and this year is no exception. As smaller towns join metro cities in embracing fast, convenient deliveries, we’ve started seeing an early rise in demand, particularly for large orders of snacks, drinks, party décor, and glam essentials. New Year’s Eve has once again set a new record for orders, surpassing previous peaks from festive seasons like Mother’s Day and Diwali, making it the day with the highest-ever orders on Swiggy Instamart. Categories such as snacks, party essentials, and gifting are seeing the most notable growth. In 2024, Swiggy Instamart expanded to over 42 cities, serving 68 cities currently, ensuring that no celebration—big or small—is ever out of reach.”