If 2025 proved anything, it’s that convenience in India is no longer just about speed; it has become core consumption infrastructure.
Quick-commerce platforms like Swiggy Instamart and Zepto are no longer being used only for forgotten groceries or last-minute milk runs. Their data shows Indians placing everything from a single Rs 10 order to carts worth over Rs 4 lakh, signalling a deeper shift in how people across metros and smaller cities shop.
From Rs 10 printouts to Rs 4 lakh carts
On Instamart, the smallest order of the year came from Bengaluru which was a single Rs 10 printout. At the other end of the spectrum was a Rs 4.3 lakh order from Hyderabad, driven largely by iPhones. Over the course of the year, the platform’s highest-spending customer shelled out more than Rs 22 lakh, buying an eclectic mix that ranged from smartphones and gold coins to everyday essentials like milk, bananas and mints.
Zepto saw similar behaviour. Individual orders climbed close to Rs 1.9 lakh, while one Mumbai-based delivery partner completed nearly 5,900 deliveries in a year, averaging more than 16 a day.
Milk still leads, but baskets are changing
Despite the growing presence of electronics and lifestyle products, staples remain the backbone of demand. Milk, onions, tomatoes, bananas, eggs, dahi and curry leaves topped order volumes across both platforms. Instamart estimates that Indians ordered more than four packets of milk every second in 2025. Zepto’s city-level data shows milk as the most ordered item in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Hyderabad.
Big-ticket trust: phones, gold and appliances
Perhaps the strongest signal of how far quick commerce has come is the rise in big-ticket purchases. Instamart reported growing demand for smartphones, home appliances and even precious metals. Gold buying surged around Dhanteras, with year-on-year growth crossing 400%. Individual gold orders exceeded Rs 15 lakh in Mumbai alone.
Electronics followed a similar trend. Users across cities placed single-cart orders worth several lakhs for iPhones, Bluetooth speakers, SSDs and robotic vacuums. Zepto’s data also shows thousands of last-minute tech accessory purchases, especially Type-C charging cables, with Bengaluru leading demand.
Tier-II cities step up
While metros still drive volumes, the next phase of growth is coming from smaller cities. Instamart recorded double-digit and multi-fold year-on-year growth in places like Rajkot, Ludhiana, Bhubaneswar and Bhopal, particularly in health, wellness and nutrition categories.
Zepto noted the same trend, witnessing a steady rise in first-time buyers from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, especially during sale events.
Apart from this, categories like protein and wellness were on the rise. The reports mention a sharp uptake of supplements and sugar-free products from cities like Noida and Bhopal. Discretion-led buying, items like condoms, feature in approximately one in every 127 Instamart orders.
Gifting was another category in which these quick commerce companies shone. It shows a spike on eventful days such as Raksha Bandhan, Valentine’s Day, etc. Mondays, interestingly, emerged as a peak gifting day.
The cost of scale
The financials reflect both momentum and strain. As per Swiggy’s financial reports, Instamart processed 100.8 million orders in Q2FY26, with an average order value of Rs 697. Furthermore, the net order value stood at 70% of gross order value, while the adjusted EBITDA loss widened to Rs 849 crore.
The financial report further mentioned that the average monthly transacting users grew to 12 million, supported by 1,102 active dark stores. While throughput moderated to about 1,025 orders per dark store per day, total capacity expanded, taking active dark-store area to 4.59 million square feet.
Zepto, meanwhile, reported total sales of Rs 9,668.8 crore in FY25, more than doubling from Rs 4,223.9 crore the previous year, a 129% jump. Losses, however, widened sharply, with net loss rising 177% to Rs 3,367.3 crore, according to Moneycontrol.
Market view
Swiggy’s share price dipped 2.1% when markets closed on Wednesday. The stock is up 0.91% over the past month but remains down more than 27.7% so far in 2025.