Groceries, Gadgets And Gold: India’s Most Extreme Instamart Carts And Wildest Obsessions In 2025
In 2025, India didn’t just shop faster. It shopped more honestly. Our carts revealed who we really are: planners, splurgers, loyalists, obsessives — sometimes all at once.
At some point in 2025, all of us have opened a quick-commerce app for 'just milk' and shut it five minutes later with chips, ice cream, a phone charger, and mild regret. But while most carts wobble between restraint and indulgence, a few went completely off the rails.
This year, Swiggy's Instamart data reads less like a shopping summary and more like a cultural diary — one that captures how convenience has quietly blurred the line between need, want, habit and obsession.
At one end sits India’s tiniest cart of the year: a Rs 10 printout ordered in Bengaluru. No add-ons, no snacks, no impulse chocolate. Just a single sheet of paper delivered home.
At the other end is a shopper who spent Rs 22 lakh over the year, ordering everything from 22 iPhone 17s and gold coins to an air fryer and daily groceries.
The biggest single cart belonged to a Hyderabad user who dropped Rs 4.3 lakh in one checkout, largely on three iPhone 17s. Mumbai, meanwhile, saw its own version of quiet luxury: one buyer tapped 'add to cart' on Rs 15.16 lakh worth of gold. No jewellery showroom, no velvet trays — just bullion delivered in minutes.
Bengaluru showed its softer and more generous side, with one user tipping delivery partners Rs 68,600 over the year, reinforcing its reputation as India’s tipping capital.
Then come the habits that go well beyond 'once in a while' and firmly into lifestyle territory. A Chennai user spent Rs 1.06 lakh on condoms across 228 separate orders — not a dramatic bulk buy, but a year-long, highly committed routine. If nothing else, it proves that quick commerce has quietly become the most discreet wingman in town.
Food, unsurprisingly, revealed the most obsessional behaviour. One Bengaluru account spent Rs 4.36 lakh on noodles alone, turning a humble pantry staple into a lifestyle choice. In Mumbai, energy came in liquid form: a single user spent Rs 16.3 lakh on Red Bull Sugar Free.
Noida contributed its own archetype — the gym-first, everything-else-later shopper — with Rs 2.8 lakh spent on 1,343 protein items, from bars to shakes to powders.
Korean food had a breakout moment, with gochujang sauce orders jumping 491% in Bengaluru, and noodles dominating Korean product purchases. This signalled how international flavours have moved from novelty to habit in urban Indian kitchens.
Taken together, these carts tell a bigger story than shock-value numbers. They show how convenience has normalised extremes. When groceries, gadgets, gold and protein powder all arrive in ten minutes, the friction that once forced us to pause — to reconsider, delay or deprioritise — has quietly disappeared.
In 2025, India didn’t just shop faster. It shopped more honestly. Our carts revealed who we really are: planners, splurgers, loyalists, obsessives — sometimes all at once. And if these numbers are any indication, the only thing rarer than a Rs 4 lakh cart might just be the ability to stop at 'add milk.'
