In 2025, India did not just shop; it Instamarted. The range of things bought with a single shopping cart went from milk and butter to iPhones and gold coins. In essence, the humble shopping cart became a reflection of changing aspirations, habits, and the growing confidence of people.
What initially was just a quick, fix grocery solution has now become a platform where India accomplishes daily needs, festive desires, and impulse splurges, all within 10 minutes.
Instamart's latest annual order analysis, How India Instamarted 2025, is a record of the journey from the use of convenience as an emergency to a regular behaviour. The narrative is robust enough to cover the story of a 10 printout ordered in Bengaluru to a massive 4.3 lakh iPhone cart in Hyderabad, thus, it is proving that speed is now the key factor for sales of all price points.
India's most regular purchase in 2025 was milk, more than four packets every single second. This is enough milk to fill over 26, 000 Olympic, size swimming pools. Cheese did not stand a chance against paneer, and butter continued to be the undisputed breakfast hero. Even in a digitally, led economy, India's palate still remained proudly desi.
Late nights were not for gadgets, but for masala, flavoured chips, which were the most ordered snacks in nine out of ten major cities. And the most ordered "device" of the year? A potato.
What changed most fundamentally in 2025 was trust. Indians quickly trusted quick commerce not only for groceries but also for expensive high, value purchases. In less than three minutes iPhone 17s were delivered to customers in Pune and Ahmedabad.
Silver which is 1 kg in weight and nearly worth 2 lakh was added by Bengaluru shoppers to their Diwali carts. Gold orders, on the day of Dhanteras, skyrocketed by more than 400% year, on, year.
One repeat customer, alone, made it possible for the Instamart brand to be termed as small, basket commerce by spending more than 22 lakh over a single year on such diverse things as 22 iPhones, gold coins, milk, and Tic Tacs thus, Instamart has become a platform for large, scale purchases.
The growth of the metro cities was not the only reason for the fastest expansion. Rajkot was able to record a 10x increase in orders, Ludhiana grew 7x, and Bhubaneswar rose 4x. During Instamarts Quick India Movement sale, which was a saving of 500 crore for shoppers, the Tier, II and Tier, III cities contributed to one, third of the total orders.
The health and wellness trend is a case in point. In each of the cities Bhopal, Varanasi, and Warangal, the demand for protein, supplements, and hygiene products has increased manifold.
Every 127rd order was a condom purchase, with September being the month of maximum demand. From one single account, Chennai alone recorded 228 times separate condom orders. While Bengaluru turned out to be Indias tipping capital, the search trends indicated that the curiosity was drones to Airbus.
India additionally demonstrated that it is a gift lover roses reached the peak of 666 orders per minute on Valentines Day, and Mondays silently became the biggest gifting days of the week.
India in 2025 shopped at the speed of thought. It combined high, end tech with 178 lime soda, relied on 10, minute delivery for gold, and accepted convenience as a lifestyle not a luxury.
That is because in India, every basket is a narrative. And in 2025, these narratives were quick, tasty, and boldly aspirational.
