Hyderabad man spends Rs 4.3 lakh on iPhone 17s on Instamart in a single tap

iPhone 17

A Hyderabad resident made headlines this year after spending Rs 4.3 lakh on Instamart in a single tap to buy three iPhone 17 units. It sounds like a flex, but it also captures something bigger that played out across India in 2025: quick commerce is no longer just about milk and bread. It is about everything.

Instamart’s latest annual order analysis shows how dramatically shopping habits have changed over the past year. What began as a service for last-minute grocery runs has quietly turned into a platform where people are buying smartphones, gold coins, air fryers, roses, protein supplements, pet food, and yes, even condoms, all with the same ease as ordering doodh in the morning.

The Rs 4.3 lakh iPhone order from Hyderabad was the biggest single cart of the year, but it wasn’t an isolated case. One of Instamart’s top users spent over Rs 22 lakh across repeat orders in 2025, buying 22 iPhones, gold coins, kitchen appliances, and everyday essentials like milk, fruits, eggs, and ice cream. In Bengaluru, a festive shopper added a one-kilo silver brick worth nearly Rs 2 lakh to their Diwali cart, while gold orders during Dhanteras jumped more than 400 percent compared to last year.

At the other end of the spectrum was the smallest cart of 2025: a Rs 10 printout ordered by a user in Bengaluru. Together, these extremes tell the story of how Instamart has slipped into daily life, handling both tiny needs and big splurges with equal ease.

Food, of course, still ruled. Indians ordered more than four packets of milk every second in 2025, paneer comfortably outsold cheese, and butter continued to beat fancy spreads. Late at night, it wasn’t smartphones stealing attention but masala-flavoured potato chips, which topped late-night orders in most major cities.

Speed remained the real hook. Maggi noodles were delivered in under two minutes in Lucknow, while brand-new iPhones reached users in Pune and Ahmedabad in less than three minutes during launch day rushes. While people elsewhere queued outside stores, these customers were already peeling off plastic wrap at home.

What stands out is how Tier-II cities powered this growth. Rajkot saw ten times year-on-year growth, Ludhiana grew seven times, and Bhubaneswar wasn’t far behind. Health, wellness, gifting, and even discreet purchases like condoms saw sharp spikes, proving that convenience now matters as much as choice.

In 2025, India didn’t just shop fast. It shopped instinctively. From Rs 10 printouts to Rs 4.3 lakh iPhones, Instamart turned every cart into a story, delivered in minutes.