Try Blinkit or Zepto for something you would once have had to hunt for in a specialty store — imported Diet Coke, Japanese snacks, premium cheese or an international skincare brand. Now look at the delivery estimate. Ten minutes. Fifteen, perhaps.
In May, Blinkit was listing a 330 ml imported can of Diet Coke for Rs 199, against about Rs 40 for the locally made version. The price gap was unusually wide because of a temporary shortage of aluminium cans. But the fact that an imported, niche product can now be accessed in minutes points to a broader change: the Indian household is not simply buying more. It is buying more kinds of things, which India's official statistics are increasingly reflecting.
