A ₹20 snack delivered to your doorstep. A grocery item costing less than a cup of tea arriving within minutes. It sounds absurd, but that’s exactly what some customers are managing to pull off on food delivery platforms like Zomato and Swiggy.
Across social media, users have been sharing screenshots of surprisingly cheap orders made possible through a mix of coupons, membership benefits, free delivery offers and promotional discounts. What starts as a routine search for a deal often turns into a game of finding the lowest possible final bill.
The trend reflects just how savvy Indian consumers have become. Many users now know exactly when to order, which offers to stack and how to make the most of loyalty programs. In some cases, the discount is so high that the customer pays only a small fraction of the listed price.
For customers, it’s a simple win. Why pay more when the platform itself is offering the discount? But for food delivery companies, the picture is more complicated.
Every order, no matter how small, comes with costs. There is a delivery partner to pay, technology infrastructure to maintain and customer support to provide. Restaurants, too, have to manage packaging, preparation and platform commissions. When the value of an order drops too low, the economics become harder to justify.
That doesn’t mean these platforms are losing money on every tiny order. Discounts are often part of a larger strategy to attract customers, increase order frequency and keep users loyal. However, when shoppers become experts at maximizing every offer, the balance between growth and profitability becomes more difficult to maintain.
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The phenomenon also highlights a broader shift in India’s digital economy. Consumers are no longer passive buyers; they actively hunt for loopholes, compare deals and optimize every purchase. In many ways, they’re treating food delivery apps the same way travellers treat airline sales or shoppers approach e-commerce festivals.
For now, the tiny-order trend continues to thrive. Whether Zomato and Swiggy eventually tighten the rules or simply adapt to increasingly deal-hungry customers remains to be seen. Until then, many users will keep searching for that next order that costs less than the delivery itself.