23 July,2026 05:57 PM IST | Mumbai | Divya Suryanarayan
Time-sensitive customers are actually gravitating towards online food delivery platforms, which offer them great convenience. Representational Image. File pic.
Whether it's a long day at work, a hectic schedule, a much-needed caffeine boost, or a dopamine hit, the solution is often the same - online food delivery apps for convenience. While online food delivery saves time and offers instant gratification, frequent orders can significantly increase food delivery spending, strain your monthly budget and make savings more difficult.
Explaining why online food delivery platforms have become an integral part of consumers' lives, Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru and Founder of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., told mid-day.com, "Consumers are weighing convenience over cost. So, all of a sudden people are tending to say the value of time is more than the value of money in my pocket. And these are two currencies in a consumer's pocket - time on one hand and money on the other. While money can be replaced by working yet another day, time cannot be replaced. And therefore time-sensitive customers are actually gravitating towards online food delivery platforms, which offer them great convenience."
Consumers such as Professor Dr Kanchan Akshay, who orders at least once a week, and 21-year-old Manomay Upadhye, who relies on these apps during long college hours, echo the same sentiment.
A recent report by Redseer Strategy Consultants notes that the preference for convenience and outside meals has driven the growth in the online food delivery sector. The share of online food delivery is around 11 per cent of the USD 90 billion food services market in India (as on March 31, 2026) which is projected to increase to 18 per cent of the estimated USD 150 billion food services industry (by March 31, 2031).
Online food delivery platform majors such as Swiggy reported a Gross Order Value of Rs 9,005 crore during the fourth quarter of the financial year 2025-2026, while Zomato's Net Order Value stood at Rs 9,757 crore during the same period.
Bijoor further adds, "Right upfront food delivery apps are actually selling convenience but at the backend there are certainly algorithms, which are trying to convert these occasional buys into more frequent buys, making them out to be a habit."
It is these frequent purchases that are quietly chipping away the savings that could have been utilised to create an investment corpus required for future needs, say financial advisors.
Suresh Sadagopan, Managing Director and Principal at Ladder 7 Wealth Planners , says this discretionary spend is on an upward trajectory, as people are spending a fair amount of money on these online food delivery platforms, with many cases of people spending Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per month.
As PLNR Investment Advisors Founder Ajay Pruthi says, "Ask anyone to guess their monthly spend, then check the statement. They are off by 50 to 100 per cent. One client guessed Rs 4,000, actual was Rs 11,300. Rs 380 on a Tuesday does not feel like spending, it feels like dinner."
Observing the frequent buying trend, another veteran financial advisor joked that while his daughter started SIPs (Systematic Investment Plans) in mutual funds as an engineering student, her investments have not grown after she started working because she now has several "daily SIPs" on food delivery platforms.
Pruthi concurs, "That is the real damage", as the SIP in investment stays frozen.
A case in point is a Reddit user who recently noted that he had spent Rs 42,974 on Swiggy over the past year across 97 orders.
"That's about Rs 3,581 every month. The funny thing is I never felt like I was spending that much. Every order seemed small, but seeing the annual total was eye-opening," the user Heavy_Anteater_1020 said on the social media platform.
With most transactions on online food delivery platforms being made digitally, consumers often lose track of how much they are spending. The convenience of digital payments removes the tangible aspect of payment thus leading to higher spending.
"Digital expenses are really very high when it comes to food delivery platforms but nobody sees through it. There is a certain opacity which is thrown up and people tend to say that this is the price I have paid for convenience. So that invisibility is actually made even more invisible," Bijoor says.
Acknowledging this, Neha Ravishankar, a recent data science graduate says, "Without realising, I have spent a lot. We lose track of the number of times we are ordering and for how much. We feel like ordering, so we just order."
As per National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that collates the data for UPI, fast food restaurants, and eating places and restaurants are among the highest transacting categories. Fast food restaurants recorded 1,449 million monthly transactions amounting to Rs 17,418 crore in June, while eating places and restaurants registered 1,242 million transactions worth around Rs 21,485 crore. However, NPCI does not provide specific data pertaining to online food delivery segment, so its share in the UPI transactions remain unknown.
Pruthi, a SEBI registered investment advisor, says the frequent online food delivery is one of the biggest budget leaks that remains largely undetected.
"Clients worry about 0.5 per cent fund expense ratio, yet Rs 9,000 a month quietly disappears through an app unnoticed. A financial leak is money that leaves without a conscious decision, and nobody decides this spend, it just happens order by order," he says.
Decide if it's a need or a want: Evaluate whether ordering food is a necessity or a discretionary expense based on your lifestyle and circumstances.
Prioritise savings: On salary day, invest first (such as through an SIP), set aside a fixed food budget, and spend the rest. "Save first, order later."
Follow a budget: Allocate a specific amount each month for food delivery and stick to it.
Spend according to your income: Keep food delivery expenses proportionate to your disposable income. A Rs 10,000 monthly bill may be manageable for some but excessive for others.
Reduce spending gradually: If possible, cut your current food delivery spending by at least one-third.
Watch the 10 per cent rule: If food delivery expenses exceed 10 per cent of your monthly income or budget, reassess your spending habits.
Track your expenses: Review your bank statements regularly to understand how much you are spending on food delivery apps.
Use cash or a separate account: Opt for cash on delivery (COD) or load a fixed amount into a dedicated account for food orders to create a spending limit.
Add friction to spending: If the allocated food budget is exhausted, avoid placing more orders and cook at home instead.
Review your budget regularly: Ensure essential expenses and savings are covered before allocating money for discretionary spending.
Key takeaway: Financial experts agree that budgeting, limiting food delivery orders, tracking digital spending, and using cash or capped accounts can help prevent overspending and improve long-term savings.
This feature article contains statements, opinions, and quotes provided by third parties. Such content has been attributed to the respective speakers and is published for journalistic and informational purposes. Mid-Day does not endorse or assume responsibility for the views expressed by quoted individuals and disclaims liability for any inaccuracies in third-party statements.
