I’ll be honest with you. This post started as me trying to justify my own laziness. I’ve been on Blinkit almost daily for the past eight months. Curd at 11pm, onions because I forgot, one packet of Maggi because the mood struck you know how it goes. My wife kept saying Blinkit is expensive yaar, just go to DMart. And I kept saying “arre, it’s only a few rupees difference, the time we save is worth it.” Classic argument. Classic cope. So last month I actually sat down and did the math. Proper math, not the mental gymnastics I was doing to feel better about myself. I tracked every Blinkit order for four weeks, then did two big DMart runs in the same period, and compared as honestly as I could. Here’s what I found.
First, the hidden fee situation on Blinkit
This is what nobody really talks about clearly. When you open Blinkit and add items to your cart, the number you see is not what you pay. There’s the delivery fee (varies, sometimes waived if your cart crosses a threshold, sometimes not), and then there’s the platform/handling fee that shows up right at checkout usually Rs 5 to 15, right when you are already mentally committed to the order. It’s not a huge amount per order, but across 25-30 orders in a month? That’s easily Rs 200 to 300 just in fees, before we even talk about the product prices themselves.
The product prices on Blinkit are, depending on what you’re buying, anywhere from 5% to 15% higher than DMart’s shelf price. Not on everything some FMCG products like packaged atta or certain Amul products are surprisingly close, because brands themselves control MRP. But the moment you get into fresh produce, cooking oil, certain dairy, store-brand type items — the gap opens up. A 1-litre Saffola Gold that costs Rs 149 at DMart was showing Rs 165 on Blinkit the day I checked. Aashirvaad atta 5kg Rs 256 at DMart, Rs 279 on Blinkit. Amul butter 500g relatively similar, maybe Rs 2 difference.
Vegetables are where it gets painful. DMart’s produce section is honestly not the greatest you don’t get to pick individual pieces the way you would at a sabziwala — but the pricing is significantly lower. Tomatoes that were 29 per kg at DMart were 45 on Blinkit during the same week. Now, I know vegetable prices fluctuate wildly, but even accounting for that, Blinkit’s fresh produce is consistently marked up.
What my actual month looked like
Over those four weeks, I placed 27 orders on Blinkit. Average order value was around 340. Total spend: roughly 9,200. This included fees. The two DMart trips covered broadly similar items — the staples, the dairy, the packaged goods, some snacks. Total spend across both visits: 6,800. And I came back with more stuff, if anything. I bought a larger pack of detergent and a 5kg oil can that I wouldn’t have bought on Blinkit because bulk purchases on quick commerce apps feel wrong somehow like you’re doing them a disservice by ordering heavy things.
That’s a difference of 2,400 in a single month. Annualized, that’s close to 29,000. Now wait, before you say but what about the petrol and the time I’ve thought about that too.
The honest accounting of the DMart trip
The DMart near me is about 4km from home. Round trip auto fare: ₹120. Parking if I take the car: 20-40. Two trips means 280 – 320 in transport. Add to that the time: each visit with billing and everything is probably 75-80 minutes. So two visits is about 2.5 hours of my Saturday.
Fine. So the real saving after deducting transport is around 2,100 per month. Still meaningful, no? The time question is trickier. I personally find DMart mildly therapeutic that sounds mad but it’s true. Walking the aisles, deciding what to buy, the whole thing is somehow satisfying. Some people genuinely hate it. If you’re a working couple where both partners have demanding jobs, those 2.5 hours on a weekend are sacred. I get it. That’s a real cost.
Where Blinkit genuinely wins
I want to be fair here because I’m not trying to be a Blinkit-hater. There are specific situations where it’s clearly the right choice. Midnight emergencies and by emergencies I mean curd that ran out, or you’re making something and realize you’re out of one ingredient. No amount of DMart savings matters at 1am. Blinkit wins that round, no contest.
Single-item purchases. If you need one thing urgently, dragging yourself to DMart for it is stupid. The convenience premium on a single 80 item is worth paying. Monsoon season. I am not going out in Bangalore rain to buy onions. Just not happening. Blinkit can charge me whatever it wants in July and August, I will pay.
The category where I genuinely feel cheated
Personal care and household products. Shampoo, face wash, cleaning liquids these are where Blinkit’s markup is most aggressive and least justifiable. Items that have a fixed MRP printed on the pack are sometimes being sold on Blinkit AT MRP while DMart sells them below MRP. That’s the whole model DMart negotiates volume discounts with brands and passes savings to you. Blinkit sells at or near MRP and adds fees on top. On a 299 face wash where DMart might charge Rs 265, you’re paying Rs 310 effectively on Blinkit after fees. That’s not a convenience premium, that’s just paying more for the same thing.
So what’s my verdict?
The convenience fee is real and it’s significant somewhere between Rs 1,800 to 2,500 per month for a household that shops the way mine does. Whether that’s worth it depends entirely on your specific situation.
If you’re buying mostly packaged FMCG goods with fixed MRPs, the gap narrows. If you buy a lot of fresh produce, cooking oil, and household products go to DMart when you can. The switch I’ve made now: one big DMart run every two weeks for staples and bulk items, and Blinkit strictly for fill-in purchases and emergencies. My Blinkit spend has dropped from Rs 9,200 to roughly 3,500 this month without any real feeling of sacrifice. My wife was right. I hate that.
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