Roadside Vendor Versus Apps: Gurgaon Woman Compares Grocery Costs, Finds Clear Winner

A woman from Gurugram shared a video on Instagram trying to figure out one simple thing - where do you actually get the cheapest groceries when you're living in a city? What she found isn't too surprising. Apps are quick and super convenient, but local markets still tend to be cheaper. Of course, that doesn't include the time and effort it takes to go out and buy things yourself.

In her video, Mahek Akhtar compared the cost of a basic basket of items like beetroot, coriander, fruits, and vegetables from a roadside vendor, Swiggy Instamart, and Blinkit. The difference added up. She paid Rs 280 at the roadside stall and even got coriander and green chilies for free. The same items cost Rs 333 on Instamart and Rs 365 on Blinkit.

She explained that she first bought everything from the vendor and then added the exact same items to her cart on both apps to compare prices. 

"While I'm exploring my new life in Gurgaon, I'm on a mission to see what habits can make it cost-effective! Aur bhai, even now traditional vegetable vendors are cheaper than Blinkit and Instamart! Haan haan, I know delivery ghar par hoti hai and blah blah! But every corner has a vegetable vendor," she captioned the video on Instagram. 

Watch the video here:

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A post shared by Mahek Akhtar (@mahekithappen)

The video got a lot of people talking. Many agreed that local vendors are better when it comes to saving money. But others pointed out that apps are still useful because they save time, deliver quickly, and are more reliable, especially when you're busy. Some also mentioned things like quality, hygiene, and the option to bargain at local markets.

One user wrote, "Thank god atleast you are exposing these apps and suggesting to go for street vendors for us its just vegetable but for them its their income the only which give them to survive."

Another commented, "On the top of that, you don't get to select. And at several instance we got rotten vegetables. Just had to throw away issued of return "tug or war" with support. Had to finally drop these app for daily consumables."