Expat Insiders Four ways to shop, and one app for everything else
Where things actually come from once you're settled — groceries first, then the app that covers most of what's left.
Grocery shopping
You'll generally use a mix of four kinds of places:
- International grocery stores — carry imported and Western brands, at a price premium. Good for the specific items you can't substitute.
- Indian supermarket chains — wide selection, competitive prices, and increasingly good produce and specialty sections.
- Street markets — the cheapest and freshest option for produce, and worth learning even if you only use them occasionally.
- Online grocery apps — fast delivery and a genuinely wide range of items, from bar soap to bananas, all from your phone without leaving home.
Most households settle into a rhythm of street market or local store for produce, and one of the bigger supermarkets, an international store, or an app for everything else — few people rely on just one source.
For items like milk or fresh fruit, order in the morning — these are typically restocked early in the day, so a late-day order is more likely to be out of stock or lower quality than what you'd get first thing.
Add your community's go-to stores and market days here.
Three of the most popular online grocery apps:
- Blinkit — the market leader by a wide margin, with the broadest product range of the three.
- Zepto — built specifically around speed, often the fastest delivery of the three.
- Swiggy Instamart — convenient if you're already using Swiggy for food delivery, with a strong range of items.
Urban Company — home services, on demand
Urban Company (formerly UrbanClap) is an app worth having installed from week one — it's a marketplace for trained, rated professionals who come to you, covering a wide range of everyday needs beyond just shopping:
- Cleaning & pest control — full-home, kitchen, bathroom, sofa/carpet cleaning, and pest control.
- Appliance repair — AC, washing machine, refrigerator, water purifier, microwave, geyser, TV, and chimney repair.
- Handymen — electricians, plumbers, and carpenters for the small fixes that come up constantly in a new home.
- Beauty & salon at home — haircuts, massage, waxing, manicure/pedicure, and facials, without leaving the house.
- InstaHelp — on-demand household help (cleaning, housekeeping, even meal prep) at short notice, useful when your regular help is on leave.
InstaHelp is worth keeping in mind specifically as a backup for when your regular house help is unavailable — it fills the exact gap that catches most households off guard.