Indians Discover the Thrill of Shopping Without Actually Buying

A new type of website is allowing people in India to experience the exci

tement of ordering food and shopping online without

actually spending any money.

One example is FoodNeverComes, a website created by two 26-year-old software developers, Purvansh Parmar and Anshul Sharma, from Udaipur, Rajasthan. The platform allows users to browse menus, add food to a virtual basket and complete a simulated checkout — but no real food is ever delivered.

The website offers 22 fictional kitchens, 327 dishes and 319 real recipes, complete with simulated prices and delivery tracking. After placing an order, users can even receive a fictional AI-generated call from a supposed delivery rider.

The site’s message is simple: users can “order” food and experience the anticipation of delivery without paying for or receiving an actual meal. According to its founders, FoodNeverComes has attracted more than 2.7 million visitors since launching in June 2026.

The idea is part of a growing internet trend known as “dopamine sites”, which recreate the rituals of consumption without the actual purchase. Similar platforms allow people to simulate shopping, create virtual baskets or even plan holidays without spending money or travelling.

For Parmar and Sharma, the idea came partly from their own online shopping habits. They noticed that people could spend significant amounts of time browsing products, filling shopping carts and imagining purchases without ever completing the transaction.

Parmar said he had also experienced this with food delivery. During a two-month project in Mumbai, he recalled spending between 5,000 and 10,000 rupees a week on food, including treats he did not necessarily need. He began wondering whether part of the attraction was not the food itself, but the ritual of ordering it.

Psychologists and neuroscientists say anticipation can play an important role in consumer behaviour. Ravi Dhar, director of the Yale Center for Customer Insights, describes the pleasure of looking forward to consumption as “anticipatory utility.”

University of Michigan neuroscientist Kent Berridge also distinguishes between “wanting” something and actually enjoying it after obtaining it. His research suggests that dopamine is strongly associated with motivation and the pursuit of rewards, rather than simply being a chemical responsible for pleasure.

The concept is not limited to food. The same developers have created TripNeverLeaves, a platform that allows users to plan a virtual holiday, including choosing a destination, flight, seat, hotel and activities. The experience then simulates a journey that never actually takes place. The founders say the site has attracted more than 100,000 visitors.

However, experts caution that it is still unclear whether simulated consumption genuinely reduces the desire to shop or simply reinforces the same behaviour. Stanford psychiatrist Anna Lembke has said that more research is needed to determine whether these platforms can satisfy consumer urges, while warning that repeatedly recreating the behaviour could potentially reinforce existing habits.

For now, the growing popularity of these websites raises an unusual question about modern online shopping: is it the product people want, or is it sometimes the excitement of searching, choosing and waiting for it?

Sources
BBC News — “Indians are discovering the thrill of shopping without paying”
Yahoo News — BBC report republished
SME Insights — full report based on the BBC article