Indians are discovering the thrill of shopping without paying
Dopamine sites mimic shopping’s thrill without the spending, turning the ritual of consumption into a digital game.
Two Indian software developers have created a website that lets users order food without ever receiving it. The site, FoodNeverComes, offers 22 cuisines and 327 dishes, complete with fake prices and a simulated checkout process. Since its launch in June, the site has attracted over 2.7 million visitors. The developers, Purvansh Parmar and Anshul Sharma, noticed the phenomenon in their own lives, where they would fill online shopping baskets with items they never actually purchased.
This led them to create the dopamine site, which recreates the ritual of consumption without the actual consumption. Dopamine sites, like FoodNeverComes, have become a new internet genre, with similar sites popping up in South Korea and beyond. These sites aim to recreate the thrill and anticipation of shopping and ordering without the actual purchase.
While the site may provide a temporary dopamine hit and satisfy the urge to order, it may also reinforce addictive neural networks over time.
Written by urgent.news from BBC Technology's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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