Bengaluru: Blinkit is earning equal parts praise and backlash after an X user accidentally discovered a “dark pattern”.
In an attempt to trick his toddler into believing that chocolates were out of stock on the quick commerce platform, Prem Soni typed gibberish—cjfjfkkhggf—on the app’s search bar. “The way a toddler would,” he said, explaining his logic.
What the app spit out wasn’t the usual product not found screen, but rather a grid filled with chocolates—Cadbury Gems, Munch, Perk, Nutties, Milkybar, and 5 Star.
“Blinkit knows when your toddler has your phone, and it’s lowkey terrifying,” he said.
The post has over 6 lakh views and multiple people have replied with screenshots of their own successful attempts. It even works with split words, reported a user.
X users are lauding the product manager who came up with the idea, calling for them to get a raise.
But it’s not a sure shot result. Many users shared that their gibberish queries had different results or led to a blank screen.
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What’s a dark pattern?
Soni called the discovery “lowkey terrifying” and questioned whether it was a dark pattern. Blinkit is yet to respond.
Dark patterns are an unethical business practice that’s increasingly associated with e-commerce platforms. It uses design and choice architecture to deceive, coerce, or influence consumers into making choices that are not in their best interest.
Drip pricing, disguised advertisement, bait and switch, false urgency are listed as examples of dark patterns.
“Such practices fall under the category of “unfair trade practices” as defined in the Sub-section 47 under Section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019,” according to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
A new study estimates that Indian consumers lose Rs 25,000 to Rs 28,000 crore a year to dark patterns.
The 88-page report—‘Dark Patterns in India’s Online Marketplaces’—was published by Gurugram-based consumer insights firm Datum Intelligence on Tuesday.
The study examined a dozen platforms—BigBasket, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa, MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, ixigo, and Cleartrip—and scored them out of 100. Lower the score the fewer dark patterns.
The report concluded that Nykaa, BigBasket, and ClearTrip were the worst offenders.
Of all the quick commerce sites, Blinkit fared the best—scoring only 23.2.