Browse products, fill your cart, place an order, and track your delivery on the map. A trend emerged in South Korea this spring that is now being replicated internationally: so-called “Dopamine Sites.” They mimic online stores and delivery services down to the last detail—but nothing is actually paid for or delivered.
In the best-known example, FoodNeverComes, a delivery person even calls at the end to explain that the food would never arrive. “I couldn’t find your door,” says the person on the other end of the phone, “or your street. Or your city. Because, to be honest, there was no food at all.”
“Much of the pleasure lies in the anticipation,” says Ravi Dhar, professor of management and marketing at the Yale School of Management, in an interview with the “New York Times.”
These sites replicate exactly this moment by recreating all the steps leading up to checkout and omitting only the actual purchase. It is therefore understandable that, at least initially, the anticipation alone is enough to satisfy the urge to buy in some people
<img src="https://bluewin-prod-sc-images.imgix.net/2026/09/18/a40dfc46-f164-424e-a74b-d36722075d17.jpg?rect=0%2C0%2C462%2C812&w=1920&auto=format&s=048e5c7557816b76fa509259cea89849" alt="You can even track on a map how far away the supposed delivery still is.” loading=”lazy”>
You can even track on a map how far away the supposed delivery still is.
Screenshot www.foodnevercomes.com
However, Lingguo Xu, a behavioral economist at the University of Waterloo, points out in an interview with the *New York Times* that the appeal of the simulation could fade once people see through the mental trick. And imitating consumption also carries a risk: it could trigger “stronger cravings”—until a person eventually does make a purchase, just to satisfy the anticipation.
Whether these “dopamine sites” actually help us order less—or have exactly the opposite effect—remains to be seen; depending on the person, both may be true. But what this trend reveals is a little quip about ourselves: The real appeal was never in the package that arrives—but in the moment just before it does.
Anstehen für Plüsch-Bratwürste auf dem Grill
Eine Bratwurst mit Hut: Im Berliner Kaufhaus des Westens – kurz KaDeWe – ruft die Stofftiermarke Jellycat Fans auf den Plan.
