Vietnamese consumers are favoring digital channels and social commerce for their Tet shopping, leveraging e-commerce platforms, social media, and messaging apps, to discover products, gather information, and make purchases.
This trend underscores the profound shift in consumer shopping habits fueled by the rise of the digital economy, according to a new consumer study by market research agency Decision Lab.
Tet, Vietnam’s lunar new year, is the country’s biggest cultural and economic period in the year. While the holiday is traditionally centered on giving and togetherness, consumer behavior has evolved far beyond a mere pre-holiday shopping rush.
Spending now stretches across an extended period, rising in the days leading up to Tet as consumers prepare for celebration and gifting, then rebounds strongly afterwards as they shift from rewarding others to rewarding themselves. This evolving spending pattern creates distinct opportunities for brands throughout the entire Tet season.
The Decision Lab study, produced in collaboration with Meta, polled more than 800 consumers in Vietnam to understand their shopping habits and preferences during Tet season. It found that digital-first behaviors dominate the purchasing journey.
For retail products in particular, social media and e-commerce platforms are the primary sources of product awareness, research, and purchase. Notably, a brand’s official page on e-commerce platforms like ShopeeMall and LazMall is the most used channel for product discovery (49%), product consideration and information gathering (54%), and final purchase (44%).
Results vary for health and beauty (H&B) products. During discovery, 40% self-search for information online or contact sellers via messaging apps. During the consideration phase, 58% gather additional information by directly contacting the seller through messaging apps, or by searching for information on social media posts. For final purchase, shoppers typically complete the transaction directly with the seller through messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, or Zalo.
The popularity of social media platforms and messaging apps across the discovery and consideration phase underscores the growing influence of digital ecosystems in shaping consumer decisions across the purchase journey. This influence is concentrated within a handful of channels.
Among Tet shoppers, 27% said that Meta’s Family of Apps (FOA), comprising Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, was the only channel that they used to purchase a retail product most recently. For H&B products, this figure rises to 53%.
Changing spending patterns and payment preferences
Vietnamese consumer spending accelerates during the Tet season, with several key trends and shifts emerging over the past years. 2024 data from Visa reveal that international expenditure is growing twice as fast as domestic spending, an increase which is attributed to rising overseas travel and a strong growth in cross-border e-commerce.
Vietnamese consumers are also growing more confident in online shopping, even for traditionally physical interaction-heavy categories like insurance, transport, and lodging. These areas were the top three categories for e-commerce transactions last year.
Payment methods used are also changing. Between January and February 2024, 64% of Visa card transactions in Vietnam were contactless, reflecting growing acceptance of contactless payments. According to Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes 2023 study, at least 74% of Vietnamese consumers frequently use contactless payments, particularly mobile wallets, for food and dining, shopping, and convenience store purchases.
An increasing number of consumers are also using their credit cards domestically. A separate study that more than half (55%) of the Vietnamese consumers polled preferred using their credit cards when shopping in Vietnam because of rewards, miles and cashback offers.
Vietnamese consumers embrace AI
The Decision Lab study also reveals rising consumer adoption of AI tools throughout the purchase journey. Of the consumers polled, 20% use AI to search for shopping information, and 18% to find locations, reflecting increased reliance of AI for information retrieval and real-time assistance.
Furthermore, 13% use AI to track spending and budget planning, highlighting AI’s growing role as a real-time personal financial management tool.
But AI adoption in Vietnam extends well beyond shopping. A separate study by Decision Lab shows that 78% of consumers have used at least one AI platform in the past three months, and 33% are now integrating AI into their daily routines.
Vietnamese users mostly use AI for work and education purposes, entertainment, and daily routines. Top applications include getting updates and information (37%), learning new skills (34%), and translating content (33%). When asked about their main motivations for using AI, consumers most often cites saving time (67%), simplifying learning (60%), boosting creativity (51%), and improving accuracy (48%).
Though consumer AI usage in Vietnam is led by global leaders ChatGPT (81%), Gemini (51%) and Meta AI (36%), homegrown platform AI Hay ranks second in users satisfaction. This underscores the relevance of local AI solutions tailored to Vietnamese users’ needs and context.
Vietnam’s booming e-commerce market
Total e-commerce transaction value in Southeast Asia reached US$100 billion in 2024. Vietnam accounted for US$25 billion of this, making it one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the region and placing it among the top ten globally with over 60 million online shoppers, according to Lai Viet Anh, deputy director general of the Vietnam’s Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy.
Growth continues into 2025, with sales across the country’s four major e-commerce platforms, namely Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, and TikTok Shop, rising nearly 42% year-over-year (YoY) in H1 2025 to reach VND 202.3 trillion (US$7.8 billion). Total sales volume also increased, growing 25.4% YoY to 1.9 billion products.
Within this market, social commerce subset is expanding rapidly, with “shoppertainment” gaining particular momentum. This model blends video content with real-time shopping, making the shopping process more interactive and enjoyable, which in turn increase sales and customer loyalty.
Among the Vietnam’s biggest e-commerce platforms, TikTok Shop, a leading shoppertainment channel in the country, led in growth with a 69% YoY surge in revenue. The platform also saw its market share increase from 29% to 39%, further underscoring the growing influence of shoppertainment.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by mohammadhridoy12 and ganzevayna1 via Freepik
