HCM CITY — The Vietnamese e-commerce market is rapidly evolving, with various trends emerging and providing significant growth opportunities for traders to broaden their business activities. 

At a recent summit organised by TikTok Shop in HCM City entitled “Beyond the Horizon: Growth, Reimagined", industry experts disclosed that Viêt Nam's e-commerce market in 2025 achieved a substantial value of around US$31 billion, registering remarkable year-on-year growth of 25.5 per cent. 

A report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that by the end of 2025, e-commerce contributed only about 10 per cent to the total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in the country, lagging behind regional counterparts like Singapore, Thailand and South Korea.

A recent World Bank report classified Việt Nam as an upper-middle-income economy, signifying improved living standards and enhanced consumer purchasing power in the country. 

As the Vietnamese e-commerce market matures, consumers are placing increasing importance on factors beyond price when making purchase decisions, including product origin, quality, seller credibility, delivery speed, payment options, return policies and after-sales service.

In this dynamic landscape, continuous innovation and adaptation are crucial for e-commerce industry players to align with evolving consumer preferences. 

One notable trend emerging in the Vietnamese e-commerce sector is discovery commerce, reshaping the industry by guiding consumers to explore new products and brands, facilitating an engaging and personalised shopping experience that encourages the discovery of unique items.

Nguyễn Khánh Toàn of TikTok Shop shared insights from a TikTok Shop report that revealed that 76 per cent of Vietnamese consumers tend to engage with authentic content during the consideration stage, with many inclined to search for products, click on them, or add them to their cart. 

Additionally, 95 per cent of Vietnamese consumers acknowledged the significant influence of authentic content on their purchasing decisions, with livestream content having 1.3 times more impact in Việt Nam compared to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) regional average.

With a 45 per cent surge in shoppable short-form videos on TikTok compared to 2024, the growing consumer receptiveness to discovery commerce is evident. Content has a vital role in stimulating demand, providing information, and fostering trust prior to making a purchase decision.

Nguyễn Lâm Thanh, representative of TikTok Vietnam, said: “Growth opportunities in the next cycle will not come only from selling more of the products that are already widely available on e-commerce platforms. A significant volume of supply for products that consumers care about has yet to establish a presence online or has not been able to communicate its full value through digital channels.

"These may include products from traditional businesses, local brands, cooperatives, craft villages, agricultural producers or offline retailers. In the next phase of development, TikTok Shop will continue to accelerate the onboarding of these sources of supply, helping more high-quality products earn consumer discovery and trust while enabling sellers to scale their businesses.”

Noteworthy success stories on TikTok Shop include fashion company Torano, which achieved a remarkable 165 per cent revenue growth and a 71 per cent increase in GMV by leveraging these evolving trends.

International big brands are also reaping the benefits of discovery commerce. L’Oréal Vietnam is a prime example of the effectiveness of this strategy.

Đặng Bùi Tiến, chief digital officer at L’Oréal Vietnam, highlighted how discovery commerce empowered the company to reach new customers and became a valuable approach for launching new products.

Tiến emphasised that with entirely new products unfamiliar to consumers, relying solely on traditional search methods poses a challenge for customers to discover these items. He stressed that adopting discovery commerce provides businesses with an opportunity to proactively engage with potential consumers by delivering brand narratives and product values effectively. — BIZHUB