Vietnamese consumers’ international expenditures are on the increase while locals are also growing more confident in online shopping.

They are spending more and preferring contactless payment modes as well, evidenced by data recorded in the lead-up to and during the Tet holiday.

These trends were mentioned by Visa, which cited its VisaNet data tracking consumer spending from January 17 to February 17 to illustrate.

These observations align with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade's projections of a ten-percent increase in consumer purchasing power compared to the previous year.

According to the company's data, consumers allocated the highest expenditure toward food, including quick service restaurants and groceries, as well as transportation, in the run-up to Tet, or Lunar New Year festivities, which concluded in February.

Notably, international expenditures by Vietnamese consumers grew at twice the rate of domestic spending.

Such growth can be attributed to increased online shopping and more holiday-goers traveling abroad.

The Green Shoots Radar study shows that 30 percent of the Vietnamese respondents have traveled for leisure or business purposes in the past 12 months, with the most popular overseas destinations being Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, the UK, and the U.S..

The study was conducted online with 8,400 consumers across 14 Asia-Pacific countries and territories, including 500 Vietnamese respondents aged 18-65, in January.

E-commerce transactions boosted international expenditure, with a surge during the festive period and the year-on-year growth in such e-commerce transactions double bricks-and-mortar spending, VisaNet data showed.

Vietnamese shoppers are growing more confident in online shopping, even for traditionally physical interaction-heavy categories like insurance, transport, and lodging – the top three categories for e-commerce transactions.

Businesses, on the other hand, invested heavily in online advertising, reflecting the preparation and celebratory activities during the Tet season, such as gift buying, food and decoration purchases, family visits, and business promotions.

The majority of consumers opted for contactless payments during this festive period, with 64 percent of contactless transactions made on Visa cards from January to February.

This is in line with the trend of growing acceptance of contactless payments among merchants, with the latest data from Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes 2023 study showing that at least 74 percent of Vietnamese consumers frequently use contactless payments, particularly mobile wallet payments, for food & dining, shopping, and convenience store purchases.

An increasing number of consumers are using their credit cards domestically to take advantage of the benefits and rewards offered by these cards.

In The Green Shoots Radar study, more than half (55 percent) of the consumers who were surveyed preferred using their credit cards when shopping in Vietnam because of rewards, miles, and cashback offers.

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