People in Vietnam spent VND84.7 trillion (US$3.3 billion) shopping online in the third quarter of 2024, up 18.2 percent quarter on quarter, according to e-commerce market research platform Metric.

Beauty care, male footwear, groceries, and fashion were among the top-selling categories on five major platforms in Vietnam, including Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada, Tiki, and Sendo.

One of the particular notes in Metric’s recent report was the growth of low-cost product categories in the third quarter.

Sales of items priced below VND200,000 ($8) made up over half of the revenue from online shopping, enjoying a year-on-year rise of nine percent.

The local market also saw a year-on-year increase of five percent in items priced under VND100,000 ($4) each.

These figures showed the appeal of affordable products and reflected a new consumer trend amid the ongoing economic uncertainties.

TikTok Shop and Shopee recorded a significant expansion in revenue in the third quarter compared to the second quarter and the same period last year.

Another notable trend from July to September was the jump in online purchases from official stores.

While these stores consituted only five percent of all online shops, they accounted for nearly a third of total online shopping turnover during the quarter, with a year-on-year growth rate of 53.11 percent.

This demonstrated that customers preferred authentic and high-quality products, according to the Metric report.

In the third quarter, the beauty care industry was the biggest earner in terms of online revenue and sales volume, generating VND15.5 trillion ($607.8 million), up 26.6 percent year on year and accounting for 18 percent of the total revenue.

Metric predicted that sales of beauty care products would continue to spike for the rest of the year.

Male footwear recorded strong growth in the third quarter, at 73.9 percent against the second quarter.

Grocery products became the third-biggest earner for online sales, with their revenue soaring 51.9 percent quarter on quarter, followed by fashion products.

Nestle-branded sterilized milk and Labubu, a rabbit-like character with monster-like teeth, became major trends in the third quarter, driving a sharp surge in their sales.

Online milk sales reached VND6.14 billion ($241,360) from July to the end of the third quarter, with 123,500 units sold, which marked a 687-percent increase in revenue compared to the second quarter.

On these e-commerce platforms, Labubu, an art toy designed by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung in 2015, generated VND6.9 billion ($271,000) in earnings, up 741 percent quarter on quarter.

Vietnamese customers spent $9.5 billion shopping online between January and September, up 37.7 percent year on year.

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