Livestream Commerce Dominates Vietnam Tet 2025 | TikTok Shop & Shopee Surge 50%+ While Traditional Markets Collapse

Vietnam's e-commerce landscape is undergoing a seismic shift during the 2025 Lunar New Year season, with livestream commerce on TikTok Shop and Shopee experiencing explosive growth while traditional wholesale markets like Hanoi's Ninh Hiep Market and Dong Xuan Market report income declines of approximately 50% compared to previous year levels. This represents a critical inflection point for sellers: the wholesale intermediary model is collapsing, replaced by direct-to-consumer livestream selling that eliminates middlemen and connects manufacturers directly with nationwide consumers.

The competitive advantage now belongs to platforms enabling livestream commerce and just-in-time inventory models. TikTok Shop's "Bringing Spring Home Mega Live" session demonstrated the category potential by selling over 5,000 pots of flowers and ornamental plants from Dong Thap Province in a single livestream event. Small traders, farmers, and manufacturers are rapidly adopting just-in-time inventory strategies—importing products only after receiving customer orders—to minimize excess stock risk. Sellers report earning tens of millions VND monthly during peak Tet season, though platform fees and operating costs consume approximately 20% of revenue, leaving 80% gross margin for inventory, logistics, and profit.

Regulatory compliance is now a competitive barrier protecting livestream sellers from traditional market competition. Increased regulatory inspections regarding product origin, invoicing, and tax compliance have forced traditional market merchants to operate at reduced capacity to minimize risk. This regulatory friction creates a moat for e-commerce platforms that provide built-in compliance infrastructure. The Digital Vietnam 2025 Report confirms that social networks and livestreaming are vital for reaching modern consumers, particularly younger demographics driving cashless payment adoption. However, the report also identifies a critical weakness: small sellers struggle to sustain revenue after large-scale campaigns due to limited brand recognition, indicating that sellers who build brand equity during Tet campaigns will capture disproportionate market share in subsequent seasons.

Regional demand signals indicate Southeast Asian sellers should prioritize TikTok Shop and Shopee for Tet-adjacent categories. Flowers, ornamental plants, home décor, and seasonal gifts represent the highest-velocity categories during this period. Traditional commerce will coexist for older demographics and consumers seeking tactile shopping experiences, but long-term projections indicate e-commerce will increasingly replace traditional methods. Sellers should immediately evaluate whether their current inventory model supports just-in-time ordering and whether their brand has sufficient recognition to sustain post-campaign sales.