TikTok Shop recorded 66% gross merchandise value (GMV) growth over the past year in Vietnam, more than 2.5 times the 25.5% expansion rate of the overall e-commerce market. The platform also added sellers and users at pace, with revenue-generating merchants up 42% and monthly active users rising 36%.
Market Share Closing Fast on Shopee
Vietnam's e-commerce sector reached an estimated $31 billion in 2025, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Within that expanding pool, TikTok Shop lifted its market share from 26.9% in 2024 to 39.6% in 2025, based on data from YouNet ECI. Shopee retains the top position at 57.5%, but the gap is narrowing rapidly given the pace of TikTok Shop's gains. Across the four main platforms — Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada and Tiki — combined GMV hit an estimated $20.4 billion in 2025, up 27.3% year-on-year, according to Singapore-based investment fund Momentum Works.
Discovery Commerce Drives the Growth Engine
TikTok Shop's core advantage lies in what the platform calls "discovery commerce" — a model where short-form video and livestreaming generate demand rather than simply fulfilling pre-existing search intent. Vietnam's 70 million monthly TikTok users scroll through content and make purchases they had not planned, a conversion dynamic that differs fundamentally from traditional search-based shopping. Accenture research cited by the platform found that livestreaming influences Vietnamese consumers at a rate 1.3 times higher than the Asia-Pacific average, giving the model particular potency in this market. Shopee has taken note and is also scaling its own video and livestream sales channels.
Category Breakdown: Home and Electronics Lead
Platform-disclosed data show home and lifestyle goods recording the strongest GMV growth at 94%, followed by grocery and fast-moving consumer goods at 71% and phones and electronics also at 71%. Fashion, beauty, baby and personal care categories also posted strong gains. The breadth of outperforming categories suggests the platform's growth is structural rather than concentrated in a single niche.
Headroom Remains Substantial
Despite rapid expansion, e-commerce still accounts for only around 10% of Vietnam's total retail goods turnover. That compares with penetration rates of 25–26% in China and South Korea, pointing to significant runway before the market matures. Vietnam's recent graduation to upper-middle-income status also supports a continued rise in consumer spending capacity. Momentum Works and local data platform Metric both flag the first half of 2026 as maintaining the same two-platform dominance, with Shopee and TikTok Shop together generating combined GMV of VND 280 trillion.
New Sellers and Traditional Crafts in Focus
TikTok Vietnam's representative highlighted that the next growth cycle will depend not just on selling more of what is already online, but on bringing new product categories onto the platform — including goods from traditional manufacturers, local brands, cooperatives, craft villages and agricultural producers. The platform plans to roll out dedicated support packages for OCOP-certified products, farm goods and artisan crafts in the second half of the year. The deputy chair of the Vietnam Craft Village Association welcomed the direction, noting that traditional products have yet to reach their digital potential, and urged the platform to help artisans tell their own stories effectively.
Rising Consumer Standards Raise the Bar for Sellers
As the market matures, price alone no longer determines purchasing decisions. Sellers and analysts alike acknowledge that shoppers increasingly weigh product origin, quality verification, seller reputation, delivery speed, payment options, return policies and after-sales service before completing a transaction. Platforms that invest in these trust infrastructure layers will be better placed to retain the customers that discovery commerce brings in.
Investor Takeaway
TikTok Shop's trajectory reinforces Vietnam's status as one of Southeast Asia's most dynamic digital consumer markets. With e-commerce penetration still well below regional peers and a 70-million-strong user base primed for social commerce, the sector offers material deal-flow interest for regional consumer, logistics and payments investors tracking the Mekong corridor.
