Channel choice and the digital ascent
The channel choice for FMCG purchases during Tet 2025 revealed a rapidly evolving festive retail landscape, with Traditional Trade, while still accounting for over half of value share, witnessing the emergence of Online channels and Minimarkets as formidable forces.
For Tet 2025, the Hypermarket and Supermarket (H&S) channel firmly retained its position as a key shopping destination. This channel is where shoppers can find the vast majority of their extensive holiday shopping needs met—from gift boxes and high-value alcohol to large-format festive foods and home-stocking necessities. Its strength lies in its "one-stop-shop" convenience, product quality assurance, and the immersive festive atmosphere it cultivates.
Winning in H&S during the Tet period is a given for brands, and consumers show a tendency to pay more during Tet in this channel to secure the quality and authenticity. However, with rising costs and caution, brands must be wary that while purchase frequency remains high, the average ticket size may decline as consumers moderate their overall spend. With the competition of online channels which may be able to capture consumer spend earlier during pre-Tet months, retailers must develop special, exclusive deals centred on products that cannot be easily replicated or delivered online, such as out-of-the box traditional preparations, fresh and chilled products and convenient holiday staples.
Online demonstrated strong growth in Tet 2025, signalling a permanent shift in consumer behaviour. The convenience of doorstep delivery and the extensive promotions across e-commerce platforms have fundamentally changed the pre-Tet stock-up phase.
Crucially, the Online channel's growth is witnessed throughout the year, even when not acutely skewed for Tet like Hyper & Super. The value of FMCG purchased in January 2025 was similar to the pre-Tet period, with spending index not peaking sharply in January as H&S, illustrating that the Tet stocking up behaviour in Online happens sooner than other channels, driven by a strong push for early shopping across E-commerce platforms, leveraging year-end deals and promotions. With 3 out of 4 online shoppers buying FMCG In the last 4 months of the year, Online may be able to capture more pre-Tet spend because of this early push.
Tet 2026 is no longer a single-peak event dominated by physical stores. It is a multi-phase sales season where Online is the key to winning the early stock-up battle, setting the stage for a successful peak sales period in physical H&S channels. With online channels growing rapidly to take almost the same value proportion as H&S, brands must treat e-commerce as a strategic tool for year-end growth, not just a supplemental channel.
On January 15th alone, there were a series of live sessions on Shopee organized to stimulate shopping with a huge number of viewers.
TikTok Shop livestream posted continuously from the beginning of Jan to attract buyers (1st day of Tet is 29th Jan)
