The study covers digital developments including virtual banking, open banking, augmented reality, smart checkout, cryptocurrency, and more, all of which have high levels of interest.

“It is clear that Vietnamese consumers will continue to embrace digital retail methods and trends moving forward for their convenience and novelty,” said Ms. Dung Dang, Visa Country Manager of Vietnam and Laos. “The Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study can help businesses and our valued partners identify and embrace opportunities in these spaces to ensure that their offerings align with changing consumer demands into the future.”

The rise of digital banking

One such rising trend is digital banking. According to the study, 90% of Vietnamese consumers are interested in virtual banking, signaling a widespread desire for alternatives to traditional in-person banking.

Meanwhile, at least seven in 10 consumers in Vietnam are aware of the concept of open banking. Open banking is designed to make our lives easier by allowing consumers and businesses to enable third-party apps to access financial data instantly and securely. Additionally, the Gen X and Gen Z segments have the highest awareness of open banking, and are most willing to share their contact information and personal details.

The shift to digital retail

Beyond digital banking, digital retailing has seen particularly strong growth continue post-pandemic. This makes it clear that trends in this sector will remain popular among Vietnamese consumers moving forward. Such trends include augmented reality (AR), which allows for virtual shopping so consumers can try on, personalize, or visualize products through the camera on their phone.

Four out of five Vietnamese are aware of the concept of using AR for retail shopping, and three in 10 have used it. The Gen Z and Gen X segments have the highest AR usage rates. While AR use isn’t widespread yet, consumers see it as an increasingly important feature, especially when deciding whether to buy a big-ticket product.

Another digital retail trend in its early stages is smart checkout, which lets consumers scan items as they select them, creating a digital basket for payment without needing to scan goods at the end of a shopping trip.

Nearly half of Vietnamese consumers have tried smart checkout, mostly from the Gen Z segment. There is high interest in trying smart checkout from most segments, and key motivators include speed and convenience, the novelty of this method, and help with budgeting since consumers can see their total bill before checkout.

The study also found that Vietnamese consumers expect nearly eight out of 10 future orders to be delivered at home. More than four in five Southeast Asian consumers (82%) continue to shop online, a trend led by Indonesia (92%) and Vietnam (89%). This illustrates how much shopping has moved away from in-person retail experiences.

Preparing for future digital trends

There is also strong interest among Vietnamese consumers in several key digital trends that are expected to grow in popularity in the future.

For example, roughly 70% of Vietnamese consumers who participated in the study are interested in emerging digital trends such as cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the Metaverse. Among consumers who have purchased an NFT, music, videos, and paintings are the three most popular types. Finally, seven in 10 Vietnamese consumers are interested in knowing more about the Metaverse or how to experience it.

“As a world leader in digital payments, Visa will continue to provide support on future trends throughout the payment ecosystem,” said Ms. Dung Dang. “This is illustrated by the Visa Creator Program, which launched in March 2022 and is aimed at helping digital-first artists, musicians, fashion designers, and filmmakers accelerate their business through NFTs. Our first cohort, announced in January 2023, includes five creators from around the world and will show how Visa can help creators embrace innovative digital technologies.”