The trend of wearing áo dài to take photos pushes up the demand for purchasing this national costume ahead of the Tết holiday. —  VNA/VNS Photo Tuấn Đức

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese have splashed tens of billions of đồng to purchase áo dài (traditional long dresses), the national costume, via e-commerce platforms to dress up for the coming Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

This is sparked by the explosive trend of wearing áo dài to take photos in the months before Tết, which has led to a surge in demand for traditional costumes.

Statistics of e-commerce data platform Metric showed that Vietnamese spent VNĐ41.5 billion (US$1.7 million) to buy 245,000 áo dài on four e-commerce platforms, including Shopee, Lazada, Tiki and Sendo, in December, two months before Tết, a rise of 6 per cent against the same period last year.

There have been a total of 224,200 successful orders from 2,200 online stores.

The most popular prices are between VNĐ200,000 to VNĐ500,000 per unit.

Metric said that the online shopping trend for Tết outfits also reflects the fact that consumers are tightening spending in the context of economic difficulty, which is predicted to continue in 2024.

Data of Social Trend showed that “áo dài đẹp” (beautiful áo dài) or “áo dài cách tân” (modern áo dài) are the most popular key words on search tools in the months ahead of Tết.

Revenue from áo dài at online shops is estimated to have totaled VNĐ196 trillion in 2023, rising by 16 per cent over 2022. There are more than 2,200 online sellers which have sold a total of 894,000 units.  

A survey by Buzzmetrics showed that “taking photos” is the third most discussed topic after “shopping” and “lucky money” when Tết is approaching, adding that “áo dài” has emerged to be an interesting symbol of the connection between the young generation and the nation’s cultural heritage.

More young people are showing interest in and support for traditional beauty and using áo dài to check in at famous locations or creating trending video content, according to Buzzmetrics.

Lê Công Tuấn, a shop owner in HCM City selling áo dài both online and offline, said that he sold about 5,000 áo dài in December, five times higher than the same month last year.

The increase is due to the trend of wearing áo dài to take photos then uploading the photos to social networks. Tuấn said around half of our customers this year have never worn áo dài before and they wanted to try this Tết. —  VNS