Most residents in Hanoi (96 percent ) and HCM City (90 percent) plan Tet gifts for superiors, relatives and friends this year.
A survey recently issued by market research firm Kantar Worldpanel also found 78 percent of people in the northern rural areas were considering buying gifts while only 59 percent of their southern peers said so.
These respondents were willing to spend VND450,000-600,000 ($19.46-25.95) on a gift basket, Kantar Worldpanel said.
It said Hanoi people tend to give gifts to their superiors, while people in HCM City are more likely to gift their neighbours during Lunar New Year Festival (Tet), which starts on February 5 this year.
Cash is the most popular gift for grandparents, parents and teachers in the cities, while a mixed basket is most popular one for in-laws or partners parents.
Two-thirds of Vietnamese consumers prepare gifts for Tet around two weeks before the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The survey noticed differences in where people in Hanoi and HCM City buy their Tet gifts. Supermarkets were the most popular place for people in HCM City to buy Tet gifts, according to 83 percent of the respondents.
But for people in Hanoi, street shops were the most popular choice, with 88 percent of respondents choosing this option.
Kantar added that the value of each gift has seen a double digit year-on-year growth, but did not reveal specific figures.
Gift is a key driver of Tet performance, contributing one-third of the total fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sold during the Tet season last year.
Total value of in-home FMCG purchases during the Tet month last year was VND45 trillion ($1.95 billion), twice that of a normal month, Kantar said. The Tet month is defined as four weeks before the first day of the Lunar New Year.
