“Chinese Instagram analogue Xiaohongshu turns into a sales platform Social network Xiaohongshu is moving to a sales model through live broadcasts with influencers. The platform targets wealthy Chinese consumers and plans to reach $100 billion in sales by 2025.”, — write on: unn.ua
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Tera Feng is a Chinese blogger who started sharing her life in Shanghai with Xiaohongshu eight years ago. Her blog also features art gallery visits and fashion events on Chinese social media. Currently, her audience consists of more than 500,000 subscribers.
Feng and the brands she works with have found that the blogger audience is mostly financially independent, urban Chinese women who are willing to spend.
For example, in a recent live sales broadcast on social media platform Xiaohongshu three months ago, Feng sold everything from a 15,000 yuan (US$2,060) Carven suit to her favorite brand of rice, which costs 60 yuan per 1kg bag.
Xiaohongshu, sometimes compared to Instagram, has long been one of China’s most important marketing tools.
Over the past decade, the platform has made several forays into e-commerce without much success. But now, consultants say, brands, especially those selling niche and high-end products, are finally seeing sales growth this year amid a challenging retail environment.
While retailers have been forced to offer deep discounts on other e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba’s Taobao and PDD Holdings’ Pinduoduo, Xiaohongshu’s focus on aspirational lifestyles appeals to less price-sensitive users.
Brands highly value users on Xiaohongshu because the power of consumption is completely different from other platforms
While some brands, including L’Oreal and Tapestry’s, Coach have opened their own stores on the platform, many brands are also investing in partnerships with thought leaders who live stream product selections from different brands and categories.
We’re more likely to be discovered by the right consumers because that’s where people go to research products focused on women’s lifestyle
She added that Xiaohongshu’s e-commerce will be a priority for the brand to enter the market early next year.
Xiaohongshu was a latecomer to the boom in live sales in China, led by Alibaba’s Tmall and ByteDance’s Douyin, but in 2022 it merged its e-commerce and live-streaming divisions, incorporating live-streaming purchasing functions.
Thought leaders who live stream on Xiaohongshu tend to use a quieter, conversational tone when interacting with viewers, which sets them apart from the fast-paced, energetic bloggers on other platforms.
Ian Hilton, president of independent Chinese designer brand Ms Min, which sells knitted sweaters worth more than 5,000 yuan, said they had seen a sudden surge in sales on Xiaohongshu after they were featured on a live show hosted by Chinese actress Dong Jie.
We never considered Xiaohongshu as a sales platform, it was a place to tell our stories and build brand awareness,” he said. “But when Dong Jie talks about Ms. Ming, we can sell hundreds of items after one live broadcast
Xiaohongshu has been mostly tight-lipped about its e-commerce strategy, but Jacob Cook, CEO of e-commerce consultancy WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which works with brands looking to join the platform, said the company is hiring from rivals Alibaba and ByteDance’s Douyin.
We expect Xiaohongshu’s GMV (gross merchandise volume, a measure of sales) to grow by triple digits next year
Others, however, say Xiaohongshu is likely to remain a niche e-commerce player and not pose a real threat to the big platforms. Tmall, JD.com and Pinduoduo, China’s top three platforms, account for more than 90% of the total, according to Syntun, a consultancy. of sales ($2.78 trillion) of the country.
We will remind
Danish scientists conducted a study that found that Instagram does not remove dangerous content about self-harm. Algorithms of the social network actively contribute to the distribution of such materials among teenagers.