Why Xiaohongshu is the platform to watch amid Asia's social commerce boom

Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also known as Rednote, is emerging as a transformative force in social commerce. With its recent high-profile "Red cat" initiative, in partnership with Taobao and Tmall Group, the platform is not just enhancing how people express themselves - it's revolutionising how they shop, share, and connect online. 

Beyond the Tmall partnership, Xiaohongshu is also reportedly doubling down on its social commerce offerings by partnering with Alibaba's arch-rival JD.com, according to multiple Chinese reports such as Dao Insights. 

By blending the emotional power of content with commercial offerings and the influence of social networks, industry players MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to agreed that Xiaohongshu is poised to redefine the social commerce landscape across Asia.

Xiaohongshu, is doing what many platforms have long tried but failed to achieve - fusing emotional resonance with transactional intent, said Charlene Ree, CEO and founder, EternityX. “In Asia-Pacific, where eCommerce is projected to account for 30% of FMCG sales by 2030, according to NielsenIQ, 2025, we are seeing a clear shift: consumers are no longer satisfied with just clicking “add to cart” - they want to connect before they convert.”

Traditional eCommerce consumption patterns are efficient but emotionally sterile, she added. “Conversely, social media platforms may engage but often fall short of conversion. Xiaohongshu bridges this gap by offering an integrated ‘content-to-community-to-commerce’ loop, and that’s a game-changer.”

In fact, the platform has established itself within the APAC social commerce ecosystem by primarily focusing on 'grass-seeding' - inspiring purchase intent through user content and influencer recommendations, according to Scotty Ho, vice president, strategy and growth, WPP Media Hong Kong.

“It's increasingly a shopping destination with brands opening official stores, enabling direct purchase within the app. Similar to other super-apps in the region - particularly in China, South Korea, and Japan - the platform functions as a 'walled garden' for social commerce, allowing users to buy products through livestreams or posts from influencers and brand accounts, landing directly in built-in shops, enabling a full-funnel user experience,” she added.

In a nutshell, such as a lot of China platforms, Xiaohongshu fits in by occupying the space that multiple platforms once occupied – social, media, and commerce, said Jeremy Webb, head of social@Ogilvy, Ogilvy APAC and Stella Zhang, head of social strategy and growth, Ogilvy China. “We’ve spent too long separating media from content, and social from commerce. Xiaohongshu is yet another example of a platform taking off by collapsing all of that.”

The emergence of discovery commerce

On Xiaohongshu, users come for in-depth reviews, detailed routines, long-form tips, and real, lived experiences - and stay because the content feels useful, not performative. It’s a platform where unfiltered, raw, even slightly messy content outperforms perfectly curated campaigns,” they added.

Another unique aspect of Xiaohongshu is the strength of its communities, they said.

Whether it’s through interest-based group chats or shared routines such as fitness check-ins, users find like-minded peers who support and motivate each other. This sense of connection makes the platform feel more participatory than performative.

More importantly, Xiaohongshu is increasingly seen as a trend incubator - often the place where new movements in beauty, fashion, wellness, and lifestyle are born, they added. “From a commerce perspective, that’s powerful. Because people don’t come to Xiaohongshu searching for a specific SKU. They come to see what products are trending within a lifestyle, a subculture, or a creator’s real-life experience. That’s what we sometimes call discovery commerce - the kind of ‘I didn’t know I needed this’ moment that’s almost impossible to engineer on traditional platforms.”

Agreeing with them was Karen Ho, managing director, Greater China, Assembly, who said Xiaohongshu is not just a discovery tool; it's a conversion driver. “With authentic, user-driven content - think real product reviews, travel diaries, and fashion inspo - Xiaohongshu is an inspiration engine.”

In Mainland China, Xiaohongshu bridges inspiration with the transaction, seamlessly connecting to eCommerce platforms, making it an increasingly powerful tool in the social commerce mix in China and in Chinese-speaking markets globally, she added.

Through continuous integration of eCommerce capabilities, Xiaohongshu has evolved to become one of the leading social platforms that enables users to have a seamless on-platform experience from brand and product discovery through engaging content directly to making purchases, according to Riki Li, chief strategy officer of Zenith China. She added:

This new purchasing decision-making journey will guide more consumers to treat Xiaohongshu as a necessary step before making a purchase decision, achieving a new journey of demand stimulation - inspiration - purchase intention - purchase conversion.

EternityX’s Ree said 73% of Xiaohongshu users are actively searching for product-related content, according to internal data. “That’s 170 million monthly users in discovery mode - an unparalleled opportunity for brands to intercept demand mid-journey.”

“This isn’t just commerce. It’s commerce with context. And for brands, that means higher ROI, deeper loyalty, and a real opportunity to build enduring relevance in a cluttered digital landscape,” she added.

Brands’ challenges when creating commerce-driven content

The core challenge for brands to create engaging commerce-driven content on the platform is authenticity versus agenda, said Ree. “Xiaohongshu users are sharp - they seek sincerity and spot overproduced content from a mile away. Brands accustomed to broadcasting their message struggle to shift to a model where co-creation and storytelling take centre stage.”

“Over-commercialisation risks alienation. Audiences reject anything that feels too scripted or salesy. Content fatigue is real. With brands often copying each other’s formats, breaking through the noise demands originality and empathy.”

Echoing her thoughts were Webb and Zhang, who said the hardest thing for brands on the platform right now is making content that sells without looking as if it's trying to sell. “Most either push product too bluntly or get lost trying to ‘tell stories’. Xiaohongshu gives brands a place to show up in between - through creators, product moments, and peer-style content that actually gets saved and screenshotted.” 

They added:

Users on the platform don’t just engage with content - they connect with it. That’s why strategic creator alignment and a deep understanding of community context aren’t just nice-to-haves - they’re essential. It’s not about selling a product; it’s about becoming part of a conversation.

Many brands traditionally view Xiaohongshu as a trendspotting platform, seeking to ride on trends going viral, said Zenith's Li. "However, the new approach requires a mindset shift: By harnessing data-driven insights to identify potential growth opportunities and trending topics, brands can partner with Xiaohongshu to co-create cultural trends. This collaborative trendsetting strategy allows brands to amplify their impact exponentially."

On the other hand, the selection of influencers is also one of the obstacles brands face on the platform. There's an important role for advertisers to create brand content using institutional assets to build awareness, develop brand love, and tell compelling narratives, said WPP Media’s Ho. But often, driving commerce outcomes requires the voice of influencers, she added.

Xiaohongshu helps by leveraging a culture where influencers (KOLs) build trust through authentic reviews and storytelling, facilitating grass-seeding, she added. “The platform's emphasis on real-person recommendations allows brands to tap into existing conversations and build trust with potential customers. Brands can utilise Xiaohongshu’s search functions and key opinion sales (KOS) to build emotional bonds and reach target consumers effectively.”

Despite Xiaohongshu not being mainstream in Southeast Asia regions such as Malaysia, brands that move in now will own the space before the competition catches on, according to Ham Maghazeh, group director of social media, Lion & Lion. "Malaysians thrive in niche, trust driven communities, and Xiaohongshu is built for exactly that. It’s where discovery meets purchase, positioning it as a future eCommerce powerhouse, set to compete with TikTok in another spectrum."

Maximising ROI of social commerce

According to the 2024 Xiaohongshu Business News, the platform boasts an impressive 300 million monthly active users. Additionally, a manager overseeing Xiaohongshu's commercialisation revealed in a public speech that by 2022, the platform had attracted 140,000 brands to the platform to engage in brand management. 

To unlock the full ROI potential of Xiaohongshu, brands need to move beyond isolated campaigns and embrace ecosystem thinking, said EternityX’s Ree, adding that Xiaohongshu should serve as a core node in a broader customer journey - synchronised with other media touchpoints. “Our work integrating Xiaohongshu with offline activations, CRM tools, and other digital platforms consistently yields higher lifetime value.

Second, hyper-localisation is key, she added. “Forget translation - think cultural transcreation. On Xiaohongshu, success isn't just about speaking the right language; it's about speaking the right emotional and cultural language."

“In markets such as Hong Kong, this goes beyond word choice. It’s about understanding the deeper motivations of your audience. For example, in one Hong Kong-focused campaign for a company targeting high-net-worth individuals, we tapped into insights about their deep focus on wealth legacy. Shifting the messaging from ‘protection’ to ‘legacy building’ made the narrative culturally resonant - and materially impactful,” she added.

WPP Media’s Ho said brands need to be clear regarding what the KPIs are when advertising on Xiaohongshu, as it's not always about sales - especially if a robust measurement framework isn't in place to ensure that all actions along a purchase journey are captured. “But assuming we are driving full-funnel results, best practices dictate that brands should prioritise closing the communication and commerce loop within the platform to reduce friction and enhance conversion rates.”

Given Xiaohongshu is the digital version of a well-curated shop window - people aren’t just browsing, they’re mentally adding things to the basket, said Webb and Zhang. “Brands need to stop chasing viral reach and start focusing on shoppable relevance. Plug into trend-driven behaviours (such as routines, hacks, looks), then connect the dots to where the transaction happens - whether that’s TikTok Shop, WeChat, or your own site. It’s also a brilliant testing ground.”

Brands should also check what creative or formats spark engagement on Xiaohongshu, then scale those into performance channels, they added. “Don’t measure it in isolation. Use it to sharpen what works everywhere else. With the platform’s recent rollout of upgraded merchant-facing tools and social commerce infrastructure, Xiaohongshu is shifting to a more decentralised, community-led, and interest-powered commerce ecosystem woven into daily life.”

To turn intent into action, brands must optimise content for Xiaohongshu's discovery-first platform, said Assmebly’s Ho. “This means leveraging authentic storytelling, strong visual formats, and searchable tags. Features such as shopping links, promo codes, or off-platform redirects help close the loop from inspiration to conversion. In the APAC, where social and commerce are tightly linked, this creates a scalable loop of inspiration, trust, and conversion.”

Despite Xiaohongshu's core strength lying with Chinese-speaking audiences, brands in culturally diverse regions such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, can also leverage bilingual or culturally fluent creators to unlock broader relevance with audiences, she said. “These creators can bridge the language gap and make content feel more native to the audience, even when the platform is still largely Mandarin-first."

Join us this coming 17 June for #Content360 Hong Kong, an insightful one-day event centered around responsible AI, creativity VS influencers, Xiaohongshu and more. Let's dive into the art of curating content with creativity, critical thinking and confidence!

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