It’s Instagram and Pinterest sprinkled with a dose of Taobao. China’s cross-border social shopping platform Xiaohongshu (XHS) has been rising fast since its founding five years ago, attracting investors such as Tencent and securing its latest $300 million Series D round of funding from investors including Alibaba.
XHS, however, is different than another famous Chinese social e-commerce site Pinduoduo that targets bargain hunters and penny pinchers. This style-obsessed platform has carved up a special niche in the heart of 100 million of China’s young, middle-class, and mostly female consumers. And, according to experts, it’s not an e-commerce platform at all.
“XHS is not a cross-border e-commerce platform, it’s a product search engine,” according to Lauren Hallanan, Chinese social media expert, VP of Live Streaming at The Meet Group and an XHS influencer.
Start your free trial now.
Get instant access to all our premium content, archives, newsletters, and online community.
Monthly Membership
Yearly Membership
What you get
Full access to all premium content and our full archives
Members'-only newsletters
Preferential access and discounts to all TechNode events
Direct access to the TechNode newsroom
Start your free trial now.
Get instant access to all our premium content, archives, newsletters, and online community.