Using Xiaohongshu as a secret weapon for luxury brand success

Xiaohongshu has 300 million monthly active users, and more than 80 million users contribute to the platform’s lively user-generated content (UGC). Young consumers who love life and trying new things congregate in Xiaohongshu, shaping and giving rise to diverse lifestyles and consumption patterns, such as the “dopamine dressing,” “Maillard,” and “old-money” styles. Xiaohongshu’s users are better educated about brands and eager to embrace fresh experiences and new products than those on lower-tier urbanite-facing Douyin and Kuaishou. Hence, livestream selling has taken a different shape on Xiaohongshu. Luxury brands on Xiaohongshu Louis Vuitton’s first Xiaohongshu livestreaming test in 2020 wasn’t as successful as expected. However, the French house didn’t give up on extending its reach to Xiaohongshu’s base of young, fashion-driven, and wealthy users from Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. After this, Lanvin and Givenchy joined Xiaohongshu in 2020 to livestream their collections. On April 21, 2024, Louis Vuitton hosted an online reshow of its Womenswear Pre-Fall 2024 Shanghai runway on Xiaohongshu, drawing 470,000 viewers, breaking luxury brands’ livestream viewership record on the lifestyle platform. Givenchy’s livestream invited model-turned-anchor Linda Li to present its new collection at Shanghai’s IAPM store. Well-known stylist Mia Kong, fashion it-girl Natasha Lau, Xiaohongshu fashion master Cheng Xiaoyue, and world hip-hop champion Ye Yin also visited the store and tried out the latest collection with Li. After the broadcast, the brand’s official Xiaohongshu following grew by over fivefold. Similarly, Gucci’s Cruise 2024 livestream attracted more than 33,000 viewers and drove search volume for the topic “Gucci show” to grow 47 times. A week after the show, the volume of content relating to Gucci had grown by 15 times. Many fashion bloggers wrote reviews and analyses of the show, triggering user interaction on the platform. According to Chinese media outlet Ladymax, starting in late 2022, more and more professional fashion critics and industry opinion leaders began to set up Xiaohongshu profiles to publish in-depth fashion analyses, significantly improving the quality of fashion content on the platform. Louis Vuitton’s VIP ‘see now, buy now’ experience Although it has become common practice for luxury brands to broadcast their shows on major social platforms, Louis Vuitton’s latest Xiaohongshu livestream took a new approach. After the 15-minute catwalk video, Louis Vuitton presented a 100-minute resee session, enabling both online consumers and onsite VICs to partake in a “see now, buy now” experience. During the live broadcast, online viewers could visit Xiaohongshu’s limited-time online store to watch and place orders or book appointments to purchase the new collection at Louis Vuitton’s brick-and-mortar stores. This online pop-up will operate from April 19 to June 30 and will be used exclusively for pre-ordering Louis Vuitton’s Womenswear Pre-Fall 2024 collection. Louis Vuitton’s resee experience features high-definition visuals and meticulous lighting, offering consumers an immersive journey. The opportunity to closely examine the garments’ textures post-show, view products on models, and listen to influential KOLs explain collection details and inspirations attracted a significant number of fashion enthusiasts. Hosted by model Linda Li, the program featured discussions with clothing designer and former fashion blogger Wei Fuying, fashion influencers Savi Sui and Yuwei Zhangzou, celebrity stylist Lucia Liu, supermodel Wang Quyou, Sotheby’s Asia director Wang Xichu, singer Liu Yiyun, and brand ambassador Zhong Chuxi. These mini-interviews and interpretations of the pieces enhanced the audience’s experience of the collection. ‘Quiet selling’ livestreams Contrasted with beauty KOL Li Jiaqi’s “Omg! Buy it! Buy it!” approach, which promotes impulsive purchasing, popular Xiaohongshu anchors like Dong Jie, Teresa Cheung, and Annie Yi are renowned for gently guiding consumers with their slow-paced, elegant fashion livestreams. Luxury shoppers are not attracted by flashy low-price offerings but rather prefer to immerse themselves in livestreams to learn about new brands, refine their tastes, and seek entertainment. This “quiet selling,” storytelling-oriented approach sets Xiaohongshu apart from other social platforms, presenting a new way for luxury brands to engage with shoppers and secure sales without compromising their exclusivity. Take Hong Kong socialite Teresa Cheung, for instance. Last May, her debut livestream attracted over 1 million viewers and exceeded $7 million (50 million RMB) in gross merchandise volume (GMV). Five months later, Cheung doubled the sales of her debut livestream, achieving a GMV exceeding $15.6 million (100 million RMB). During this livestream session, six brands, including Hourglass and Chantecaille, each exceeded sales of $156,000 (1 million RMB), and five brands surpassed $780,000 (5 million RMB). KOLs, KOCs, but who are the KOS? Xiaohongshu boasts a large base of KOLs (key opinion leaders) and KOCs (key opinion consumers). KOCs, unlike KOLs, do not enjoy a substantial following, but due to Xiaohongshu’s user-generated content ecosystem, they play an essential role in sharing authentic opinions and product reviews. Additionally, KOCs and micro-influencers allow brands to significantly reduce their marketing costs while securing a high level of engagement on the platform. Brands require a blend of KOLs to extend their reach and KOCs to enhance credibility. Chinese shoppers are eager to try products that have been tested by a considerable number of people, making the quantity of related posts crucial. In addition, the growing KOS (key opinion sales) cohort on the platform has also become a favored promoter of luxury brands, empowering their omnichannel marketing efforts. KOS are brand salespeople who have set up an account on Xiaohongshu and regularly post about their brand’s new releases to amplify consumer reach and create more intimate and personalized interactions. High-end jewelry brands’ salespeople from Macau, Hong Kong, and Hainan are particularly active on the platform, as Chinese shoppers are willing to fly to these destinations to purchase hard luxury products tax-free. Data from Xiaohongshu reveals that the platform hosts over 100,000 salesperson accounts spanning various industries, along with nearly 2 million pieces of user-generated content encompassing thousands of brands. Notably, from January to March 2023, user searches for sales assistant-related terms surged sixfold compared to 2022. To close the loop from interest to sales, Xiaohongshu has launched a mini-program function where brands can create customized interface designs and complete sales conversions on Xiaohongshu’s online mall. Dior has taken the lead in employing Xiaohongshu’s mini-program and online mall functions, which is unsurprising given that it was the first luxury brand to join Douyin e-commerce. Vacheron Constantin, the high-end watch brand, has also opened a digital experience on the Xiaohongshu mini-program to test the waters. As Xiaohongshu continues to solidify its position in the luxury market and differentiate itself from competitors like Douyin and Kuaishou, brands are increasingly leveraging its unique features, such as the mini-program and online mall function, to create tailored experiences for consumers. With heritage houses like Hermès also joining the platform, it’s clear that Xiaohongshu is poised to become a key player in the luxury ecosystem, offering brands new avenues for reaching and engaging with their target audiences.

Xiaohongshu a secret weapon for luxury brands

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Xiaohongshu a secret weapon for luxury brands