Xiaohongshu to launch Redshop for cross-border sellers

Xiaohongshu plans to launch cross-border ecommerce service Redshop in June 2026, starting with a small group of merchants selling intangible cultural heritage crafts and specialty handmade goods.

The launch would extend Xiaohongshu’s push into ecommerce after it merged its ecommerce and livestreaming teams into a Transaction Department in 2023.

Xiaohongshu also added a Marketplace tab to its app and began testing a Quick Sell feature in October that lets users attach product links to posts or share product cards in chats.

🔗 Source: Pandaily

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This cross-border launch comes from years of trial and error

Xiaohongshu has tested ecommerce for about a decade, starting with its early cross-border effort Fulishe 1.
Those early pushes fell short, missing Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), a common measure of the total value of goods sold on a platform, targets in 2018-2019, then shifting attention to community growth over shopping 2.
Momentum picked up after a 2023 restructure that merged ecommerce and livestreaming into a Transaction Department led by Chief Operating Officer (COO) Ke Nan 1.
Results in 2023 gave the company proof points, with fast growth across several categories and fashion up 380% year-on-year, before a move abroad 1.

Redshop aims for a niche as China’s commerce market cools

The timing lines up with slower traditional ecommerce in China, with the 618 shopping festival seeing a sales drop for the first time in eight years 3.
Content ecommerce-facilitated online sales rose 55.9% year-on-year in 2023, while overall ecommerce sales fell 5.8% 1.
Redshop’s heritage crafts focus matches its user base, while Xiaohongshu has been described as having the largest number of high-value users, people who spend more than 2,000 yuan (US$290) a month online, among social platforms in China 3.
The approach leans on curation and community, unlike the more checkout-driven model of Douyin, ByteDance’s short-video and ecommerce platform in China, which could turn into a fight for higher-end shoppers 3.