The fashion exec’s guide to Chinese social media platforms

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2024 marked a turning point for China’s ecommerce scene. For the first time in 8 years, the 618 buying event– a vital retail moment– saw a decrease in sales. The once undisputable Singles Day, traditionally a one-day purchasing spree, currently stretches for a complete month to drum up sales amidst a sluggish economic climate (it also dealt with record-high return prices in 2015). Including in the turmoil, Alibaba, a titan of China’s e-commerce ecosystem, terminated its iconic Songs Day gala.

Among the 4 major social platforms, WeChat has long been a portal for international brands looking for to use the Chinese market. Weibo acts as an aggregator for brand name information, while Douyin has become a social business leader. Xiaohongshu, meanwhile, has actually verified to be an effective tool for word-of-mouth advertising.

Dior later on remained to take a lead on social media marketing, becoming the first to come down on Douyin in 2018, the leading short-form video platform. Others complied with in quick succession, including Gucci, Prada, Armani and Fendi. Douyin’s capacity to mix video clip narration and business also brought in traditional names in vogue and charm– Inditex-owned Zara sparked buzz with innovative live streaming, while Fenty Appeal opened up a main front runner shop on the system.

Content approach apart, Xiaohongshu’s Chujing suggests that “as opposed to using a top-down strategy to interaction, brands should remain close to user needs, use trending area subjects and move their way of thinkings from ‘offering points’ to ‘buying triggers’.” Simply put, past simply showcasing new product launches or hit items, brands ought to want to Xiaohongshu as an insights hub for future technology.

Regardless of the nuances of different systems, certain methods have emerged across the board. Live streaming, tiny dramas and KOL-centric word-of-mouth advertising and marketing top the listing for both regional and worldwide brand names aiming to convert social engagement right into earnings.

Zhizhi owner Li Tao sees live streaming as a marketing approach with substantial possible despite its frequently steep prices. “The return on investment (ROI) should not be evaluated by efficiency, yet long-lasting brand image-building,” he describes. Through a live-streaming show on Douyin, Zhizhi broke its very own document by achieving RMB 20 million ($ 2.8 million) in GMV.

Mini dramas, which are on-line TV collection usually produced properly, typically last between 3 to 5 minutes. They are after that distributed through brief video platforms such as Douyin. According to iiMedia Research study, the market dimension of China’s small dramas is predicted to go beyond RMB 100 billion ($ 13.8 billion) in 2027.

Though Kuaishou uses prospective possibilities for style brand names, its visibility in the fashion industry has actually stayed minimal. Poptag’s Gu explains that high-end brand names have made couple of efforts to involve with Kuaishou over the past two years due to the fact that their marketing aims to communicate a high-end photo and produce dreams for customers. This method problems with Kuaishou’s existing platform identity. “Kuaishou’s core is rooted in daily country life, and its current positioning is not appropriate for culturally abundant or costly brand names,” he specifies.

Xiaohongshu, which was at first positioned as a fashion and charm buying guide platform, is currently becoming a powerhouse for way of life web content. It is additionally increasingly progressing as a complete social business platform by launching live-streaming functions in 2020 and constructing a buyer e-commerce company design in 2023.

That’s transforming. Douyin, Xiaohongshu and WeChat have all upgraded their in-app purchasing functions, turning out every little thing from mini shops to buyer-centric live-stream designs. This permits brand names to enhance involvement on these social networks systems while transforming web content right into real sales within the system.

“The reality is that you need to consider the WeChat ecological community in its entirety,” Mauron includes. In addition to the WeChat authorities channel, there is additionally a miniature programme for brand names to serve personalisation features and ecommerce solutions, in addition to a WeCom attribute to assist take care of consumer connections.

WeChat, the most prominent messaging and social platform in China, has currently transformed right into a major shopping network for deluxe and fashion and became the first social system that launched a shop feature to allow brands to sell items via the platform directly. Lately, the system presented a gifting feature to allow customers to search and buy presents directly within chats, mini programs or official brand name stores.

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Both brands are devoted to investing in live streaming in 2025. Zara’s moms and dad company Inditex said in a note to Style Service that it held over 30 live-streaming shows in the Chinese market in 2014. It made the first attempt to live stream throughout all digital networks for its most current cooperation with neighborhood developer Ao Yes during a pop-up event in January this year.

WeChat’s concentrate on the personal domain also limits its utility. “WeChat was never an efficient platform to develop brand name recognition, however it remains one of the most efficient platform to catch people with a high degree of interest in your brand and to develop that connection and keep with them,” Mauron adds. In his viewpoint, Weibo “doesn’t require a great deal of tactical thinking or creativity”, as more than 95 per cent of the interaction produced on Weibo is by celebrities– and collaborating with those stars provides a possibility for brand names.

This shift appears in the approaches of leading brands like Chinese designer tag Zhizhi and Spanish style seller Zara, both leaders in live streaming. In 2023, Zara made history by hosting a five-hour online program on Douyin, including and showcasing cinematic-quality visuals both international and local abilities. Zhizhi just recently selected a party-esque real-time show, supplying an immersive and very interactive experience for its target market.

Social media platforms have actually traditionally lacked the robust shopping capacities of giants like Tmall, making it testing to directly drive sales conversions. Consequently, brand names often require to integrate their own marketing approaches to leverage web content and increase sales.

Yet this landscape is much from static. Economic headwinds and fierce competitors are requiring social media sites platforms to experiment and develop. Thomas Piachaud, head of approach at luxury information solutions firm Re-Hub, observes that many platforms have experienced a stagnation in customer involvement, signalling yet an additional possible change in China’s fast-moving electronic ecosystem.

Lucrezia Seu, founder of Deluxe Consulting, a boutique brand technique and advertising agency based in Shanghai, claims that for premium or high-end brands “Xiaohongshu seems to be the emphasis”. According to QuestMobile, Xiaohongshu has the biggest variety of high-value individuals (regular monthly on-line investing over RMB 2,000 or $276) amongst social systems in China.

According to Re-Hub, the follower development of high-end brand names in Xiaohongshu countered the broader stagnation pattern of 2024, with 29 per cent much more fans acquired than the exact same period in 2023. “Brands such as Hermès, Miu and Zegna all doubled their followerships, with an essential bar of success being offline events or activations reverberating throughout the system,” says Piachaud. “Xiaohongshu is climbing to end up being a home for luxury.”

Among the 4 major social systems, WeChat has actually long been a gateway for worldwide brands seeking to tap into the Chinese market. As international brand names proceed to utilize social platforms to improve brand recognition, an additional short video clip application, Kuaishou, has actually likewise started to bring in fashion and charm players. “WeChat was never ever an efficient system to construct brand name understanding, yet it stays the most reliable system to capture individuals with a high level of interest in your brand name and to establish that partnership and keep with them,” Mauron adds. According to the platform, neighborhood elegance brand Komfymed saw a 439 per cent year-on-year increase in search last year. “Other than that, Xiaohongshu, as a content system, can assist brands efficiently record the demands of users and drive word-of-mouth advertising.”

Douyin, for example, is an increasing super-platform both on social media and ecommerce. With over 786 million average month-to-month energetic customers in the very first 10 months of 2024, Douyin is the 2nd biggest social platform after WeChat, according to information agency QuestMobile.

Weibo, on the various other hand, serves as a news collector for global brand names to broadcast “information announcements and capitalise on celebrity outrage”, Mauron explains. “Weibo has actually been playing [this function] for 10 years, absolutely nothing brand-new regarding it.” Nonetheless, the platform still does not have efficient ecommerce features and has restricted affordable advantages compared to its counterparts.

China’s social platforms have actually been flirting with business for years. In 2016, Dior came to be the very first high-end brand to market top-end bags on WeChat, using its renowned Girl Dior style to note the country’s Qixi Event. Bvlgari soon followed, introducing limited-edition pink items in honour of the exact same party.

In terms of brand name approach, Mauron believes that the whole deluxe industry has come to be overly transactional and short-term oriented. He recommends that brand names start spending once more to build need. To introduce, brand names must once again strike “the ideal equilibrium in between performance and desire and buy their brand-building, storytelling and showcasing their workmanship”.

Their influence on the fashion industry remains minimal. Really few brands have formally partnered with Bilibili, and problems connected to daigou– investors that capitalize on cross-border price distinctions to resell luxury items on the grey market– on Dewu present substantial challenges for brand names aiming to involve on these platforms.

Along with leveraging the live-streaming fad, Xiaohongshu’s substantial pool of KOLs and KOCs (essential viewpoint customers) uses significant marketing possibility. According to the system, neighborhood charm brand Komfymed saw a 439 percent year-on-year increase in search last year. Japanese luxury appeal brand name CPB made millions of sales on Xiaohongshu during last year’s Singles Day.

The system is additionally checking a “buyer shopping” design, calling stars like widely known actor Dong Jie and TV program host Wu Xin to advertise items in their live-streaming programs, which opens doors for even more specific niche brand names to do well.

Take Kans for an example: the charm brand name saw a 102 per cent year-on-year rise in gross goods worth (GMV) on Douyin in 2024 many thanks to both online streaming and mini dramatization. “We are one of the earliest to try live-stream business on Douyin,” claims a representative from Kans

As global brand names proceed to make use of social platforms to improve brand name awareness, an additional brief video clip application, Kuaishou, has likewise started to attract style and elegance gamers. In 2019, Louis Vuitton became the very first deluxe brand to launch an account on Xiaohongshu.

“We’ve seen style and luxury brand names welcome live-streaming development, developing immersive, multi-scenario real-time programs that escape from typical fashion program designs in an extra interactive and innovative means. Collaborating with struck television programs has actually likewise verified an effective marketing approach for bring in new consumers,” says Xu. “Meanwhile, sports brands are coordinating with Athletes and kols to capitalise on the live-streaming fad, broadcasting real-time outside tasks.”

“For Douyin to perform as a shopping platform, online streaming is an essential engine for that,” states Mauron. Douyin initially kicked off its shopping feature in 2018 and then launched the live-streaming attribute in 2019. Throughout the pandemic, live-streaming material grew rapidly, attracting Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Zara, Coach and much more.

Xu better discusses that live-streaming business is advancing promptly on Douyin. “Brands are now placing even more focus on incorporating advertising and e-commerce, rather than mainly focusing on item selling,” she says.

A young woman livestreams on the preferred system Douyin near the Yangtze River Bridge. Livestreaming has actually come to be a significant trend among young people, reflecting changes in home entertainment, business, and social communication in the electronic period.

China’s welcome of social business has actually been quick. As administration working as a consultant McKinsey’s recent report emphasizes, the nation is now the worldwide leader in this arising industry, where consumers acquire straight through social networks. However regardless of the total surge, the dynamics differ across systems– each of which is taking its very own specific niche.

Besides elegance brand names, Douyin’s head of e-commerce brand name marketing Andrea Xu notes that over the past two years, style brands on the platform have actually seen double-digit yearly growth in both brand stores and transaction volumes; luxury items, particularly, seasoned triple-digit growth.

Chujing, head of international appeal at Xiaohongshu, puts the instances of Komfymed and CPB to two things: “Good selection of product and great partnership with Xiaohongshu’s KOLs and customers.” Xiaohongshu has virtually a million KOLs and KOCs. “Aside from that, Xiaohongshu, as a web content platform, can aid brand names efficiently capture the demands of individuals and drive word-of-mouth advertising and marketing.”

Compared to Douyin and Xiaohongshu, Weibo and WeChat are a lot more typical, similar to Whatsapp, Facebook and X. WeChat utilized to be thought about a web site function for international brands. “To open up a WeChat official network is always a good beginning indicate provide an overall discussion of the brand name,” states Seu.

As the typical shopping landscape falters, a new age of social business is getting grip. On social networks, acquisitions are now much more smooth than ever before, with systems like Douyin and Xiaohongshu (also known as Red in the West) leading the fee. Pablo Mauron, handling partner for China and board participant of advertising and marketing and technology group DLG, appropriately describes China’s social media as having developed right into a highly transactional landscape.

Streamers, understood for live-streamed gaming or funny material, are building massive followings amongst Gen Alpha and Gen Z. With their unstable material in some cases resulting in detraction, it’s dangerous business for brands.

New systems are also trying market share. Beyond the 4 significant social systems, arising gamers such as Dewu and Bilibili are also getting traction. “Bilibili, a cultural platform for hobbies and way of life usage, promotes brand name ideas. Its long-tail material advantages, however tracking conversions is difficult,” clarifies Gu. “Dewu, which incorporated shopping and area in the past 2 years, uses a seamless ‘content and products’ loop for promoting stylish, moderately valued brands and collections.”

Yet Douyin’s range may not benefit every brand just as. Mauron keeps in mind that, for the deluxe market, it is not practical to make use of the platform as a commerce network, as Douyin’s service model is heavily dependent on “transactional real-time streaming”, which brings a rough-and-ready dynamic that can test the aspirational placing numerous deluxe brands desire to preserve.

To any type of worldwide brand wishing to use the Chinese market, social media presents a vital window. “Failing to capitalise on educating your patriots or prospective new clients, you will be running the risk of losing recognition,” says Piachaud. The cornerstone of success is recognising each system’s stamina and audience.