Xiaohongshu, also known as RED is a social media and e-commerce platform. It was created by Miranda Qu & Charlwin Mao in June 2013. By July 2019, Xiaohongshu says it has over 300 million registered users, with 70% of the users born after 1990s, 80% of the users are females. The app allows users and well-known personnel to post and share product reviews, travel blogs and lifestyle stories via short videos and photos. Xiaohongshu also operates RED Mall, which sells international products to Chinese users.
History
Xiaohongshu was founded by Miranda Qu and Charlwin Mao in 2013, started as an online tour guide for Chinese shoppers. The original intention of creating Xiaohongshu was to provide a platform for users to review products and to share their shopping experiences with the community. In October 2014, the founders started focusing on connecting Chinese consumers with global retailers and established its own cross-border e-commerce platform, where Chinese consumers can buy products from overseas and order directly. In 2015, Xiaohongshu set up its warehouses in Shenzhen, Guangdong and Zhengzhou, Henan. By May 2017, Xiaohongshu users exceeded 50 million, with sales of nearly CN¥ 10 billion, making it one of the world's largest community e-commerce platform. Xiaohongshu's international logistics system REDelivery went into service during the month. On 6 June that year, Xiaohongshu held a shopping festival to celebrate its fourth anniversary, which sees the sales revenue exceeded CN¥ 100 million in 2 hours, while the app ranked in first place in the iOS App Store under "Shopping" category during that day. In June 2018, Xiaohongshu completed a US$300 million funding led by Alibaba and Tencent, with a valuation of US$3 billion.
Awards
2014 August, Xiaohongshu won the "Best Overseas Shopping Sharing App" in the China Travel Industry Internet Ranking.
2014 September, Xiaohongshu won the title of "Top 100 Mobile Communities" for entrepreneurs.
2014 September, Xiaohongshu won the Tencent app treasure "Little Red Flower" award
2015 July, Xiaohongshu won the "New Growth" award at the 2015 First Financial Cross-border E-commerce Investment Summit.
2016 December, Xiaohongshu was shortlisted as one of the "Top Ten E-Commerce" in the eyes of FMCG manufacturers.
2017 December, Xiaohongshu was rated as "Chinese Brand" by "People's Daily".
2018 February, Qu Fang, the founder of Xiaohongshu, was selected by Forbes China as a list of "25 Potential Women in China's Business in 2018"
2018 May, "People's Daily" reported that Xiaohongshu was "a Chinese brand created by the trust of 96 million users"
2018 August, Xiaohongshu was listed on Forbes' "Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in China 2018" list.
2019 June, Xiaohongshu was selected as the "2019 Forbes China Most Innovative Enterprise List".
2019 December, "Huiju.com Hurun Brand List 2019" was released, and Xiaohongshu ranked 175th with a brand value of 5 billion yuan, ranking 9th in the national ranking of 2019 e-commerce and retail brand value, and ranking in the private sector. 8; Ranked 89th in “2019 Hurun Most Valuable Private Brands”.
2020 January, Hurun Research Institute released "2019 Hurun China Top 500 Private Enterprises", Xiaohongshu ranked 367th with a market value of 20 billion yuan
