Xiaohongshu is going to grab the heads of TikTok users
Xiaohongshu is going to grab the heads of TikTok users
Earphone Tech
·March 15, 2025 16:15
A difficult battle to fight.
Text | Small Listening
Editor | Rao Yan
In a sense, Xiaohongshu is embarking on a Columbus style exploration journey in the field of going global, with the goal of grabbing the heads of TikTok users.
This content community, which has been struggling in China for over a decade and has yet to successfully achieve a commercial closed loop, has once again decided to go global and seize a market that has long been surrounded by wolves and is fraught with crisis.
On March 10th, Xiaohongshu officially launched the "E-commerce Overseas Navigation Plan", covering the US, Hong Kong, and Macau markets in the first phase, and has already started internal testing for some merchants.
For Xiaohongshu, this may be an opportunity. At present, when the domestic e-commerce traffic dividend is facing bottlenecks, Xiaohongshu urgently needs a new growth story to seek a new market.
However, new stories are not easy to tell.
The cross-border e-commerce market today is already a red ocean. Especially after the "Four Little Dragons of Going Global (AliExpress, Temu, TikTok, SHEIN)" stirred up the global e-commerce landscape, it has become particularly difficult for domestic platforms to go global this year under the heavy tariff policies of the Trump administration.
It must be acknowledged that "TikTok refugees" have opened the door to internationalization for Xiaohongshu, but the world behind the door is full of unknowns. From passively receiving traffic to actively defining the market, Xiaohongshu needs not only luck, but also reverence and innovation for the essence of business.
Of course, Xiaohongshu's battle of "going out to sea to grab people's heads" may be the epitome of the globalization process of China's Internet enterprises - looking for their own nautical charts in the interweaving of opportunities and risks.
Xiaohongshu is going out to sea again
The influx of TikTok refugees has brought an opportunity to Xiaohongshu. This is no less than the surprise of Columbus' crew when they suddenly discovered land after a long voyage.
At that time, although the official statement of Xiaohongshu was not made, the sudden influx of millions of American users clearly once again touched Xiaohongshu's nerve to go global.
This is traceable.
Previously, with the influx of a large number of American users, unlike the previous "calm" approach, Xiaohongshu's actions have significantly accelerated. When users of Xiaohongshu shouted for the urgent need for the "one click translation" function, in just a few days, Xiaohongshu launched its built-in translation function. In the eyes of many industry insiders, this move clearly shows that Xiaohongshu has awakened its consciousness in the face of the "sky high wealth and prosperity".
Subsequently, it was reported that Xiaohongshu had rented Times Square in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong as its new office space. Although Xiaohongshu has not officially responded to this news, there have been continuous reports since then, and Xiaohongshu has accelerated its pace of going global.
Until March 10th, Xiaohongshu finally announced the launch of the "E-commerce Going Global Navigation Plan". According to official sources, Xiaohongshu plans to cover the US, Hong Kong, and Macau markets in the first phase, providing full chain services such as online transactions, trade exports, cross-border payments, and localized operations.
According to the plan, after signing the agreement, merchants can directly reach overseas users through the Xiaohongshu main site ecosystem in various fields such as note taking, live streaming, and store with one click.
Not only that, Xiaohongshu has also launched real-time translation functions for 50 languages, and even customized translation modules for online slang, attempting to lower the operational threshold for businesses going global.
After the plan was released, many merchants received internal testing invitations. Lin Shuai was one of the first small red booksellers to participate in the internal testing.
As an early batch live streaming e-commerce merchant, Lin Shuai has rich experience in e-commerce operations, having experienced domestic e-commerce platforms and TikTok. In 2024, he began operating the Xiaohongshu e-commerce platform.
In Lin Shuai's opinion, Xiaohongshu's recent voyage is "an opportunity, at least you can give it a try
For Lin Shuai, Xiaohongshu has certain advantages in terms of genes when it goes global. After all, when Xiaohongshu was first established, it was an overseas shopping and sharing community, and it has certain genes when it goes global
Lin Shuai told "Tingtongtech" that unlike TikTok Shop, which requires merchants to independently operate overseas links, Xiaohongshu provides one-stop services for merchants through the "Qianfan System": from product review, multilingual translation to logistics tracking, merchants only need to send the products to the transfer warehouse, and the platform is responsible for the follow-up.
Lin Shuai believes that this "custodial" approach to going global can greatly reduce the threshold for small and medium-sized businesses to participate.
However, Lin Shuai also admitted that he, who has just undergone internal testing, has not had many other feelings yet, but he believes that "this thing can be done
Industry insider Liu Ge also analyzed and pointed out that from the current plan, Xiaohongshu's overseas expansion is significantly different from its previous attempts. "If in the past it was just a community for sharing, then this time Xiaohongshu is trying to do it by integrating resources from multiple parties
Liu Ge believes that Xiaohongshu's strategic transformation may open up new growth points for it in the fiercely competitive e-commerce market, "after all, Xiaohongshu really needs a new story
The story of going out to sea is difficult to tell anymore
Obviously, going out to sea has once again disturbed Xiaohongshu.
Especially when "TikTok refugees" emerge on its platform, Xiaohongshu is like a navigator discovering the trade winds, quickly adjusting its sails to sail towards this "dangerous but fertile" sea area.
However, despite its ambitious goals, Xiaohongshu must face the fact that the story of going out to sea has become increasingly difficult to tell.
Liu Ge, who has rich experience in going out to sea, frankly stated that whether it is his own genes or the external environment, choosing to go out to sea at this time means that Xiaohongshu will face far more severe challenges than in the past.
Xiaohongshu lacks e-commerce genes, which is the most fatal point, "Liu Ge said frankly. Over the years, Xiaohongshu has been trying to achieve a closed loop of commercialization, but has not yet made a breakthrough." The most important point is that Xiaohongshu's commercialization has always been torn apart from the community tone
In fact, many analyses believe that this is also the reason why Xiaohongshu has been unable to do well in e-commerce for so many years.
Liu Ge believes that the platform lacks e-commerce genes, and the high-level strategy is wavering between "community oriented" and "e-commerce oriented" measures. As for Xiaohongshu, it missed the best period to do well in e-commerce in China, and its multiple overseas trips have also been "repeated failures and battles".
Previously, Xiaohongshu had launched applications such as Uniik (a Japanese fashion community) and Spark (a Southeast Asian e-commerce platform), all of which failed due to poor translation and content adaptation.
In Liu Ge's opinion, even though it has turned into a "global e-commerce platform" with "comprehensive services" this time, due to its content attributes, Xiaohongshu is still facing cultural adaptation issues.
For example, how to make the logic of 'planting grass' accepted by Western users? Differences in clothing size labeling, aesthetic preferences, and consumption habits can all be fatal to conversion rates
More importantly, going global particularly tests the platform's comprehensive operational capabilities. Although in Liu Ge's opinion, "in fact, these issues have not been well addressed by Xiaohongshu in China
For example, how to solve cross-border logistics timeliness, how to deal with tariff issues, and how to build an after-sales system? These will all be questioned on Xiaohongshu one by one in the process of going global
Liu Ge pointed out that Xiaohongshu's differentiation advantage lies in its content ecosystem, but if it cannot compete with its competitors in hard indicators such as logistics timeliness and after-sales support, overseas users may also choose other existing platforms.
Under the internal troubles, Xiaohongshu is also facing obvious external difficulties now.
Not to mention the extremely unstable tariff policies since Trump took office, which have already had an impact on cross-border shipping.
The competition among various overseas platforms in the US market alone is enough to exert heavy pressure on Xiaohongshu. In the US market, there are now mature players such as AliExpress, Amazon, SHEIN, Temu, etc. TikTok Shop is also accelerating its localization in the US market.
In particular, Lemon8, a product owned by ByteDance, which is known as the "overseas version of Little Red Book", has gained a firm foothold in the US market according to media reports. With its traffic interoperability with TikTok and refined local operations (such as launching Malay language content in the Southeast Asian market), Lemon8 has consistently ranked first in terms of downloads for lifestyle apps in the United States.
Mastering the helm is crucial
Of course, this does not mean that Xiaohongshu does not have a chance.
Liu Ge quite understands Xiaohongshu's overseas expansion. In his opinion, although the external environment is unclear, "if you don't try, there won't be any chance
Liu Ge pointed out that although the daily active users of Xiaohongshu were halved after TikTok resumed listing, there are still millions of overseas users who have retained and formed a habit of content interaction, indicating that the platform has initially established user stickiness. "If we can meet their 'read and buy' needs through e-commerce services, Xiaohongshu may be able to complete the transition from a content community to a consumption platform
Lin Shuai also expressed optimism about Xiaohongshu's recent overseas expansion. In his opinion, unlike TikTok's entertainment oriented short videos, Xiaohongshu excels in "useful" content, covering diverse verticals such as beauty, fashion, home, and travel. "This' encyclopedia of life 'attribute is more likely to attract users with high consumption intentions
From the perspective of our merchants, there is still a chance for Xiaohongshu to go global, "Lin Shuai revealed. According to his understanding, Xiaohongshu will have other big moves in the future when it goes global.
However, just being optimistic is far from enough, Xiaohongshu still needs to do well.
In Liu Ge's view, the key to the success or failure of Xiaohongshu's overseas expansion lies in whether it can deeply integrate the advantages of domestic "community+content" with its global operational capabilities.
Liu Ge pointed out that through differentiated positioning (high unit price products), technological empowerment (AI and data tools), ecological openness (transparent rules and merchant support), and localized cultivation (language, logistics, compliance), Xiaohongshu may be able to avoid most risks and achieve growth in the "second curve" of cross-border e-commerce.
Xiaohongshu should make full use of the advantages of 'grass planting' as much as possible and do a good job in 'reverse grass planting', "Liu Ge suggested. Xiaohongshu can try to" reverse grass planting "to achieve refined localized operation," such as recruiting overseas celebrities, introducing overseas brands to settle in, and cooperating with local MCN institutions, in order to quickly implement Xiaohongshu's characteristic overseas model
In addition, Xiaohongshu can also differentiate itself from TikTok's entertainment attributes and SHEIN's fast fashion positioning by strengthening its "refined lifestyle" label.
On the other hand, in terms of model, Liu Ge believes that Xiaohongshu can also promote the "overseas custody/semi custody" model and try to strengthen the platform's overseas supply capacity. The platform is responsible for product operation and sales, while merchants are responsible for logistics and warehousing, in order to achieve the goal of "overseas shipping".
To a certain extent, this can reduce the impact of tariff policies on Chinese imported goods, and most overseas warehouses are located in the target country market, which is faster in logistics efficiency than cross-border logistics, and can achieve logistics efficiency equivalent to "local shipment".
However, this model has certain requirements for the strength of the platform and merchants. Previously, there were reports that some overseas platforms had proposed a growth target of semi custodial services by 2024, but subsequent investment promotion was not smooth due to the significant challenges posed by the model to both the platform and merchants.
Of course, these are all specific strategies. However, currently the most important thing is that whether it's domestic or foreign, I think Xiaohongshu really needs a capable e-commerce leader
Liu Ge frankly stated that although Xiaohongshu seems to be imperative for going out to sea this time, if the steering is not handled properly, "if the direction is pointed in the wrong direction or the wrist is not enough during the voyage, no matter how much effort is put in, it will eventually be in vain
A true navigator never fully believes in their own map, "Liu Ge joked. If Xiaohongshu wants to avoid the regret of Columbus'" death without knowing where he is ", it must try to avoid repeating the mistake of" emphasizing content over commerce "as much as possible, and also have a vision of" climbing high and looking far ".
(Both Liu Ge and Lin Shuai are pseudonyms in the article.)
(The header image and accompanying images are both from Pexels.)
(Disclaimer: This article is for information exchange only and does not constitute any investment reference advice.)
—END—
The viewpoint of this article only represents the author himself, and the 36Kr platform only provides information storage space services.
小红书要去抢“TikTok们”的人头
文 | 小听
编 | 饶言
某种意义上而言，小红书正在出海领域开启一场哥伦布式的探险之旅，此行的目标，是去抢“TikTok们”的人头。
这家在国内困于“种草”，摸爬滚打十几年，至今未成功实现商业化闭环的内容社区，再一次决定出海，去抢一个早已群狼环伺，且危机四伏的市场。
3月10日，小红书正式推出“电商出海领航计划”，首期覆盖美国、中国香港及澳门市场，且已经对部分商家开始内测。
于小红书而言，这或许是一个机会。在国内电商流量红利遇到瓶颈的当下，小红书太需要一个新的增长故事，来谋求一个新的市场了。
只是，新的故事并不好讲。
如今的跨境电商市场，早已一片红海。尤其在“出海四小龙（速卖通、Temu、TikTok、SHEIN）”搅动全球电商格局后，今年在特朗普政府的重关税政策下，国内平台出海，尤其显得艰难。
必须正视的是，“TikTok难民”为小红书打开了国际化的大门，但门后的世界充满未知。从“被动承接流量”到“主动定义市场”，小红书需要的不只是运气，更是对商业本质的敬畏与创新。
当然，小红书这场“出海抢人头”的战役，或许正是中国互联网企业全球化进程的缩影——在机遇与风险的交织中，寻找属于自己的航海图。
小红书又要出海
“TikTok难民”的涌入，让小红书嗅到了一个机遇。这一点也不亚于哥伦布船员在经历过长时间航行后，猛然发现陆地时的惊喜。
彼时，尽管小红书官方并未表态，但百万美国用户的突然挤入，显然再一次触动了小红书出海的神经。
这有迹可循。
此前，大量美国用户涌入后，与过去的“淡定”不同的是，小红书的动作明显加快。如当小红书用户高呼急需“一键翻译”功能时，短短几天的时间，小红书便上线了自带的翻译功能。这在不少业内人士看来，从此举便能明显看出，在“泼天的富贵”面前，小红书有了觉醒意识。
随后，便有消息称，小红书洽租了香港铜锣湾时代广场作为新办公场所。虽然小红书对此消息并未官方回应，但此后，不断有消息传出，小红书加快了出海的步伐。
直至3月10日，小红书终于发布消息，推出“电商出海领航计划”。据官方的消息，小红书此次计划首期覆盖美国、中国香港及澳门市场，提供线上交易、贸易出口、跨境支付、本地化运营等全链路服务。
根据计划，商家签署协议后，可直接通过小红书主站生态，在笔记、直播、店铺等多种场域内一键触达海外用户。
不仅如此，小红书还同步上线50种语言实时翻译功能，甚至为网络俚语定制翻译模块，试图降低商家出海的运营门槛。
计划发布后，不少商家收到了内测邀请。林帅便是首批参与内测的小红书商家之一。
作为早批直播电商商家，林帅有着丰富的电商运营经历，他先后历练过国内电商平台，以及TikTok。2024年，他开始运营小红书电商。
在林帅看来，小红书此次出海，“是个机会，至少可以试试。”
于林帅而言，小红书出海，在基因上，有一定的优势，“毕竟小红书刚成立的时候，便是一个海外购物分享社区，在出海上，有一定的基因。”
林帅告诉《听筒Tech（ID：Tingtongtech）》，与TikTok Shop需要商家独立运营海外链路不同的是，小红书通过“千帆系统”，为商家提供一站式服务：从商品审核、多语言翻译到物流追踪，商家仅需将商品寄送至转运仓，后续由平台负责。
林帅认为，这种“托管式”出海，能很大程度上降低中小商家的参与门槛。
不过，林帅亦承认，刚刚进行内测的他，目前还没有其他过多的感受，但他认为，“这件事能做。”
业内人士刘哥亦分析指出，从目前的计划来看，小红书此次出海，与过去的几次试探有明显的区别，“如果说过去只是单纯地提供一个分享的社区，那么这一次，小红书试图通过整合多方的资源来做这件事。”
刘哥认为，小红书的这一战略转型，有可能为其在竞争激烈的电商市场中开辟新的增长点，“毕竟，小红书太需要一个新故事了。”
出海的故事，已经不好讲了
很显然，出海再次挠动了小红书。
尤其是当“TikTok难民”涌现在自己的平台时，小红书便如同发现信风带的航海家，迅速调整风帆驶向这片“危险但富饶”的海域。
不过，尽管满怀壮志，但小红书必须正视的是，出海这个故事，已经越来越难讲了。
有着丰富出海经验的刘哥便直言，不管是自身基因，还是外部环境，选择这个时候出海，都意味着小红书将面临着远比过去更为惨烈的挑战。
“小红书缺乏电商基因，这是最为致命的一点。”刘哥直言，过去多年，小红书始终试图实现商业化闭环，但至今未取得突破，“最重要的一点，便是小红书的商业化，始终与社区调性撕裂。”
实际上，诸多分析认为，这也是为什么小红书这么多年，一直做不好电商的缘由。
刘哥认为，平台缺乏电商基因，且高层战略在“要社区”和“要电商”的举措中摇摆不定，以至于小红书在国内错过了做好电商的最佳时期，而在海外的多次出海，也是“屡败屡战”。
此前，小红书先后推出过Uniik（日本时尚社区）、Spark（东南亚电商）等应用，均因翻译粗糙、内容水土不服而失败。
在刘哥看来，即便是此次转而成为“综合服务”的“全球化电商平台”，但因其内容属性，小红书首当其冲的，仍是面临文化适配问题。
“比如，如何让‘种草’逻辑被西方用户接受？服饰尺寸标注、审美偏好、消费习惯的差异，都可能成为转化率的致命伤。”
更为重要的一点是，出海尤为考验平台的综合运营能力。尽管在刘哥看来，“实际上，这些问题，小红书在国内都没做好。”
“比如，跨境物流时效如何解决？关税问题怎样应对？售后体系如何搭建？这些都将在出海的过程中，一一拷问小红书。”
刘哥指出，小红书的差异化优势在于内容生态，但若无法在物流时效、售后保障等硬指标上匹敌对手，海外用户可能亦会选择其他既有平台。
内忧之下，小红书如今面临的外困同样明显。
先且不说特朗普就任后，极为不稳定的关税政策，对跨境出海已经造成了影响。
仅是各出海平台在美国市场的竞争，便足以对小红书形成重压。在美国市场，如今已有速卖通、亚马逊、SHEIN、Temu等成熟玩家，TikTok Shop也在加速美国市场的本土化。
尤其是有“海外版小红书”之称的字节跳动旗下产品Lemon8，据媒体报道，目前已经在美国市场站稳脚跟。凭借与TikTok的流量互通，和精细化本地运营（如在东南亚市场上线马来语内容），Lemon8下载量稳居美国生活类应用榜首。
“掌好舵至关重要”
当然，这并不意味着小红书没有机会。
刘哥颇为理解小红书的出海，在他看来，尽管外部环境不明朗，“但如果不去尝试，便一点机会都没有。”
刘哥指出，尽管TikTok恢复上架后，小红书日活用户腰斩，但仍有百万级海外用户留存，并形成内容互动习惯，这说明平台已初步建立用户黏性，“若能通过电商服务满足其‘边看边买’的需求，小红书或许可以完成从内容社区到消费平台的跃迁。”
林帅亦表示，看好小红书的此次出海。在他看来，与TikTok以娱乐为主的短视频不同，小红书擅长“有用性”内容，涵盖美妆、穿搭、家居、旅行等多元垂类，“这种‘生活百科全书’属性，更容易吸引高消费意愿的用户。”
“从我们商家的角度来看，小红书出海还是有机会的。”林帅透露，据他了解，接下来，小红书在出海上，还会有其他大动作。
不过，仅仅是看好远远不够，小红书还需要做好。
在刘哥看来，小红书出海的成败关键，在于能否将国内“社区+内容”的优势与全球化运营能力深度结合。
刘哥指出，通过差异化定位（高客单价商品）、技术赋能（AI与数据工具）、生态开放（透明规则与商家扶持）和本地化深耕（语言、物流、合规），小红书或许能够规避多数风险，在跨境电商的“第二曲线”中实现增长。
“小红书应该尽可能利用‘种草’的优势，做好‘反向种草’。”刘哥建议，小红书可以尝试“反向种草”，实现精细化本地化运营，“如招募海外红人、引入海外品牌入驻，与本地MCN机构合作等方式，来早日跑通具有小红书特色的出海模式。”
另外，小红书也可以通过强化“精致生活方式”标签，与TikTok的娱乐属性、SHEIN的快时尚定位形成区隔。
另一方面，在模式上，刘哥认为，小红书还可以推进“海外托管/半托管”模式，尝试强化平台的海外供给能力。由平台负责商品运营和销售，商家负责物流和仓储，以达到“海外发货”的目的。
这在一定程度上，可以降低针对中国进口商品的关税政策影响，且大多数海外仓选址就在目标国家市场，在物流时效上比跨境物流更快，可以做到相当于“本地发货”的物流时效。
不过，这一模式，对平台和商家的实力都有一定的要求。此前，有报道称，有出海平台曾提出2024年实现半托管的增长目标，但后续招商并不顺利，原因在于，模式对平台和商家的挑战都太大。
“当然，这些都是一些具体策略。不过，目前最重要的是，不管是国内，还是国外，我觉得小红书太需要一位拿得出手的电商掌舵者了。”
刘哥直言，尽管此次小红书看起来对出海势在必行，但如果舵掌得不好，“方向指错了，或者航行的过程中手腕不够，再多的努力也终将付于流水。”
“真正的航海家，从不完全相信自己的地图。”刘哥笑言，小红书若想避免哥伦布“至死不知身在何处”的遗憾，便要尽可能避免重蹈“重内容、轻商业”的覆辙，也要更具备“登高望远”的视野。
（文中刘哥和林帅均为化名。）
（头图和文内配图均来自Pexels。）
（声明：本文仅作为信息交流，不构成任何投资参考建议。）
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