A beginner’s guide to opening a Xiaohongshu store: steps and strategies

Xiaohongshu has become an avenue for businesses to enhance their brand visibility. As China’s leading social commerce platform, Xiaohongshu boasts a vast user base, primarily younger consumers. Besides brand exposure, the platform allows new brands to interact with consumers directly. This guide will detail the advantages of opening a Xiaohongshu store, outline the setup process, analyse the target audience, and elaborate on how Airwallex Visa cards help businesses to reduce procurement costs.

The advantages of opening a Xiaohongshu store

Xiaohongshu, dubbed the “Chinese Instagram” and “Chinese Pinterest” by Western media, enjoys immense popularity among the younger generation. Users share lifestyle experiences, and shopping tips and interact with others on topics ranging from fashion, ‌beauty to travel. Cross-boundary topics between Hong Kong and the mainland, including study abroad recommendations and employment tips, also prevail on the platform. 

Businesses and new brands can precisely target their audience based on user interests, consumption habits, and geographic location to ensure promotional content reaches the consumer with higher-converting potential.

In addition, the demand for traditional search engines in mainland China, such as Baidu, Bing, and Sogou, has gradually decreased as young people now turn to social platforms like Xiaohongshu and TikTok for searches. With a user base exceeding 300 million – predominantly young consumers who value quality lifestyles and have considerable purchasing power, Xiaohongshu is attracting more businesses and brands to expand into the Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area markets.

Analysis on Xiaohongshu's target audience

According to a survey conducted between late 2023 and early 2024 by the mainland social media data provider, Qian-gua, Xiaohongshu’s user base is predominantly female, making up 70% of the total user base, with active male users steadily increasing. The survey points out that individuals ages 25 to 34 have strong purchasing power, and that their shopping habits, such as sharing post-purchase experiences with others, are continuously reshaping social consumption patterns. New brands are suggested to focus on authenticity and lifestyle relevance in their promotions to establish a friendly and trustworthy relationship with customers.

Can eCommerce businesses from Hong Kong open stores on Xiaohongshu?

Hong Kong eCommerce businesses can open stores on Xiaohongshu as individual commercial entities or as registered companies. The setup time depends on whether the submitted information and documents meet the requirements. These include business licences, ID cards, and trademark certificates in Chinese and English versions. The review process usually takes three to five working days. Once successfully registered, Hong Kong brands can directly penetrate the Chinese market by leveraging the platform.

Application process and basic requirements

Xiaohongshu automatically creates a professional account for users when opening a store, which serves as an entry pass to the platform. There are two types of professional accounts – personal accounts and business accounts. The former allows account holders to create personal and individual stores, while the latter, distinguished by a blue V tag, allows users to open individual stores, standard enterprise stores, and flagship stores.

However, Hong Kong eCommerce businesses can only choose from specialised stores, exclusive stores, and flagship stores. They also have to pay an annual audit fee of RMB¥600 to continue operations.

Application process for a Xiaohongshu store:

1. Register a regular Xiaohongshu account and complete the business account verification.

2. Fill in your account information (based on trademark, website, or software application, name), upload business licence, ID documents, and brand introduction.

3. Submit the verification materials and pay the certification review fee.

Hong Kong merchants are only allowed to choose from specialised stores, exclusive stores, and flagship stores. The table below highlights the features and business strategies for each type. The comparison aims to help new brands select the “most suitable plan based on their characteristics and operational goals.

Challenges and considerations for opening a Xiaohongshu store

Merchants must constantly analyse their target audience’s preferences and favoured content styles to stand out among many other brands on Xiaohongshu. While building brand awareness requires time and effort, merchants must also continuously adjust their strategies to align with Xiaohongshu’s evolving algorithms. In addition, they should keep a close eye on user feedback and ratings to maintain a good store score.

Regarding expenses, merchants should take Xiaohongshu’s security deposits, technical service fees, and advertising costs into account. Security deposits vary by store type and category. For instance, opening a specialised, exclusive, or flagship store requires a minimum deposit of RMB¥20,000, while technical service fees vary depending on the merchant’s industry or product category. Additionally, Xiaohongshu also charges a 0.7% third-party payment platform service fee for cross-order product transactions.

In short, opening a store on Xiaohongshu as a beginner requires thorough research into user preferences, adaptability to platform changes, investment in marketing expenses, and persistent branding effort.

Reducing procurement costs with an Airwallex Borderless Card

Sufficient working capital is crucial for SMEs and startups, particularly during the early stages of business. Launching a store on Xiaohongshu not only involves paying platform fees but also paying suppliers to acquire goods and services. Airwallex Borderless Cards are multi-currency corporate cards that allow businesses to transact in multiple currencies without incurring procurement handling fees. These cards allow for direct payments in 10+ major currencies with 0% foreign transaction fees. This helps companies to reduce procurement costs when opening a Xiaohongshu store.

To get started, simply register a Business Account for free, which can be completed in as fast as 48 hours. Businesses can activate their Airwallex Borderless Cards at any time and use them immediately for online purchases. The card supports Visa payments and comes with no hidden fees. Get started today.

Frequently asked questions

What are the steps and expenses involved in launching a Xiaohongshu store?

Opening a Xiaohongshu store is simple. First, you have to create a standard account and complete the verification for a business account. After providing the necessary documents, such as account details, business licence, and identification documents, you will need to pay a certification review fee of RMB¥600 and wait for approval. Additionally, merchants are required to pay a security deposit starting at RMB¥20,000, along with technical service fees and a 0.7% fee for third-party payment platform services. Merchants based in Hong Kong must also pay an annual audit fee of RMB¥600 to retain their operating rights.

Is a business proof required to open a Xiaohongshu store?

Yes. Opening a Xiaohongshu store requires submitting a business licence, or other business proof documents, such as an individually owned business certificate, and a trademark registration certificate.

Are there any restrictions on opening a Xiaohongshu store?

Yes. Xiaohongshu restricts brand activities that relate to military and political affairs, illegal and dangerous items, medical and health services, such as plastic surgery, clinical examinations, and blood tests.

Sources: 

Information about Xiaohongshu was extracted from the following sources in March 2025. Data is for reference only. Please visit the official Xiaohongshu website for the latest information.

1. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/newhome?

2. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/helper/detail/1992?

Disclaimer: This article was written in March 2025. All information is based on our independent online research. We were not able to manually test each tool or provider. This article is for educational purposes only. Readers should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. This research is reviewed every 6 months. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [email protected].