Evolving from a simple travel shopping guide, RedNote is one of China’s most influential lifestyle platforms. Millions of users turn to RedNote for suggestions of any kind before making decisions. The platform gained a global reputation in early 2025 when waves of American “TikTok refugees” joined RedNote as a solution to the U.S. TikTok ban, which was later suspended. RedNote has continued to expand its influence through innovative commerce models. This makes it an increasingly essential platform for brands seeking to engage Chinese consumers.
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What is RedNote?
RedNote is a lifestyle-focused social media and e-commerce platform. It is community-driven, relying on user-generated content, with peer reviews playing a key role in consumers’ pre-purchase decisions. Users search for recommendations, product reviews, and tips on various topics, including travel, medicine, food, and secondhand items shared by other users.
The content, however, is not limited to China. In fact, when people go abroad for travel or study, they can use it to search for topics such as trendy areas or even medication suggestions, especially in countries like the U.S., where healthcare is expensive.
Who are the RedNote’s users?
According to the latest report by Qiangua and RedNote, the number of monthly active users reached more than 350 million, with 37.99% of users being born in the 1990s and 45.70% being born in the 2000s. Users from first- and second-tier cities accounted for 48.17% of the total, with an overall increase in users from other cities.
Among the active users, female and male users account for 74.08% and 25.02%, respectively. Facing a highly female-skewed user base, RedNote has aimed to expand the proportion of male users by making continuous efforts in content categories such as sports, gaming, automobiles, and watches. Among these, sports became the key focus because of the strong appeal among male users. Starting from the 2022 FIFA World Cup, RedNote steadily built up a sports ecosystem by collaborating with famous football players such as José Mourinho, Zinedine Zidane, and Kylian Mbappé. Meanwhile, it expands into tennis and basketball via partnerships with major tournaments and top athletes. What marks a significant step is RedNote’s official broadcasting right for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in mainland China, marking a significant step in RedNote’s strategy to strengthen its appeal among male users and diversify its user base.
Overall, RedNote’s user base is becoming progressively diverse. It shows a strong attraction to young and urban consumers and is still expanding into broader demographics.
“TikTok refugees” flock to RedNote
As TikTok faces a potential ban in the U.S., an increasing number of people are turning to RedNote, dubbing themselves “TikTok refugees”. Posts under “#tiktokrefugee” amassed a staggering 700 million views and over 10 million comments in just a week.
The “TikTok refugee” trend significantly boosted RedNote’s international reputation in early 2025. However, an undeniable fact is that the momentum is hard to sustain. Daily active users in the U.S. fell from a peak of 1.3 million in January 2025 to approximately 800,000 by March 2025. There was a brief resurgence of discussions around the one-year anniversary of the movement. Yet, conversations switched back to TikTok following changes to its U.S. ownership.
Industry experts attribute this slowdown to a saturated overseas market. The platform’s limited space for international creators, and its strong reliance on Chinese-language context. RedNote has tried to expand its international operations, including opening international offices and launching overseas e-commerce services. However, analysts still believe its long-term international growth is more likely to be limited in overseas Chinese communities rather than a widespread adoption among local users.
The evolution of RedNote in China
From a shopping guide to a community to e-commerce
It all started in Hong Kong, one of the favorite travel destinations for mainland Chinese people because of the city’s western ambiance, exquisite Cantonese cuisine, and tax-free shopping. Due to language barriers and limited knowledge about foreign brands, Chinese travelers often wondered about luxury handbags, skincare, or tax refunds. Mao, co-founder of RedNote, noticed this gap and launched the Little Red Book Hong Kong Shopping Guide to share shopping insights from travelers.
As users began sharing shopping experiences and recommendations from more places. The platform expanded its focus and renamed itself Little Red Book Shopping Notes, covering a broader range of products and lifestyles. By late 2014, the platform introduced in-app shopping, transforming into a social-commerce hybrid where users can purchase items they discover and research on the platform. Over the following decade, it became a content-driven community involving social interaction, unlimited content, and e-commerce.
Today, RedNote is widely considered as users turn to the platform for advice regarding fashion, beauty, food, travel, or any other topics before they make the call. According to Qianhua Report, the platform’s largest content categories include fashion (25.4%), food (18.3%), culture and entertainment (12.2%), home living, etc. While user communities span interests such as travel, pets, sports, and more. Consumers engage with the platform to discover trends, make product and brand comparisons, plan trips, and seek authentic peer recommendations throughout their daily lives. As a result, such a process allows RedNote to shape consumers’ preferences and for the brand to reach out to its target early in the decision-making process. Statistics show that 67% of the users reported that the platform content directly influences their purchasing behavior. RedNote is hence distinguished from any other e-commerce platforms in China.
How are brands leveraging Little Red Book to target the Chinese audience?
Similar to famous platforms like WeChat and Weibo, foreign companies can set up an official brand account on RedNote in China as well. Brands need to submit various documents such as business registration for verification and depending on the product category, required documents can be different.
In recent years, the Little Red Book platform seemed to be a compulsory social media platform to target young Chinese consumers. Both international and local brands are integrating RedNote as part of their marketing strategy to engage consumers, especially during brand or new product activation. These brands leveraged a strong sense of community by inviting KOLs, KOCs, and KOSs to post on the marketing event and engage with targeted audiences through giveaways held on the social media platform.
KOL+KOC+KOS: Online influencers in China
Working with KOLs, KOCs, and KOSs is crucial in China since Chinese consumers believe that online influencers are more trustworthy than “official” ads.
| Type | Definition | Role in Brand Marketing | Key Strength |
| KOL(Key Opinion Leader) | Popular online content creators with a large and established audience | Help brands increase awareness, shape trends | High reach and influence |
| KOC(Key Opinion Consumer) | Everyday consumers who share personal experiences and product suggestions | Provide authentic and peer-to-peer recommendations | Higher perceived authenticity and trust |
| KOS(Key Opinion Sales) | Creators with industry/brand/product expertise to make purchase advice | Offer professional product explanations and answer consumer questions | Bridge consumers to products |
RedNote has built an ecosystem where KOLs, KOCs, and KOSs each play a unique role in shaping consumer decisions. KOLs generate awareness, bringing new products to a broader audience. KOCs reinforce trust through live and authentic user experience and feedback. KOSs offer professional analysis of products and recommendations that drive conversions. Together, within the same platform, consumers experience a journey from discovering a product, receiving peer feedback, evaluating its value with specialists, and finally to purchasing. This integration sets RedNote apart from traditional e-commerce platforms by making content, communities, and business work together.
RedNote’s IPO: A milestone in platform commercialization
After more than a decade of growth and preparation, RedNote is reportedly preparing for a potential Hong Kong IPO, marking its first entry into the public capital market. The company is targeting a listing in the second half of 2026 and seeking a valuation exceeding USD 70 billion. The IPO could become one of the largest Chinese technology listings in recent years.
The potential IPO indicates growing market interest of RedNote’s unique business model, which combines commercial opportunities with social content in communities. The firm transitioned from a social media platform composed of communities to a mature consumer company. It specializes at analyzing and influencing consumer decisions at early stages during discovery and consideration, generating value via advertising, brand services, and data-driven consumer insights. This positioning differentiates RedNote from traditional e-commerce marketplaces as it establishes a competitive position within China’s consumer internet sector.
A successful IPO could provide RedNote with additional resources to further strengthen technology investment, advertising infrastructure, and e-commerce capabilities. The company may also consider further international expansion, following an increased global awareness after the TikTok ban discussions in the United States and TikTok refugee’s entry into the platform. Additional investment in AI-powered recommendation systems, live translation tools, and platform infrastructure could also support future growth.
How trustworthy is RedNote among Chinese consumers?
- RedNote, a Chinese app founded in 2013, is a lifestyle-focused social media and e-commerce platform.
- It is primarily used by young affluent women living in urban areas. However, more men and people from lower-tier cities are using it.
- In January 2025, many Americans started flocking to the platform in response to the potential ban of TikTok in the U.S. However, after the TikTok ban was lifted, the majority of TikTok refugees returned to their original social media platforms, leaving their RedNote accounts inactive.
- RedNote is a trustworthy app for many Chinese consumers. As a platform that relies heavily on user-generated content, word of mouth plays a crucial role. People seek to understand the personal experiences and opinions of other users with similar concerns or interests.
- Whether it’s learning about smaller or lesser-known brands, finding reliable medicine while traveling abroad, or getting fashion tips, many people turn to it for guidance. KOL+KOC+KOS is a RedNote’s model to help shape consumer purchasing decisions and behaviors
- RedNote’s IPO plan marks a new stage of development. The market recognizes its ability to transform user engagement and content influence into a long-term business value.
Author: Ming Yii Lai, with additional research by Zoey Ye
