A hot Chinese social app is a new entry point for foreign brands

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “Wow, I’d love an app that combines YouTube, Pinterest, Wirecutter, TripAdvisor, and influencers telling me what to buy,” a Chinese app called RED has you covered.

Propelled by 300m+ users, RED is valued at $5B and has become an option for foreign brands trying to enter China, per Protocol.

RED has become China’s go-to place…

… for trusted product information and reviews.

Here are some stats:

• User ‘stickiness’: The platform has 8B views daily. The average user opens the app 4x/day and spends 40m a day on it. (That’s 3x longer than Pinterest users spend there.)
• Coveted users: 90% are affluent, urban women. Most are between 18 and 35.
• High conversion rates: The app sees conversion rates up to 20%, which is 10x traditional ecommerce rates of ~2%.

A beacon for international brands

China is the most lucrative place for foreign brands — there’s a growing middle class, rising disposable income, and penchant for luxury.

Instead of launching physical stores or their own online store, foreign brands often partner with existing 3rd-party ecommerce platforms.

RED is currently China’s 3rd-largest ecommerce platform, and foreign brands are flocking to it to expedite their expansion into China.

With luxury sales projected to fall by 23% (to $258B) in 2020, RED is one way to help brands get back in the black.