Another e-commerce platform testing water on WeChat’s mini program

Against a backdrop of a broader economic slowdown and sluggish user growth, more tech companies now prefer collaboration, enjoying traffic and resource exchange, instead of engaging in money-bumping wars to acquire new users, which was the path they would have taken to expand in previous years. The social e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu, also known as Little Red Book in English, is one of them. Its reportedly affiliated WeChat mini-program, Xiaohongdian (Little Red Store), is being tested by invited users, in which only 11 food items are listed on the catalogue, surprisingly different to its mainstay, cosmetic and beauty products. The move is certainly to tap into WeChat’s rich and generous user base where social networking and chatting group culture flourish with a promising capital return. Additionally, discount is available to group buyers from WeChat, which works in a similar way as group buying app, Pinduoduo.