China social commerce compared: Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and WeChat stores

China social commerce runs on three very different stores, inside Xiaohongshu (小红书), Douyin (抖音), and WeChat (微信). Each one sits inside an app people open every day. Each one makes money in its own way. The fees look alike on paper. The work behind them does not.

Here is the comparison in one place. It comes from each platform’s own merchant rules, which we checked on October 31, 2026.

	Xiaohongshu store	Douyin Shop	WeChat Store
Overseas company can open it	Yes: flagship, specialty, or collection store	Yes: Global Purchase, with a mainland agent	No: mainland entities only
Platform fee	Mostly 2% to 5.7% by category	Base rate, plus a channel rate on some orders	1% to 5% in most categories
Store deposit	Default 2,000 yuan; 400 US dollars cross-border	500 to 5,000 yuan, by last month’s sales	Zero-deposit trial, then the higher of two deposits
Ships within	48 hours domestic, 72 bonded, 120 direct mail	The window the shop promises; 48 hours cross-border	48 hours by default
Best for	Considered buys people research first	Products that sell in a demo, at volume	Repeat buyers you already reach

The sections below take each row in turn, starting with how differently the three stores make money.

China social commerce: three stores, three businesses

Each of the three works like a different kind of shop.

Douyin (抖音) is a video feed with a mall attached. People watch, then buy. More of them now skip the video and shop the mall and search directly.

Douyin’s shelf scenes grew sales 49% from August 2024 to August 2025. Source: Xinhua (新华网), citing Douyin’s 2025 e-commerce data report, January 2026. http://www.news.cn/tech/20260115/4edff26a18614c088844c150025f8c89/c.html

Shelf scenes made up more than 40% of Douyin’s e-commerce sales in 2024, according to people familiar with the figures. Store livestreams were a little over 30%, and creator livestreams about 30%. Source: 36Kr (36氪), February 2025. https://www.36kr.com/p/3166066575158018

Xiaohongshu (小红书), also called RedNote, is where people go to decide. Many of them then buy somewhere else.

About 200 million users a month come to Xiaohongshu for buying advice. Source: Sina Tech (新浪科技), December 2025. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2025-12-23/doc-inhcuunk0706683.shtml

Every day, 39 million Xiaohongshu users show clear intent to buy. The habit of “seeding on Xiaohongshu, ordering on other platforms” persists. Source: Ebrun (亿邦动力), via Sina Tech, October 2026. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/roll/2026-10-16/doc-inivksmv8313733.shtml

WeChat (微信) is different again. It’s where your existing customers already talk to you, and its store is the newest of the three to run big sales events.

WeChat Store’s transaction value kept growing fast year over year in the first quarter of 2026, Tencent reported. Source: Tencent (腾讯控股), first-quarter 2026 results, May 2026. https://static.www.tencent.com/uploads/2026/05/13/aaeed028d215a9612da4b41aca17708b.pdf

The better question is which buyer you need to reach first.

Xiaohongshu store: who it suits and what it takes

A Xiaohongshu (小红书) store suits brands whose buyers read before they buy. Beauty, skincare, fashion, home goods, travel, and premium food all fit. The store sits under the notes people already search.

A foreign company can open one directly. Not every store type is open to it, though.

Flagship, specialty, and collection stores accept overseas entities. They file foreign registration papers with a Chinese and English translation. Ordinary enterprise, sole-trader, and personal stores do not accept them. Source: Xiaohongshu E-commerce Learning Center (小红书电商学习中心), merchant entry rules, reviewed March 2024. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/rule/detail/26/817

The deposit is small.

Where a category has no listed amount of its own, the default deposit is 2,000 yuan for a flagship or specialty store. A cross-border store pays 400 US dollars. The store backend shows the current amount. Source: Xiaohongshu E-commerce Learning Center, category deposit standard, in force April 2025. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/rule/detail/27/858

A store selling in several categories pays the highest of their deposits. Source: Xiaohongshu E-commerce Learning Center, deposit rules, in force April 2025. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/rule/detail/27/844

What sells is the note. A note can carry a product link, so a review turns into a shop window.

Xiaohongshu defines trade notes as video or photo notes with a product link attached, including product notes the merchant posts itself. Source: Xiaohongshu E-commerce Learning Center, trade note rules, in force May 2024. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/rule/detail/109/2601

Buyers (买手), the platform’s word for curators who sell, now drive a large share of it.

During Double 11 (双十一) 2025, Xiaohongshu merchants with sales above 10 million yuan rose 140%, and sales driven by buyers rose 73%. Source: Sina Tech (新浪科技), November 2025. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2025-11-12/doc-infxcywy4759724.shtml

There’s a second route. You can skip the store and send note readers to Tmall (天猫) or JD (京东) with a paid link.

Xiaohongshu, Taobao, and Tmall added an ad link under notes in May 2025. Source: Dianshangpai (电商派), May 2025. https://www.pai.com.cn/p/01jtmvemb8jq7m4npea5vqyaf0

More than 100 single products sold over 10 million yuan through these links at Double 11 2025, five months after the product launched. Source: Caijing (财经网), via Sina Tech, November 2025. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/roll/2025-11-12/doc-infxcqhz3478086.shtml

If you already run a Tmall flagship, the link may beat a second store. If you don’t, the Xiaohongshu store is the simpler place to start. Both routes are covered on our RedNote agency page.

Douyin Shop: volume, commission, and the live requirement

Douyin Shop is the volume store. It suits products you can show working in thirty seconds: snacks, beauty tools, kitchen gadgets, apparel.

Many brands think Douyin (抖音) demands a daily livestream. It doesn’t have to. The platform now rewards orders that come with no video at all.

In 2026, shops that sign up and complete monthly tasks get a rebate on product-card orders. The fee drops to 0.6% for domestic goods and 1% for cross-border goods. Livestream, short-video, and creator-showcase orders do not qualify. Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center (抖音电商学习中心), 2026 product-card rebate policy, October 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/aJcQ5pzG2Vk4

Livestreams still matter. They just don’t have to be a celebrity’s.

In 2025, the number of merchants that grew income through their own store livestreams rose 45%. Source: Xinhua (新华网), citing Douyin’s 2025 e-commerce data report, January 2026. http://www.news.cn/tech/20260115/4edff26a18614c088844c150025f8c89/c.html

The fee is where Douyin gets complicated. It has two parts, and the second applies only to some orders.

Douyin’s technical service fee is the settlement base times the rate. A channel rate applies on top for orders through the Douyin Mall app and Doubao (豆包). Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center, technical service fee rules, September 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/106833

Creators who sell your product take their own cut, on top of the platform fee.

Merchants set open creator commissions between 5% and 50% in Douyin’s affiliate program, Select Alliance (精选联盟). Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center, Select Alliance settlement rules, October 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/112620

For a foreign company, the way in is Global Purchase (全球购), Douyin’s cross-border channel. Our guide to Douyin social commerce profitability explains why most shops lose money in year one. For the day-to-day work, see our Douyin agency page.

WeChat Store and Channels: the private domain advantage

WeChat Store (微信小店) works differently. It sells best to people you can already reach in WeChat (微信): followers of your Official Account, members of your groups, viewers of your Channels (视频号) videos. Marketers call that owned audience the private domain.

The store is cheap to open.

Opening a WeChat Store account is free. The technical service fee is 1% to 5% in most categories, with no monthly or annual fee. Source: Tencent Marketing (腾讯营销), WeChat Store FAQ, updated August 2026. https://e.qq.com/faq/wechat-store/growth/faq-zcjc-008/

New shops can trial with no deposit until they list more than 100 products or pass 100,000 yuan in paid sales. Source: WeChat Store (微信小店), zero-deposit trial rules, in force November 2025. https://store.weixin.qq.com/chengzhang/webdoc/wiki/2076/f0276f878da3a9cd/growth_center_rule_for_store

Its shoppers are adults, almost all of them.

97.7% of WeChat Store shoppers are 25 or older. Source: NewRank (新榜), January 2025. https://www.newrank.cn/article/detail/29440

It’s also turning into a sales event channel.

During 618 in 2026, brand sales by WeChat Store affiliates rose 225%. 2026 is the first year WeChat Store has run major sales events in earnest. Source: Yicai (第一财经), September 2026. https://www.yicai.com/news/103377904.html

The catch is entry. Only a company registered in mainland China can open one. Our guide to selling on WeChat covers the routes around it, including Mini Programs. Our WeChat agency page covers the rest.

Commission and fees, side by side

Xiaohongshu (小红书), Douyin (抖音), and WeChat Store (微信小店) all call their cut a technical service fee (技术服务费). Here are the published rates for a few common categories.

Category	Xiaohongshu	Douyin, base / channel	WeChat Store
Women’s apparel	5.0%	5% / 5%	1% to 5% range
Beauty (cosmetics)	4.0%	Facial care 4% / 5.2%	1% to 5% range
Health supplements	3.0%	3% / 3.9%	1% to 5% range
Cross-border extra	0.7% payment channel fee	Cross-border apparel 6% / 4%	No cross-border store
Creator commission	Separate from the store fee	5% to 50%, set by you	Set and paid by you

Xiaohongshu’s rate table lists 4.0% for cosmetics and fragrance, 5.0% for women’s wear, and 3.0% for health food and supplements. Source: Xiaohongshu E-commerce Learning Center (小红书电商学习中心), base technical service fee standard, in force September 2025. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/rule/detail/27/2585

Xiaohongshu ended its fee waiver early. After May 15, 2026, most categories returned to base rates of 2% to 5.7%. Source: Dianshangpai (电商派), May 2026. https://www.pai.com.cn/p/01krgeae1zm506qdaw3798wjfy

Xiaohongshu’s new merchant plan no longer cuts fees for every merchant. It offers traffic coupons instead. Source: Ebrun (亿邦动力), via Sina Tech, May 2026. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/roll/2026-05-09/doc-inhxhzcf3367403.shtml

Xiaohongshu charges cross-border orders a 0.7% payment channel fee. Source: Xiaohongshu E-commerce Learning Center, technical service fee rules, in force April 2024. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/rule/detail/27/854

Douyin’s 2026 base and channel rates are 5% and 5% for apparel, 4% and 5.2% for facial care, and 3% and 3.9% for nutrition supplements. Cross-border apparel is 6% and 4%. Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center (抖音电商学习中心), 2026 fee standards, July 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/aHijyoJA6hvb ; https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/aHMYyFoqESKn

WeChat Store’s fee is the rate times the settlement base. The platform pays the Tenpay payment fee for the merchant. Source: WeChat Store (微信小店), technical service fee rules, in force February 2025. https://store.weixin.qq.com/chengzhang/webdoc/wiki/1270/c1f8fa40d604582a/growth_center_rule_for_store

WeChat Store’s affiliate fee is set and paid by the merchant. Source: WeChat Store, affiliate program terms, in force June 2026. https://store.weixin.qq.com/chengzhang/webdoc/wiki/975/9c05ea7a8a0fcc40/growth_center_rule_for_store

Don’t add Douyin’s two rates into one number. The channel rate applies only to Douyin Mall app and Doubao orders.

Cash flow differs too.

Douyin pays out three days after the buyer confirms receipt, in categories with an after-sales period of 30 days or less. Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center, settlement rules, September 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/111412

Deposits are modest everywhere.

Douyin’s base deposit is 500, 2,000 or 5,000 yuan, set by the previous month’s sales. Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center, deposit rules, October 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/101830

On WeChat Store, the floating deposit and the category deposit do not stack. The higher of the two applies. Source: WeChat Store, deposit rules, in force January 2025. https://store.weixin.qq.com/chengzhang/webdoc/wiki/7185/e42b46ba18e5b830/growth_center_rule_for_store

The platform fee is only one line. Creator commission and ad spend come on top of it.

Fulfillment, returns, and the cross-border question

All three stores expect fast shipping and easy returns. Chinese buyers take both for granted on Xiaohongshu (小红书), Douyin (抖音), and WeChat Store (微信小店) alike. If you’re skimming, the table is the short version.

Rule	Xiaohongshu	Douyin	WeChat Store
Domestic shipping	48 hours after payment	The window the shop promises	48 hours by default
Cross-border shipping	72 hours bonded, 120 direct mail	48 hours; 120 for overseas pickup	No cross-border store
Seven-day returns	Required on every product	168 hours from midnight after delivery	168 hours from confirmed receipt

Xiaohongshu stores ship within 48 hours of payment for domestic goods, 72 hours for bonded cross-border goods, and 120 hours for direct mail. A late order pays the buyer 1%, from 3 to 30 yuan. Source: Xiaohongshu E-commerce Learning Center (小红书电商学习中心), shipping rules, in force October 2025. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/rule/detail/35/1045

Douyin shops set their own shipping promise and must meet it. Where several promises show, the shortest one binds. Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center (抖音电商学习中心), shipping rules, revised July 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/101706

Douyin cross-border shops ship within 48 hours of payment. Orders shipped from overseas stock must show international pickup within 120 hours. Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center, cross-border shipping rules, July 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/107820

WeChat Store’s default shipping time is 48 hours. Source: WeChat Store (微信小店), shipping rules, in force October 2026. https://store.weixin.qq.com/chengzhang/webdoc/wiki/407/e4ca8eb1ee772cf7/growth_center_rule_for_store

Returns rest on the law as well as on platform policy.

Consumers may return goods bought online within seven days of receipt, with no reason needed. The law lists narrow exceptions. Source: National People’s Congress (中国人大网), Consumer Rights Protection Law, Article 25, October 2013. http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/npc/xinwen/2013-10/26/content_1811773.htm

Every product sold in a Xiaohongshu store must support seven-day no-reason returns. Source: Xiaohongshu E-commerce Learning Center, seven-day return rules, in force August 2025. https://school.xiaohongshu.com/rule/detail/35/2527

Douyin counts the seven days as 168 hours from midnight after delivery. A merchant cannot opt out where the platform requires returns. Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center, seven-day return rules, July 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/101835

WeChat Store buyers can request a seven-day return within 168 hours of confirming receipt. Source: WeChat Store, after-sales rules, in force January 2026. https://store.weixin.qq.com/chengzhang/webdoc/wiki/455/8922b05d3425dd63/growth_center_rule_for_store

Cross-border returns work differently. The parcel usually stays in China.

On Douyin Global Purchase, the buyer pays the return shipping. Returns go to an address in China that the merchant names. Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center, cross-border service commitments, December 2024. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/107811

Selling cross-border also puts you under China’s retail import rules. They ease the paperwork for some products and cap what each buyer can spend.

Cross-border retail imports are capped at 5,000 yuan a transaction and 26,000 yuan a person a year. The goods may not be resold into the domestic market. Source: Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Customs and State Taxation Administration (财政部 海关总署 税务总局), November 2018. https://fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c102416/c5202372/content.html

Listed goods bought for personal use skip first-import licensing, registration, or filing. Buyers must confirm a risk notice before ordering. Source: Ministry of Commerce and five other departments (商务部等六部门), Notice 486, November 2018. https://cws.mofcom.gov.cn/gztz/art/2018/art_b7becbacb58a4d0d8bf17b91a168f044.html

The current list of eligible goods took effect January 1, 2020. A 2022 update added 29 items from March 1, 2022. Source: Ministry of Finance (财政部), Announcement 2019 No. 96, December 2019; Ministry of Commerce (商务部), February 2022. https://gss.mof.gov.cn/gzdt/zhengcefabu/201912/t20191227_3451448.htm ; https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/zwgk/zcfb/art/2022/art_7256ee87a5b54b8f9660b4f9dfce848c.html

Two cautions. The exemption covers listed products only, so check each product code and its remarks on the list. And it covers import paperwork, not advertising or platform category approval. A cross-border listing does not make a health claim legal.

What each one requires from a foreign entity

This is the row that changes most plans, so check it before anything else.

Store	Who can open it	What a foreign brand needs
Xiaohongshu (小红书) flagship, specialty, or collection store	Mainland or overseas entities	Foreign registration papers with a Chinese and English translation
Douyin Global Purchase (抖音全球购)	Overseas, Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan companies only	A mainland agent that shares liability
WeChat Store (微信小店)	Mainland-registered entities only	A China subsidiary, or a mainland seller

Douyin’s cross-border store needs a company registered overseas or in Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan. It also needs a mainland agent that carries joint liability. Source: Douyin E-commerce Learning Center (抖音电商学习中心), Global Purchase entry rules, September 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/108056

WeChat Store does not accept entities registered outside mainland China. A legal representative from abroad, or from Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan, is accepted. Source: WeChat Store (微信小店), entry rules, in force June 2026. https://store.weixin.qq.com/chengzhang/webdoc/wiki/2063/9c63c672daee8eca/growth_center_rule_for_store

On WeChat (微信), an overseas company can sell cross-border through its own Mini Program, with an agreement naming a mainland company. Medicines, medical devices, and alcohol are excluded. Source: WeChat Open Docs (微信开放文档), Mini Program service categories, confirmed October 2026. https://developers.weixin.qq.com/miniprogram/product/material/

Chinese law requires any seller doing cross-border e-commerce to follow import and export rules. Source: Cyberspace Administration of China (中央网信办), E-Commerce Law, Article 26, September 2018. https://www.cac.gov.cn/2018-09/01/c_1123362506.htm

If you have no China entity yet, our China Market Entry service page covers the setup choices.

Which to open first, by product type

This matrix is our view, built from the rules above. It is not platform data.

Product and price point	Open first	Why
Beauty or skincare, mid to premium	Xiaohongshu store	Buyers read reviews before they buy
Snacks and gadgets, low price, high volume	Douyin Global Purchase	Demos sell, and mall search adds repeat orders
Fashion and accessories, mid price	Xiaohongshu, then Douyin	Notes build the look, video moves the volume
Supplements and health food	Xiaohongshu, with care	Strict ad rules, and list checks on every product
Premium or repeat buys, with a China entity	WeChat Store	Members and groups buy again
Already selling on Tmall or JD	Xiaohongshu ad links	Send note readers to the store you have

One rule holds across the table. Open where your buyer decides, then add the store where your buyer comes back. For most foreign beauty and fashion brands that means Xiaohongshu first and Douyin second, with WeChat once a China entity exists. For a low-price product with a strong demo, it flips: Douyin first, and Xiaohongshu later to build search and reviews. A brand already selling on Tmall can test Xiaohongshu links for a season (no new store, no new deposit) before it opens anything.

Then check the entity row before you budget.

What it costs to run each properly

Opening a store costs little. Most of the money goes into keeping it busy, week after week.

Each store on Xiaohongshu (小红书), Douyin (抖音), or WeChat (微信) needs the same five budget lines:

• Platform fees, listed above
• Deposits, listed above
• Creator commission, whatever you agree with each creator
• Ad spend, set by how fast you want to grow
• A team making new content every week

Plan the content line first. A Douyin shop needs new videos every week. A Xiaohongshu store needs fresh notes. A WeChat Store needs a reason for members to come back.

No platform or regulator publishes what a store costs to run month to month. Treat any single market number with care. Our cost guides break down the sourced lines for each platform. Start with the Xiaohongshu marketing cost guide, the Douyin marketing cost guide, or the WeChat marketing cost guide. Our own fees are published in full on our pricing page.

0 out of 37 agencies analyzed offer fixed-price packages. Source: TheRedScroll competitive analysis, April 2026.

Common questions

Which Chinese social platform is best for selling?

It depends on your product and your buyer. Douyin (抖音) suits products that show well on video and sell at volume. Xiaohongshu (小红书) suits considered buys like beauty and fashion, where people read reviews first. WeChat Store (微信小店) suits repeat buyers you already reach, but it needs a mainland company. Start with one store, prove it, then add a second.

What commission does Douyin Shop charge?

Douyin charges a technical service fee in two parts. The 2026 base rate is 5% for apparel, 4% for facial care, and 3% for supplements. A channel rate applies on top for Douyin Mall app and Doubao orders. Shops that complete monthly tasks can get product-card orders rebated to 0.6%. Creator commission is separate, set by you between 5% and 50%.

Can a foreign company open a Xiaohongshu store?

Yes. Xiaohongshu accepts overseas entities for flagship, specialty, and collection stores. You file your foreign registration papers with a Chinese and English translation. Ordinary enterprise and personal stores are closed to overseas entities. A cross-border store pays a default deposit of 400 US dollars and a 0.7% payment channel fee on top of the category rate.

Pick your first store with us

Book a call and bring your product list, with price points. We’ll tell you which store fits first, what it requires from your company, and what the first six months of running it involve.