What Happens During an XHS KOC Store Visit? A Step-by-Step Guide for Singapore Businesses
Updated: 12 hours ago
Short answer: An XHS (小红书) KOC store visit (探店), as Start Media runs it, is when several everyday XHS creators visit your business, try your food, product or service, and post honest notes and short videos about it. In Singapore, a typical campaign takes 3–6 weeks from brief to report and usually starts from SGD 2,000, plus the meal or service you offer the creators.
Updated October 2026.
Key takeaways • A store visit puts real-customer style reviews of your business into Xiaohongshu search, where Chinese-speaking customers look before they go out. • Several small creators (KOCs, 1K–50K followers) usually cover more search keywords than one big influencer. • The six steps are: set the goal, choose the offer, shortlist creators, brief and schedule, review the notes, then report and boost. • Sponsored posts in Singapore should be clearly disclosed.
What Is a KOC Store Visit (探店)?
A KOC store visit is a planned visit by a group of everyday creators who then post about their experience on Xiaohongshu. KOC stands for key opinion consumer: a creator with a smaller, engaged following whose notes read like a real customer's review, not an advert.
On Xiaohongshu, people search before they decide. Someone looking for "新加坡美食推荐" (Singapore food recommendations) or "Tampines brunch" will see notes from creators who have been there. A store visit makes sure some of those notes are about you.
If you are deciding between small and large creators, our guide to KOC vs KOL marketing compares the two.
How Does a Store Visit Campaign Work, Step by Step?
A store visit campaign has six steps. Here is what happens in each one and who does what.
Step | What happens | Who does it | Typical time |
1. Set the goal | Decide what you want: more bookings, a new menu launch, more saves on your account | You and the agency | 1–2 days |
2. Choose the offer | The meal, product or service each creator receives | You | 1–2 days |
3. Shortlist creators | Match creators by audience location, category and content quality | Agency | 3–5 days |
4. Brief and schedule | Share key dishes, keywords and dates; book each visit | Agency | 1–2 weeks |
5. Visit and review | Creators visit, then each note is checked before it goes live | Creators and agency | 1–2 weeks |
6. Report and boost | Reach, saves and comments per note; boost the top performers | Agency | 1 week |
Step 1: Set one clear goal
Pick one goal per campaign. "Launch our new laksa set" gives creators a clear story. "Make us famous" does not. The goal also decides what you measure at the end.
Step 2: Choose what creators receive
Most KOC visits in Singapore work as an exchange: the creator receives your meal, product or service, and you receive an honest note. Decide this before outreach so every creator gets the same offer.
Step 3: Shortlist the right creators
Audience location matters more than follower count. A creator with 3,000 followers who mostly live in Singapore is more useful to a neighbourhood restaurant than one with 80,000 followers overseas. We check:
Where the creator's audience is (Singapore or overseas)
Whether they already post about your category
Photo and video quality
Whether comments look real and relevant
Step 4: Brief and schedule
A good brief is one page: what to try, two or three keywords people search for, the address and opening hours, and what must not be said (for example, no medical claims for beauty services). Visits are then spread over one to two weeks, so notes appear steadily instead of all on one day.
Step 5: The visit and the note review
On the day, the creator visits, takes photos or video, and writes a note in their own words. Every note is checked before it goes live for facts (price, address, opening hours) and disclosure, not to turn it into an advert.
Step 6: Report and boost
After the notes are live, you should receive the reach, saves and comments for each note. Saves matter most for restaurants: they show people who plan to visit. The top-performing notes can then be boosted so more people nearby see them.
How Much Does an XHS Store Visit Cost in Singapore?
At Start Media, KOC store visit campaigns usually start from SGD 2,000, plus the meal, product or service you give the creators. The final fee depends on:
How many creators you want
Their follower counts (we work with 100+ Singapore KOCs with 1K–50K followers)
Whether you need photos only, or photos and video
For more reach, KOLs with more than 50K followers can be added. They charge more than KOCs, so we plan KOL posts around your budget. For a deeper breakdown, see our KOC marketing cost guide.
Do Sponsored Store Visits Need to Be Disclosed?
Yes. Singapore's advertising self-regulator, ASAS, says marketing content on social media should be clearly identified, and a commercial relationship between a brand and a creator, including free products or invitations, should be disclosed. You can read the ASAS guidelines on interactive marketing and social media.
Xiaohongshu also runs its own official platform for brand and creator collaborations, called Pugongying (蒲公英). Ask your agency how collaborations will be handled on the platform before the campaign starts.
From Our Experience
Our founder Dawn has worked on Xiaohongshu for eight years and has trained more than 1,000 students on the platform. Across our store visit campaigns, three things make the biggest difference: creators whose audience actually lives in Singapore, one clear signature item to photograph, and an official account that is already active, so new visitors find more than a blank page. Around 80% of our marketing outsourcing clients add store visits for this reason.
One example: while we worked with Treasure Paradise (饱藏), the restaurant's monthly revenue grew about 10–15% month on month and was around 50% higher after three months (figures reported by the client).
Is a KOC Store Visit Right for Your Business?
Store visits suit businesses that people visit in person and like to photograph:
Restaurants, cafés and dessert shops
Beauty, wellness and hair salons
Retail shops and pop-up stores
Experiences such as classes and studios
They are less useful if you have no physical location, or if your Xiaohongshu account has no posts yet. In that case, start with XHS account management first, then add visits.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many creators should a first campaign use?
For a single outlet, 5–10 KOCs is a practical first test. It is enough to cover several search keywords without a large budget.
How long do store visit notes keep working?
Xiaohongshu works like a search engine, so a useful note can keep appearing in search results for months after it is posted.
Do I have to pay the creators in cash?
Not usually for KOCs. Most receive your product or service. KOLs with larger followings normally charge a fee.
Will a store visit bring a fixed number of customers?
No honest agency can. What we can control is the quality of the creators, the brief and the timing. We report reach, saves and comments for every note so you can judge the results.
What does 探店 mean?
探店 (tàn diàn) literally means "exploring a shop". On Xiaohongshu, it refers to creators visiting a business and sharing their experience.
Plan Your First Store Visit Campaign
Want to see which Singapore creators fit your business? Contact Start Media for a free review of your Xiaohongshu presence, or read more about our XHS KOC store visit service.
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