Finding fashion online

Models wear designs available on Mei.com during a runway show.

Mei.com and the luxury channel on Tmall are now unified in terms of inventory and membership accessibility. The move gives Mei.com access to Tmall's customers, who are estimated to number more than 400 million.

The collaboration also signals a strategic step in Tmall's plan to diversify its offerings in a bid to build a one-stop shopping destination for the emerging middle class in China, says Dong Benhong, chief marketing officer of Alibaba.

Meanwhile, Tmall has also been trying to upgrade its luxury offerings with the introduction of brands like Burberry and La Perla.

Operating in China since 2010, Mei.com works directly with 3,600 brands in the luxury-goods and fashion sectors, and 300 of them have appointed the platform as their exclusive online partner in China. The brands on the website include Giorgio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, Roger Vivier, Michael Kors and Longchamp.

Shi says that the company has seen triple-digit growth in the past few years, although he declined to give numbers.

Compared with other international luxury-shopping websites like Net-A-Porter and Neiman Marcus, Mei.com distinguishes itself through its location and convenience, says Shi.

"We are based in China so we can give the best service and the fastest feedback to customers here," he says.