Luxury e-commerce site sees education as path to mainland China

Shauna Mei, founder and chief executive of US luxury e-commerce firm AHAlife, has a passionate mission; to educate mainland Chinese consumers and help them learn more about luxury products.

AHAlife, whose tastemakers include Wendi Deng and Lauren Bush, will expand to the mainland early this year, planning to launch a local business that offers niche brands of luxury products to tap into the rising affluence of Chinese consumers.

Mei feels more comfortable defining AHAlife as a media company rather than an e-commerce site.

"It's part of my passion to educate Chinese consumers," Mei told the South China Morning Post. "You should buy something that makes you feel good, and make sure it is a quality product that is worth the value."

In the West, Chinese buyers of luxury goods are often considered ignorant, lacking an understanding of the products and making buying decisions based on logos or brand names.

Mei, who was born in Inner Mongolia and previously worked in leveraged finance at Goldman Sachs, said AHAlife's "unique relationship" with luxury brands would give it an advantage in competing with local rivals.

Chinese shoppers' spending via the internet topped 1.3 trillion yuan (HK$1.65 trillion) in 2012 and will overtake the US this year to become the world's largest e-commerce market, according to global consultancy Bain & Co.