FLOWER POWER.

LATIN AMERICA'S DEFENDING FLOWER-ARRANGING CHAMP, FABIO REYES, holds court at his combination florist school and web-business nerve center near downtown Santiago. Seated behind a pile of computer gear stacked on a tiny wooden desk, the modem hissing away, the owner of the five-store Floramour floral chain tutors a student in his art. "No, no, the rose should point out, past 45 degrees. Higher, higher. There," he commands, before turning to check on his Internet sales.

Reyes' online arrangement has undergone similar tweaking--beginning with a one-page site that resembled a calling card to today's Spanish-language flower hub that is capturing business from around the world.

A few years back he had a static site that chronicled the 27-year-old family business, but did not offer anything for sale. He knew of the potential to sell flowers online--some Brazilian friends in the flower business had commented that their web sales on Valentine's Day went through the roof. "But my page lacked a hook," Reyes admits. "It wasn't very dynamic."

Then Entel, Chile's leading long-distance phone company, came calling. The firm was shopping around for candidates to open virtual stores that would provide its web page with services. Reyes was a likely candidate, well known for his international success at the Copa Latinoamericana and the Copa Hispanoamericana flower arrangement competitions, as well as occasional appearances on television commenting on gardening issues. Reyes accepted the deal, paying a small fee to be listed with Entel and outsourcing web design and payment processing, and began doing business online.

This time around, he vowed to make an impression--and sales--over the web. "It needs to be dynamic, and as intuitive as possible," recommends Reyes. "What the clients want to do is see the flowers, to smell the flowers." Virtual odors are an as-yet-undeveloped technology, but Reyes uses digital photos of the arrangements to show prospective buyers what their money will get them. But showing the goods is just where things start. "The store has to be available 24 hours a day," says Reyes. "You have to be reachable by telephone and cellular." Online credit card transactions are available, but he also posts his telephone number on the front page of the site, making it easy to call if the network gets jammed or cuts someone off.

Surprisingly, his best customers are not from Chile--they are not even in Latin America. Floramour attracts more Spanish-speaking buyers from the United States, Europe and Asia, where Internet use is higher. It's not unusual, for instance, for a Spanish diplomat stationed in Poland to order flowers to be sent to Madrid. Reyes farms out the business on existing worldwide florist networks such as FTD and Teleflora to fill orders and deliver anywhere, taking a cut on the sale. Chilean clientele make up a minuscule portion of business and the site subsists with little advertising and hardly any web promotion aside from paying for a spot on the Entel page.

Reyes plans to add English, French, Portuguese and perhaps German Floramour web pages to capture more European business. Reyes refuses to reveal numbers, but says his virtual flower shop warrants more investment and attention. "It works. People go to the site and buy flowers," said Reyes. "I'm really betting on it for the future."