| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : OCTOBER 25, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- LATIN AMERICAN COVER STORY
Mexico: Discovering the Web's Flower Power (int'l edition) To Mexican entrepreneur Juan Luis Berumen, the biggest thrill of starting an online business is reaching out to new customers. Berumen's 10-month-old Flower Net is targeting one group few expect to find online--Mexican workers in the U.S. Orders have been flooding in from the other side of the border, especially on holidays such as Mother's Day. So now, he's hoping to promote Flower Net (www.floresflowernet.com.ny) through Hispanic organizations in the U.S. The Internet is proving to be a boon to microbusinesses in Latin America. To set up, Berumen, who also owns a travel agency, didn't have to worry about permits or corrupt inspectors. Using money from savings, he spent $18,000 for the cheapest e-commerce package offered by IBM's e-biz unit and an additional $22,000 to ramp up. ''We could have been Mexico's No. 1501 florist, but instead we're its first online florist,'' says the 52-year-old entrepreneur. His wife, Beatriz, 42, handles sales. Still, Berumen has discovered that there's more to e-business than posting a Web page and taking orders. After Flower Net's January launch, sales quickly climbed but have now leveled off, to about $16,000 a month. So he's streamlining the site, based on recommendations e-mailed by customers frustrated by its complexity. ''We're taking out a lot of the text and making the purchase more automatic,'' says Berumen. He has also commissioned a spruced-up home page and will add new flower arrangements and gifts as the Christmas season approaches. He expects to begin deliveries in Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara, next month. Have the slow sales soured him on the Internet? Not at all. Berumen is convinced that the number of Mexicans going online will soon take off. He's so sure, in fact, that he's planning to launch his own virtual computer store and put his family travel agency online. By Elisabeth Malkin in Mexico City _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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 RELATED ITEMS Battle for the Net (int'l edition) LATIN AMERICAN COVER IMAGE: Latin America Logs On CHART: Spotlight on the Latin Internet CHART: Where the Cybernauts Are United States: La Vida Loca of a Latin Web Star (int'l edition) Brazil: UOL: The AOL of Latin America? (int'l edition) Argentina: The Rise and Rise of Patagon.com (int'l edition) Mexico: Discovering the Web's Flower Power (int'l edition) Peru: Putting the Net in the Corner Store (int'l edition) INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
