hi-tech -- and lucrative -- world of e-commerce.

For the last two and a half years, Bermuda Perfumery president Colin Curtis has been compiling a mailing list of visitors to the east end factory.

He now has more than 40,000 names and addresses in an electronic database.

Every year before Mother's Day and Christmas, Mr. Curtis sends letters with brochures and order forms to each of his former customers.

Repeat customers automatically become Lily Club Members and receive discounts on their mail orders, while regular clients receive special attention.

Anyone connected to the Internet can take a virtual tour of the Bermuda Perfumery and view its products at www.bermuda-perfumery.com.

They can even enter a virtual chat room to ask questions about any of the products.

And Mr. Curtis said the website also allowed nostalgic visitors to re-trace fond memories of their trip to the Island.

According to Mr. Curtis, the idea to go online "just made sense'' and was easy to accomplish. He encouraged other local businesses to follow his example.

For the factory, a successful response rate for the mailing campaign of around 11 to 12 percent has paid off.

Last week, the Monitor Group highlighted Mr. Curtis' success as part of their Tourism Competitiveness Programme.