Angelo Coletta: How 3D & AR Will Kill Traditional E-commerce | Ep. 178

Summary

Episode Summary: Angelo Coletta on "How 3D & AR Will Kill Traditional E-commerce"

Podcast: Founder's Story
Host: IBH Media
Episode: Angelo Coletta: How 3D & AR Will Kill Traditional E-commerce | Ep. 178
Release Date: March 13, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 178 of "Founder's Story," host Angela welcomes Angelo Coletta, CEO of Zakeke, to discuss the revolutionary impact of 3D and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies on traditional e-commerce. The episode delves into Angelo's journey, the development of Zakeke's platform, and his vision for the future of online shopping.

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Angelo Coletta's Journey into 3D and AR in E-commerce

Angelo begins by sharing his foresight into the rapidly changing commerce landscape. Eight years prior, he envisioned a significant shift driven by customer demand for personalized experiences and brands seeking immersive interactions.

"Maybe eight years ago my vision was that the commerce space will change dramatically in the next years." (03:16)

He recognized that customers wanted more personalized products and were willing to pay a premium for customization. Simultaneously, the back office of industries was becoming capable of producing artisan-quality products at mass production costs. This dual change inspired Angelo to create a platform that bridges these evolving needs.

"We have started to create something to help merchant to offer this new kind of experience to their customers and to help them to scale." (04:07)

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Zakeke’s Platform and Offerings

Zakeke's platform is designed to enable merchants to offer complex, visually driven commerce experiences. Angelo emphasizes the importance of automation and digitalization, allowing businesses to manage everything from production to customer delivery seamlessly.

"We have developed this platform that enables merchant to offer a very complex experience in the visual commerce area that I think it will be the next step of growing of E commerce." (04:17)

Key features include customizable product previews in 3D, AR capabilities for virtual try-ons, and integration tools that streamline back-office operations. Angelo believes that without these visual enhancements, e-commerce will become obsolete.

"I can imagine an E commerce online without visual experience in the next years." (04:56)

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Customer Segments and Industries

Zakeke serves a diverse clientele, ranging from small businesses to large brands across approximately 400 different industries. Angelo highlights how different sectors adopt their platform based on their unique needs for customization and visual engagement.

B2B and Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Initially, Zakeke attracted B2B clients in sectors like gadgeting, gifts, and sportswear, where customized products were in demand but often produced manually or semi-manually. The platform helped these businesses scale by automating their processes, resulting in significant time and cost savings.

"The first world that has used our platform was the B2B world in the gadgeting, in the gift, in the sportswear, where the habit of offering a customized product was something manual or semi-manual." (05:19)

Large Enterprises

Zakeke's platform is also utilized by major brands such as Armani, Valentino, Uber, Ubisoft, and HP. These companies leverage Zakeke to provide interactive ads, AR experiences, and comprehensive 3D catalogs, enhancing both their online presence and in-store experiences.

"We have customers very important in these different fields. For example, we have brands like Hermani, Valentino, Kolmar... Best Buy, Uber Eats, Ubisoft, US Army..." (11:03)

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Marketing and Growth Strategies

Angelo outlines Zakeke's dual approach to marketing, tailored to different customer segments:

Self-Provisioning for SMEs

For small and medium-sized businesses, Zakeke offers a self-provisioning plan that allows them to independently download and integrate the app. The pricing model is based on a percentage of sales, making it accessible for smaller enterprises.

"We have a self provisioning plan that is for the small and small medium customers. They can do everything by their own... the cost is based on a percentage of what they sell." (08:33)

Partner Network for Large Corporations

For larger companies, Zakeke employs a network of qualified partners worldwide. These partners assist in customizing and visualizing customer experiences, crucial for enterprises needing specialized integrations like ERP systems.

"For the big customers, we have a network of partners all around the world... customization, visualization, trial is a big piece of our strategy." (09:22)

Diverse Marketing Channels

About 80% of Zakeke's customers discover the platform through various channels, emphasizing the importance of a strong digital presence and multifaceted marketing efforts.

"80% of our customers come because they find us in a different way, in a different channel." (09:22)

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Future of E-commerce and Customization

Angelo shares his optimistic vision for the future of e-commerce, where advanced technologies like AR, holograms, and AI agents become integral to both online and offline shopping experiences.

"In 10 years, I can imagine any website, any physical store, any B2B channel where the visual layer will be a piece of the interface." (12:51)

Enhanced Customer Experiences

He predicts that customers will interact with products in more immersive ways, such as virtual try-ons and holographic displays, bridging the gap between digital and physical retail.

"With a 3D model, they can offer AR and try on online or maybe in the physical stores." (07:05)

Integration of AI and Holograms

Future interfaces will likely incorporate AI agents and holographic technology, providing personalized and interactive shopping experiences that transcend current limitations.

"AI agents, something like that, will be the next interface that customers will find online and offline." (12:34)

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Entrepreneurial Advice

When asked about advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, Angelo emphasizes the importance of dedication, flexibility, and resilience. He encourages entrepreneurs to remain open to change and to continuously improve their offerings based on market feedback.

"Don't be in love with your idea. Always ready to change... have to fight hard if you want to reach the goals." (19:32)

Work Ethic and Perseverance

Angelo highlights the significance of hard work and consistent effort, comparing building a company to planting a tree—requiring daily commitment to grow and thrive.

"If you work hard every day and you put the seed every day in the ground, for sure a tree will grow up." (14:46)

Embracing Risks and Adaptability

He advises entrepreneurs to take calculated risks and remain adaptable, as the path to success often involves navigating through uncertainties and setbacks.

"Take a risk. And don't forget that when you take a risk some days or some night will be dark but it's a piece of the job." (19:57)

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Connecting with Angelo Coletta

For listeners interested in learning more or connecting with Angelo, he directs them to Zakeke’s website and his LinkedIn profile.

"Our website take.com and everyone can reach me on my LinkedIn profile." (21:19)

Angelo emphasizes the importance of social interaction and openness, despite not being highly active on multiple platforms.

"You can find me there and I generally accept any request because I think that if you stay somewhere on the social leads to be social." (21:26)

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Conclusion

Angela concludes the episode by commending Angelo for his insightful discussion and the impressive growth of Zakeke. She expresses enthusiasm for future conversations about emerging technologies and their impact on e-commerce.

"You've been amazing. I can't wait to have you on in a year from now... thank you for your time." (21:57)

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Notable Quotes

• Angelo Coletta [04:07]: "We have started to create something to help merchant to offer this new kind of experience to their customers and to help them to scale."
• Angelo Coletta [11:03]: "We have customers very important customer in these different fields. So for example, we have in the brand you have Hermani, Valentino, Kolmar..."
• Angelo Coletta [19:32]: "Working hard. Don't be in love with your idea. Always ready to change."
• Angela [21:17]: "If you want to learn more about you, how can they do so sure we. Have you know first of all our."

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This episode offers valuable insights into the future of e-commerce, the integration of advanced technologies, and strategic business growth. Angelo Coletta's experiences and foresight provide a roadmap for entrepreneurs aiming to innovate in the digital commerce space.

Transcript

[Daniel]

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[Angelo]

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[Angela]

Hey everyone, welcome back to Founders Story. Today we have Angelo Coleta, the CEO of Zakeke and and Angela. We were just talking about that you are in Italy, which is one of my absolute favorite places to visit. I love going there in Europe. I was just there a few months ago, had a fantastic time. But what you're doing is really revolutionary and I'm excited to dive in because I saw something like this about 10 years ago. But at that Time it was like too soon, too new. But now I could see this becoming massive. So why don't you start off with how did you get into this industry and why this business?

[Angelo Coleta]

Thanks for inviting me here. And what we have done is, you.

[Angelo]

Know, maybe eight years ago my vision was that the commerce space will change dramatically in in the next years.

[Angelo Coleta]

So my vision is that on one side there are customers, they want to pay more to have something that is just for them. You know, they can create, maybe they.

[Angelo]

Can interact, they can do something like that.

[Angelo Coleta]

On the other side, industry in the back office finally is ready to offer like an artisan products done only for.

[Angelo]

You at the same cost of mass in production in many industries.

[Angelo Coleta]

And on the other side brands are looking for providing different experience, more immersive, more with more gaming action with their brands. So all these things together give me.

[Angelo]

The idea that probably we have to create something to help merchant to offer this new kind of experience to their.

[Angelo Coleta]

Customers and to help them to scale.

[Angelo]

Automating process in a back office and digitalize all their channel from the production till the final customers. And so we have started the kicking and we have, you know, developed this platform that enabled merchant to offer a very complex experience in the visual commerce area that I think it will be the next step of growing of E commerce. I can imagine an E commerce online without visual experience in the next years.

[Angela]

So when you do something that's very revolutionary and when it's tied to emerging technologies, not every brand I'm sure sees the value in it yet. How has it been when you go back to the beginning to now, what's been the sentiment of these larger brands and then the sentiment of maybe smaller brands.

[Angelo Coleta]

It's interesting because the. The visual layer is something that impact with hundreds of different business. There is different age for understanding how it is necessary. So what we have seen that the first word that has used our platform was the B2B word in the gadgeting, in the gift, in the sportswear, where the habits of offer a customized product was something confusion. The only thing is that the process generally was manually or semi manually. So we have started helping this brand scaling, automating their process, saving a lot.

[Angelo]

Of times and a lot of money.

[Angelo Coleta]

And helping them to be fast in offering the services to their customers. And they started to offer 3D preview too. In the meanwhile some other segment like luxury accessories, apparel and something like that. They start thinking that the futures it would be 3D and not photos. And so they start understanding that they have to become a company based on.

[Angelo]

The 3D asset or say they start.

[Angelo Coleta]

Thinking about make a 3D catalog and not samples. They start thinking that if they have.

[Angelo]

A 3D catalog they can have interactive ads everywhere in a simple way.

[Angelo Coleta]

And so they are moving to this experience. If they have the 3D, they can.

[Angelo]

Offer AR and try on online or.

[Angelo Coleta]

Maybe in the physical stores. If they have a 3D model, when.

[Angelo]

They can in the back office, they can offer customization. And in which way at the moment we serve more than 10,000 customers. Around 50, 15,000 at the moment. All around the world in 400 different.

[Angelo Coleta]

Industries from you know, super small business.

[Angelo]

Maybe they sell T shirt or cap, customize it to big brands like Armani, Valentino, Uber, it's Ubisoft. They use the platform to provide a complex experience in any of their channels online. The B2B channel and physical store too.

[Angela]

I mean that's amazing. And I've seen that product, it's incredible. And I think like you said, it's the future. And the future is now essentially. So as you are growing and scaling the business and you had to onboard more B2B customers obviously for the consumers, was there a marketing strategy or a partnership strategy? What helped you, you know, as you went from 1,000 to 5,000 to 10,000 to 15,000. Because that's, that's a lot, right? That's a lot of B2B customers. Was there something that you found works really well?

[Angelo Coleta]

Yeah. All we have done here when we have started the idea is that we think that this is a long term business. So the first goal that we have.

[Angelo]

In our mind is that we want to create a platform that works for everyone, for the small guys to the big guys with a pricing model that works for all of them. So we have a self provisioning plan that is for the, you know, small and small medium customers. They can do everything by their own. They can download the app using insider stores and the cost is based on, you know, on a percentage of what they sell. And then there is a corporate plan for big companies that have underneath they need something account basic. They need some special things like cloud dedicated, some specific API for integrating ERP and other things pin VLM pin inside the company.

[Angelo Coleta]

And so first of all we have created these two different line of products.

[Angelo]

And second things in terms of marketing, we have 80% of our customer that comes because they find us in a different way, in a different channel. And then for the big customers we have a network of partners all around the world. So there is a double strategy for small and Medium generally self provisioning and the marketing is based on digital activity. On the other side, a network partners or qualified partners to reach the customers. Where customization, visualization, trial is a piece of a big strategy in the challenge inside the company.

[Angela]

Yeah, that makes total sense. I think a lot of people struggle when they start a company around the pricing strategy. They never know how much they should price to who. It's always a tough one. So I really, I like the strategy that you have so you can really get to everyone. So as you've gone on this journey, who have you seen to be your biggest customers? Is there a certain industry, a type of company that you found is really, really taking on this new technology?

[Angelo Coleta]

So what we have seen that Jerry is luxury and furniture that are looking.

[Angelo]

For improving their experience lines in terms of 3D interaction, AR and trial.

[Angelo Coleta]

And so this industry is low, but.

[Angelo]

Is coming and us with strongness because they have understood that they can change their parity inside the company.

[Angelo Coleta]

On the other side, the web to.

[Angelo]

Print industry is the largest and full of a lot of entrepreneur from the small one to the big guys. So we have customers very important customer in these different fields. So for example, we have in the brand you have Hermani, Valentino, Kolmar. We have customers worldwide Testoni, Sandor, Perez and many other brands like that. And on the other side we have, you know, Best Buy, Uber Eats, Ubisoft, US army and many others. And a lot of gadget in play hp. However big agreement with the HP in the large print format sector. So I think that this kind of industry are now the main player. But anyway, we have Customer is in 400 different verticals.

[Angela]

It makes sense around the future of customization how people want customers curated and customized experiences for shopping or even customized products. I think I'm seeing a lot of these like, you know, create your own fragrance versus, you know, a fragrance that the company makes. How do you see the future of, you know, because we're, we're here already in 2025 when you're looking five years, 10 years out. How do you see E commerce and shopping evolving at that point?

[Angelo Coleta]

Oh, I think that this, this mix.

[Angelo]

Of technology are trial configuration, maybe in the future hologram or maybe other pieces of this layer. AI agent, something like that.

[Angelo Coleta]

This will be the next interface that.

[Angelo]

Customers will find online and offline. Because many of these action, you know.

[Angelo Coleta]

Online is learning how to offer some kind of experience that in the past.

[Angelo]

You can have only in the physical stores. Like for example a trial. Okay. Or maybe ar when you are Buying a sofa for example, you can see directly in your room on the other side.

[Angelo Coleta]

The physical stores are add a layer of virtual experience inside the stores to create a mixed experience inside.

[Angelo]

So these words are coming all together. And my vision is that in 10 years I can imagine any website, any physical stores, any B2B channel where the visual layer will not a piece of the interface, everything, everyone, they will not do that. It will be like an old website. As we can see now there an E commerce website over there. 90 yeah. With one product, one photo and you have to pray to understand who is going to deliver you.

[Daniel]

You had to make like a mobile.

[Angela]

Site and a regular site. And now all sites are like mobile mobile optimized sites. If you're on Shopify or whatever platform, it seems like this will be the future. I'm very excited about E commerce. I personally started in 2012 with E commerce and then physical stores. So I can relate to the processes and wanting to do things this way. I'm very excited about this. So now that you've been in business for as long as you have disrupting industries thousands of clients. Obviously people love you all around the world and in different industries. If somebody was coming coming up to you and said Angelo, I want to be as successful as you one day, what is a piece of advice that you'd give to them?

[Angelo Coleta]

There's a whole story that someone tell me and I can say the same. The wake up has to be early in the morning. If you work hard every day and you put the seed every day in the ground, for sure a tree will grow up. It could be big, super big, fantastic. But for sure it will grow up. So many times people I think yeah spend a lot of time to see the heroes of this war.

[Angelo]

Ah, Yellow mask Bill Gates. Yeah sure someone could do this. But then hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs.

[Angelo Coleta]

That can make a really super interesting company. Maybe without be on the Time magazine or maybe with.

[Angelo]

Yeah not something that are going to written a book. But there's a lot of money that you can gain and a lot of satisfaction that you can find the land along your entrepreneurship journey.

[Daniel]

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[Angelo Coleta]

Working hard. Don't be in love with your idea. Always ready to change. What are you doing? What are you thinking? Looking at what markets say, what people that is better than you say and what sometimes your instinct says that okay, yeah, I'm going good but I can make better.

[Angelo]

No and take a risk.

[Angelo Coleta]

And don't forget that when you take a risk some days or some night will be dark but it's a piece of the job and the light is.

[Angelo]

Always in the next day. So you have to fight hard if you want to try to reach the goals, the people. I think that you can build your company day by day. You have to have a line vision but you don't need to forget it.

[Angelo Coleta]

Today is a day for the Santi Pat.

[Angela]

Wow Angelo, those are amazing takeaways. A lot of stuff to unpack there but I could, I could see why you've had the success that you've had based on the things that you just said. Funny enough, our previous interview we asked the same question and they said waking up at 4am to 8am was like the prime thing that helped them be successful in the time frame. Waking up early, perseverance, working hard, figuring it out. I love that not being in love with the company or the product because you might need to change tweak. Many people say oh this company is my baby. Which I think could be a detriment because they're not going to be okay with feedback and change. You said a lot of great things Angelo. If you want to learn more about you, they want to get in touch. How can they do so sure we.

[Angelo Coleta]

Have you know first of all our.

[Angelo]

Website take.com and everyone can reach me on my LinkedIn profile.

[Angelo Coleta]

I'm not a super social user But I use LinkedIn and so you can.

[Angelo]

Find me there and I generally accept any request because I think that if.

[Angelo Coleta]

You have to stay somewhere on the social leads to be social. If you stay there without interact it's.

[Angelo]

Only like stay like a poster on the wall and I don't want to be so I have chosen only one because I don't have time to speak with everyone but only getting everyone can reach me.

[Angela]

Well as Z A k e k e.com Angelo the some of the most successful people have like no following on social media right? They're not busy because you're too busy building up your company, scaling and growing. I can super appreciate that feeling. You've been amazing. I can't wait to have you on in a year from now. And then let's talk about the next technology and the next wave of customization. I'm very very interested in this topic. I think this is going to help a lot of people, but it's been great having you today on Founder Story and thank you for your time.

[Angelo Coleta]

Yeah, thanks a lot.

[Angelo]

In the meanwhile, oneself the way Foreign.

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