How innovation has set this e-commerce group apart from the rest.
The 21st century is undoubtedly marked by rapid advancements in technology. Every year, it becomes increasingly easy to purchase the things you want online, with the click of a button. There are over thirty million e-commerce websites worldwide today. Very few of these companies have existed for over a decade, and even fewer have existed for more than fifteen years. Esimple, a digital company that calls Arezzo home, has been operating within the context of e-commerce since 2007.
Who are ESimple?
Esimple focuses on using digital transformation to help other businesses achieve their goals. They fabricate custom solutions for clients through the use of technological consulting, creative design, and technical development. Some of the greatest innovations they have produced use artificial intelligence solutions, extended reality, and spatial computing. Innovation has played a key role in e-simple’s success, from the roots of the company to the daily progress they make. However, just because they make innovation in the digital world look simple, it hasn’t been the simplest journey.
E-commerce is one of the biggest industries of the modern world. While that means there is a lot of room to grow, it also means there are more competitors. This forces companies to think about ways to set themselves apart. The company Esimple has undoubtedly set itself apart by creating immersive applications for AI headsets. A few of these applications include well-known tools such as augmented reality and virtual reality. Beyond this, Esimple has developed mixed reality and corporate metaverses.
For our Innovators in Journalism class in Arezzo, my peers and I had the opportunity to visit Esimple and experience some of this technology first-hand. As someone who has used VR headsets in the past, I can confidently say that the experience offered by Esimple’s mixed-reality application is completely unlike anything I have seen before. It truly felt like I was immersed in a space somewhere between the physical world and the digital one. More accurately, it turned the digital world into an almost physical reality. The experience highlighted important questions: How, and why, did it get to this point?
Then and Now
Esimple is always thinking ahead, applying new ideas and innovations daily in the work that they do. This is a value they have held since creating the company. The company initially began in 2001 as a creative agency that aided in marketing, creating websites and magazines, and more. However, this evolved by 2007, when the company swapped the title of creative agency for that of an e-commerce group. It began small: they created a virtual market and an avatar that could be used to buy items from an online marketplace. I had the opportunity to interview one of the company founders, Francesco Marcantoni, and I asked him about this interesting transition. Specifically, why did the company transition from a creative agency to an e-commerce group?
Francesco: “In that moment, 25 years ago, the websites were like business cards. No one was using a website for work…so the idea is that everything is already there, everyone is using it, but no one is using it professionally… so we created a CMS to make content [professional].”
Ashtynn: “And what sets Esimple apart from other agencies?”
Francesco: “The biggest difference is that we are in the Italian market. Most of our competitors are outside, especially in the United States… and mostly the competition is on hardware and on the engines, not on the solutions.”
This shift to suit the company’s clientele was an innovative one, but Esimple has yet to stop growing and adapting. Focusing on creating solutions, rather than simply creating, is key to the success of the company.
Esimple uses their applications for various projects. One of the examples they showed us was a mixed reality application that gave guests tours through a historical site in Arezzo. The tool is realistic and useful, and fits within the context of the tourism industry. Francesco shared his favorite project to date: scanning and digitizing thousands of artifacts at the archeological site of Pompeii. This project also serves the tourism industry, but could also be used for research or educational purposes. It makes the artifacts accessible to a wider range of people.
Francesco has a unique ‘it’ factor driving his innovation. But what is it? The dedication and drive to continue innovating, on a daily basis, has to stem from somewhere. But from where?
Francesco: “This is something that I say to my students: be curious… just be curious and try to understand what you can do with these technologies, not just be a passive user.”
Esimple does not always have it easy when innovating, but there is one ‘simple’ factor that makes it appear that way: the passion that each person at the company holds for the work that they put in.
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