Daniele Rutigliano, entrepreneur, consultant, and President of Albania’s first non-profit e-commerce association Assecomm, has been shaping the digital commerce landscape for nearly two decades. As a Brand Ambassador for the Balkan eCommerce Summit 2025, Daniele brings a wealth of knowledge, passion for innovation, and a dedication to fostering regional growth. In this interview, he shares his vision for the future of eCommerce, lessons learned from his career, and advice for emerging entrepreneurs navigating this dynamic industry.

What inspired you to become a Brand Ambassador for the Balkan eCommerce Summit 2025, and what opportunities do you see in this partnership?

I am honored to be able to support the Balkan eCommerce Summit as a Brand Ambassador. In 2022, I established Assecomm in Tirana, the first non-profit eCommerce association in Albania – a rapidly growing nation full of ambitious IT talents.

As President of Assecomm and as an eCommerce consultant for almost 20 years, I strongly believe in partnerships and sector events. The Balkan eCommerce Summit represents an important event for the whole territory, and therefore I chose to support it by offering my knowledge and skills.

What technological innovations will shape the future of eCommerce, and how should businesses prepare?

After the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, all of our lives have changed a little (and will change again), but we still don’t know if for better or worse. I compare this historical event to two similar ones: the launch of Facebook in 2004 and the presentation of the iPhone in 2007.

Artificial intelligence is certainly an important technological innovation that is speeding up and simplifying the creation of many contents: from photos to videos, from texts to software. At the same time, it is also putting a strain on many professions.

Business owners must learn to govern and control artificial intelligence, which is still under the control of people. It is important to verify how employees use AI so that it is supportive of them and not used passively.

How does Aproweb, your digital agency, tackle cybersecurity challenges, and what best practices would you recommend for eCommerce businesses?

In both of my digital agencies , we take cybersecurity and customer data protection close to our hearts. We adopt the standards required by the European GDPR regulation and rely on historic European partners. 

I think sellers must first of all be informed about cybersecurity risks so that they can take better care of their data and be more aware of the importance of prevention. In my twenty-year career, I have seen many ‘nightmare’ situations: old, dusty computers transformed into web servers under a desk, computers always on without access passwords, multiple remote connections, easy passwords written on post-it notes on the monitor.

Our physical world is increasingly linked to the web, but there is still a long way to go.

With the rise of mobile commerce, how can businesses enhance the customer experience?

Mobile commerce is an increasingly current topic, considering how many hours a day we spend on smartphones. For those who develop eCommerce websites, they know that for years they have had to use a ‘mobile-first’ development approach and therefore dedicate time and resources to designing a website that can be navigated mainly from smartphones and then from desktops.

Web designers must then take care of the smallest details, trying to study the customer’s needs, the customer journey, and the elements to show on smartphone screens, optimizing the little space available: small logo and a clearly visible search bar in the header; proportionate texts throughout the text and elements that can be used with a tap. But in 2025 this is not enough: it is also necessary to optimize the resources and loading times of the web page. Therefore, images today must be in the ‘.webp’ format, we must make use of caches and CDNs , and we must work on scripts that often block page loading.

Many companies still ignore these details that can make a difference both on organic positioning on Google and on online sales.

What is the most significant challenge you’ve faced in your career, and how did you overcome it?

I have faced several challenges in my 20-year career. A year after my degree in computer science, I created my first eCommerce website for a household appliance retailer in 2006. It was a custom project, written with the ASP 3.0 programming language. It took me about a year to write all the code (at the time the CMS we use today were not as developed), but the website positioned well on Google, and for the client, it was a success in terms of sales.

In 2016, I met a company that sold lighting products online with the Magento platform. With my strategic support in digital marketing, in just one year, the company tripled its turnover, reaching 3 million euros. SEO optimization on the website and the opening of the website in three new languages (English, Spanish, and French) were fundamental.

Certainly, the accumulated experience – could I also say the many mistakes made over the years? – helped me make quick, important decisions that led to success. Having followed both small eCommerce and multinational projects has given me a very important overall vision.

What advice would you give to entrepreneurs entering the fast-paced world of eCommerce?

It is not easy to sell online in 2025. Unfortunately, the first necessary resource is the money to invest, on a par with opening a physical store. Although there are many free or cheap tools capable of already having your own website , it is necessary to invest money to buy the goods, in marketing campaigns to transform visitors into customers, and also in training.

Strategy is fundamental as is differentiation and the study of your market niche. Everything is sold on the web now, and competing with the giants or with those who have been selling for years is complex. My advice is to start from a business plan or, in any case, from a small, modular, not too ambitious project, which aims to recover the investment in the shortest possible time while at the same time having clear objectives in the medium and long term.

Join the Future of eCommerce at the Balkan eCommerce Summit 2025

Daniele Rutigliano’s expertise and forward-thinking approach are helping shape the future of eCommerce in the Balkans. His commitment to innovation, cybersecurity, and strategic growth makes him a true leader in the industry.

📅 Be part of this transformative event! Meet visionaries like Daniele at the Balkan eCommerce Summit 2025. Secure your tickets now at balkanecommerce.com and unlock the potential of Balkan eCommerce.