TERMS OF USE
I have read and understand the CONFLUX ECOSYSTEM GRANTS OVERVIEW, and determined that my proposal is best for the Growth Grants stream
- YES
I understand that the Conflux Growth Grants are subject to a No Sale Rule, and I have read the terms of this rule
- YES
I understand that I will be required to provide additional KYC information to the Conflux Foundation to receive this grant
- YES
I understand that I will be required to follow public grant reporting requirements
- YES
APPLICATION INTRODUCTION
In this section, please provide a brief overview of your project providing the following information.
Name of your project: Shopify Tokengating App
Are you an incorporated startup? 11997947 Canada Corporation
Links to the project’s webpage, DApp, project social handles, and chat groups.
- We do not have any of that setup yet
What is your Conflux eSpace recipient wallet address for the grant?
- 0x8DabF51501196a7700c97616bD82791cF31Ac685
TEAM
Name:
- Tony Lau
Roles and responsibilities
- I plan to work on developing the App from the ground-up (full-stack). After approval on the Shopify App platform, I plan on growing the App installs with merchants and marketing the App to merchants.
- Once there is sufficient velocity, I plan to add additional features that merchants can subscribe to so that the App can re-invest and develop even more cool features and ensure users always are gas-free
Team member’s social media handle(s)
- Discord: intrepid5095
- Twitter: @intrepid_crypto
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-kp-lau/
Relevant experience
- I am an active member of the Conflux Community, and I really like the blockchain. I am invested in growing Conflux and would continue investing into the App and growing the use cases and adoption even after this project grant
- I completed the Conflux Developer Workshop in July 2023 and would like to leverage the skills learned towards building an App that can help merchants build customer loyalty and differentiated e-commerce experiences
- I recently completed an intensive Software Engineering Bootcamp in Toronto at Brainstation. With the supportive network of alumni resources and classmates, I am confident that the result will be a polished product that can be approved by Shopify
- I recently worked at Shopify in the finance department and I am comfortable with liasoning with the Shopify development teams in getting the app approved. I am registered to take additional blockchain software development courses in the evening at George Brown and continue investing in my skillset in Blockchain/Web Development.
- I have operated an e-commerce store on the Shopify platform selling meat (from farm to door) and was a merchant myself. I am aware of merchant needs and what would be helpful for growing a business on e-commerce.
- I have more than 10+ years in corporate development and finance experience. I completed a BBA, Master’s of Finance and a Master’s of Law. I am confident I can grow this business. I have conviction in the opportunities in building new products using blockchain and would like to use the conflux blockchain to improve e-commerce for merchants
TOTAL BUDGET AND FUNDING TIER
In this section specify the budget needed for the project and your funding Tier.
Grant Tier: Tier 2
Grant Size: $15k USD
Justification:
- I will be working full-time during the day on developing this App and I anticipate it will take me 3 months
- I will be setting aside a portion of the $15k USD for sponsorship of gas fees.
- $11,000 of the $15,000 would be dependent on third-party approval (i.e. Shopify approval of the App and installs on the app)
- I also intend to hire developers to help me on this project once it recieves Shopify approval of the App platform so that the company can continue to grow
PROJECT INFORMATION
Overview:
Customer loyalty is extremely valuable. It can improve repeat orders, order conversion, increase average order value, etc. There are many forms of loyalty that exists today - from cashback, coupons, VIP membership, exclusive “company” cash, air miles, points for redemption, etc.
I believe there is a use case for the conflux blockchain and e-commerce. This app will look to cater to Shopify merchants. Shopify has over 2 million merchants selling on the platform. In 2022, Shopify processed $197.2 billion in GMV (“Gross Merchandise Volume”) which represents the total dollar value of orders facilitated through the Shopify platform.
The first use case we plan to implement is using NFTS that provide a unique experience for NFT holders. The first form of unique experience is:
- The App would allow NFT holders to have gas-free transactions and get exclusive benefits on the particular merchant store. The exclusive benefits planned for the initial product will be in the form of discounts (%) and ($). In the future, there should be a lot more ways to bring tailored experiences to users by merchant (i.e. exclusive product drops, pre-sale access, etc.).
- The second is the ability for Merchants to grow their business by partnering with content creators (i.e. influencers, twitch users, etc.) and allowing these content creators to mint NFTS (at no price to avoid fraud and gas-free to their community). By minting the NFTS, they can be directed to the merchant store where the NFTS are recognized. This form of engagement is much better than a discount code because the website on the e-commerce store can specifically recognize the community you are part of and the discount that is available upon check-out. The personalization that is available for recognizing a user should increase order conversion and lower cost of acquisition of new users.
User Base:
- Currently no merchants have installed app. The App is not yet built
Market:
- There are currently only ~13 NFT apps on the Shopify Developer store. The competing protocols are Polygon, Avalanche, etc. I believe there represents an opportunity to develop a NFT app using the Conflux network and capture adoption through gas sponsorship, and showcasing great use-cases between influencers/content-creators with e-commerce stores. E-commerce stores on Shopify are unlike large marketplaces like Amazon - they must acquire traffic natively to their website and the ability to do so through NFTs to generate orders will be seen as extremely valuable.
Technology:
- I plan to use Conflux E-Space, Solidity, React, Javascript, Express/Node, and Ruby
Traction:
- Currently in pre-revenue stage and just in planning stage.
Stage of the project:
- Pre-revenue
Security: Please link to any code audits
- None at the moment
ECOSYSTEM FIT
Benefit to Conflux Ecosystem:
As the App gains adoption as an e-commerce tool, Conflux blockchain will be the underlying technology used to mint NFTs and to facilitate commerce. There is a lot of commerce being done on Shopify platforms and Conflux would have market share on facilitating some of that commerce. Although in the beginning, we are using only the NFTs for recognizing who are the owners of the NFT for exclusive perks, I can see a lot of innovation that can come with working on an App that is tailored for smaller e-commerce businesses on Shopify platform. By first establishing a toe-hold and gaining trust with merchants, we can begin to introduce future products using blockchain technology on the Conflux Network (i.e. NFTs that contain product data)
GROWTH PROPOSAL
Grant Plan:
- I plan to first develop the App, get it approved on Shopify App store and then market it to merchants and influencers.
Users Acquisition:
- I plan to build case studies and demonstrate how it improves KPIs
Proposal OKRs:
- 200 merchant installs in 1 year
- 2,000 merchant installs in 2 years
- Build several case studies of successful partnership between an e-commerce store and content creator within 6 months of launch
ROADMAP
This section describes the milestones and distribution plan for your grant:
- End of 1st month (Functional Front-End for Merchants that links a Shopify Store to a NFT Contract that is deployed on Conflux. To be developed in Shopify Developer Environment. On check-out page, a buyer on the website that owns the NFT should see the discount and be recognized as part of the specific community which owns the NFT through a badge) - $2,000
- End of 2nd month (Functional Front-End for Influencers/Content Creators to create a NFT Contract. They are able to mint it to their community) - $2,000
- 3rd month (Acceptance into Shopify Developer Store) - $8,000. Of this amount $2,000 will be set aside for sponsoring future gas fees.
- Merchant Installs - $3,000 (When 200 merchant installs are made)
MAINTENANCE CONSIDERATIONS
The plan is to monetize the App by adding features above the token-gating features above. The added features subscribed by Merchants will allow the app to continue re-investing itself for more cool blockchain features and also ensuring that users always have a gas-free experience.
Thanks! Welcome any questions