TechBand: blockchain software company

02/06/2022

TechBand is a software company experienced with all blockchain nodes. We develop turn-key solutions for DeFi, NFT, and Gaming projects. Our goal is to produce safe, transparent, universal products, which became possible thanks to the blockchain.

We believe that blockchain has been the best human invention over the past 20 years, and we are proud that we can create and launch blockchain products in various formats of varying complexity. For instance, DeFi and Play-to-earn projects, NFT creation, smart contract development and deployment.

Our team consists of developers, project managers, analytics, and other specialists that can cover the following tasks: complete development of the smart contract’s frontend and backend, creation of tokens, integration of loyalty programs based on the blockchain, etc.

We worked with Polygon, Solana, Ethereum, and Binance Smart Chain networks, NFT auction based on Ethereum, and Binance Smart Chain for the Play-to-earn concept realization.

Tech Band tries not only to provide you with a solution but also gives you an understanding of how you can use it for your profit.

Text us, and we will calculate your blockchain project budget for free!

06/03/2022

Official position of TechBand Team!
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24/12/2021

06/12/2019

How to make your e-commerce business successful?

Do you sell your products on eBay or Amazon but thinking about scaling your business? If so, you might consider developing your own online store for e-commerce. Launching your own E-commerce website has a number of important advantages including closer communication with customers, advanced brand development, innovative tools and interesting solutions. Thus, online store can certainly offer better possibilities for medium and small businesses. However, developing a good online store is not an easy task. What high-tech solutions can be applied in order to make your business look innovative? Learn how to develop an online store in the article below.

Reasons for creating an online store

The sphere of e-commerce is actively growing and developing. Statista report shows that the 2015 online sales reached 11% of retail sales globally. The in-depth research shows that the levels of e-commerce sales will reach 5 trillion USD (compared to 2 trillion USD in 2015).

Furthermore, we would like to emphasize that developing an online shop has a number of important advantages:

Greater availability 24/7
Broadening customer database
Entering into international markets and having perspectives of becoming a global marketplace

Making high-quality analytics based on customer’s behavior and tastes. You will have an opportunity to better understand the visitor of an online store and make predictions. The success of your website also depends on how well you understand your client. The more interactive features you include in your website architecture, the more chances to attract a new client you will have. Have you already thought what tools you plan to use when building your online store? A good tools selection is crucial for any online business which plans to communicate with retailers and businessmen. It is important to think about all website details in advance. For example, make sure that security control and various payment options are included and incorporated with your ecosystem. Do not forget about the online marketing plan. The website should include email capabilities as well as subscription tools in order to make the user experience as favorable as possible.

As a leading e-commerce development company Tech Band offers the most innovative tools and features of an e-commerce website:

Working with the website content
Online marketing capabilities, such as emailing tools
Well-developed checkout procedure
Big Data analytics
Reporting mechanisms
Full website design
Developing a blog section
Including all payment details, such as payment gateway, into the website infrastructure

Now let us jump into one of the most significant stages that every potential online store owner will face sooner or later. In this article you will find out how to select a proper platform, up-to-date e-commerce platforms advantages and other key elements of an online store building.

Looking for the best platform for e-commerce

It is important to outline your business aims, because a good online platform can be a turning point for your project. Considering that different projects have different requirements and needs, in this section we will tell you about the most essential features that the projects would like to see in a high-quality platform for e-commerce.

A low entry cost

Easy-to-use admin board and reasonable prices
Possibilities to scale your business in the future
Active community of customers and developers to evaluate how successful your solution is. Do not forget to read useful articles, blogs, and community forums to understand the product better.

Now let us talk about the major turning points that you are suggested to include in your analysis.

Think of possible questions about a future platform

In order to come up with good questions, imagine that you are a platform user. One of the possible questions could be “What about my product catalog? Do I add all options at once? ” or “Will there be support services or sales management team included on the platform?”. If you do not have time for thinking about all those details, you can cooperate with an e-commerce agency and choose the best platform that meets all your business needs. You can also register on one of the popular e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify, and do the trial period.

This experience will help you to understand how the online store works.

Here are the most common questions that retailers have when creating online business.

Analyze the prices of platforms that interest you
Obviously, not all open-source products are free. Even if you budget is not very big and you decided to create an online store on the basis of WordPress, remember that more useful services are needed for retail. Among them — hosting, payment options, analytic tools, etc.

Do not forget to count in services that are included in the price. For example, Shopify does not have built-in tools. Pay attention you need to pay an extra fee for all supplementary features. It is not worth using Magento for small and medium size e-commerce. Magento is very expensive and difficult in use. However, it has a number of unique features that can make your online store shine on the e-commerce market.
To learn more about fees and to find the platforms that will be the best fir for you, email TechBand team for a quick consultation.

Developing the e-commerce website

It is important that your online store has a quick set up algorithm. Here are the major set up stages that you should consider when developing your online store:

Products catalogue loading
Taxes arrangement
Domain registration
Setting up payment gateway
Social networks and marketplace

Integrating different social apps and messengers as well as marketplace can be a great way to develop sales channels.

Small-scale online store price $1,700 — $5,000
Large-scale online store price $4300 — $12,000

It is important for your future website to have a good design. The style of your online shop is a great pre-condition for your success! If your online store will look interactive and modern, the chances to attract a new client will surge! Thus, an effective UX is so necessary for your website. It is also crucial to think properly about your brand and logo. This stage goes right after the online store template integration. A modern template will make your website even more interesting!

Will your online store carry out shipping? Do you plan to make it local or international? Do not be too ambitious. Try some local branches first. Your business needs some time to become international.

We have prepared some useful shipping recommendations which will help your online business and shipping options.
Consider your competitors. Check their websites and what they offer.

The shipping rule of your online store should be understandable. What is more, many e-commerce platforms include the shipment prices and the time of delivery on the product and checkout pages to avoid conflicts.

Most shoppers are not willing to wait too long for their products and clothes. Try to find the fastest carrier. The time of delivery is as important as your business income.

Take into account that free shipping is a great way to increase your average order value.

Price: from free to $200

You have probably already understood that a good online store has both paid and free features and designs. Looking for an e-commerce agency can be a good option for those people who do not have much time to think about all details. Does the colors of your online store match with the overall atmosphere? What do you sell? Which colors do you associate with the major topic of your online store? What is your target auditory — men, women or children? Think about combining the colors and styles to make your website look nice. Make your store look interesting and bright. Ask some of your friends to give their feedbacks on the color that you plan to choose. Are they happy about it? Remember, modern does not mean overwhelmed with details and colors. Most people prefer simple and easy to use website which “builds a dialogue with a client”. Make your website talk to other people!

Is your online store easy to navigate? This stage is very important. The customers should not spend more than one minute in order to find out where to click. As easy as it is! Navigation button should be obvious. Most stores put it on the top of the page. None scrolls down the page. It is too long and boring.

03/12/2019

How to Launch a Successful e-Commerce Website: The Ultimate Checklist

Buy and sell operations have a long history of progress. Online marketing is growing and developing very fast. Many specialists consider this industry as one of the most successful on the modern market. Online marketing is developing in line with the modern technologies and internet. It is directly connected with an e-commerce industry, which is currently at the peak of its popularity. The more people use Internet, the more popular online marketing becomes. Moreover, the industry continues growing.

Statista notes that around 40% of the US citizens use Internet in order to purchase things a few times per month. This percentage skyrockets before Christmas and on Black Friday. What is more, almost 24% of Americans buy goods via Internet on a weekly basis! E-commerce is becoming more and more popular. According to the latest statistical data, the number of online stores will double by 2025. The statistics presented in this article signifies that e-commerce is one of the most promising industries in the modern world. It is very important to create a website which will respond to all customers’ needs and inquiries. What is more, creating an online store is a great way to scale up your business and to bring it to a new qualitative level.

What do you start with? What is the first step when developing an e-commerce website? Too many questions… The TechBand team will help you with it!

The secret of a successful and a well-built online store is an outstanding team of professionals who will develop it and a good capital.

Let us have a look at the checklist that the TechBand team has prepared for you. It will help you to understand the steps that you need to take in order to develop a great online store.
All successful e-commerce websites go hand in hand with the modern trends, and skillfully adapt to them. A modern website uses the most recent innovations in the field of online marketing and e-commerce that will certainly attract new clients. How do you search for the innovative tools and incorporate them in your website? It is important to be patient and to have a good marketing plan. Do not afraid to be innovative and to offer new and interesting ideas for your website. But first of read, read some most important pieces of advice that will make your future website shine.

1. Figure out who your potential customer is
Understanding your potential customer and his needs is an important step when working on your website design. What is your target group? What is the average age of your target group? Answering the above-mentioned questions is essential when deciding on your website design. What should you do in order to better understand your customer? Here is the list of things which might be helpful:

Setting up a meeting with your potential client can be a good idea if you would like to receive as much info as you can about their preferences and expectations

Ask as many questions as you need in order to understand your client and his needs very well. You will be able to help only if you listen and analyze. Discuss the marketing plan with your client and discuss a briefing paper that they need to create.
It is also crucial to understand what is the target group of your client, preferable markets that they pursue and the budget that they have.

Spend as much time as you need analyzing your client’s business in order to figure out all possible information about it. What is the history of the company? What experience does it have? Make a list of things you liked and things that caused questions. Discuss everything with your client during your next meeting. This stage will help to improve your future marketing and business plan for the project your team is working on. Understanding your client and his business goes without saying!

Before proceeding with any stage you need to get a final word from your client. That is why working hand in hand with your employer is very important. Ask questions, comment on things, discuss the details and describe your vision of the future website.

Be professional! Avoid conflicts, and always try to build a well-structured dialogue with your client. Your reputation is crucial for your business. Online marketing is very popular in the modern world. You have more competitors than you can imagine. Professionalism and a good reputation is a key to success.

2. Exploratory stage
Only after you discuss all details of the future project with your client, you can start working on the website development. Start working on design of the website. Your client may suggest inviting a professional web designer who will help to choose the best option that meets the requirements of your employer. After that, think about important details:

Domain name. This sub-stage requires a lot of brainstorming and discussing. Some people use name generators, famous associations, Latin words or abbreviations. Make sure that the domain name you choose is unique and not taken by the other company.

Use Internet! Research the names, brands and projects. What domain names are currently popular? You are free to invite each of the team member to speak out and offer some domain name. Write down everything on paper, it will help you to make a decision on the domain name later.

Serious in-depth research of the already existing businesses and competitors is crucial in order to figure out what is popular in the modern e-commerce industry. Your team’s creativity and knowledge can be very helpful too. Do not hesitate asking your colleagues. Use brainstorming and snowball methods in order to reach the maximum efficiency of the team work. Remember that a good domain name is short and easily memorizable.

Choose an appropriate template which would fit the general idea and the goal of a website. In order to do that, you need to think properly on the product you are working on and its major features.

Wireframes are essential. How many of them will the custom design require? Think about everything in advance.
Content is the face of your website. Make it look professional! It might be a good idea inviting professional copywriters who will help you with it.

Search for the templates. The more options you find — the better for your project. Make sure you have enough options to show to your client.

After choosing a template you need to think about wireframes. What is more, it can be a good idea to start creating a content for the website. Think about the sections, subsections and names. Will the website be multi-lingual? Have you found professional translators for the future website? Remember, a high-quality website content is crucial! Make sure that all texts are written in a professional manner and do not have any grammatical or stylistic mistakes. Invite someone who can proofread the articles and texts. A good content needs time to be written, so think about all details in advance.

After having all written content ready, think about the visual representation of your future website. Discuss it with a graphic designer and your client. What styles is he interested in? In many cases the client may wish uploading their own visual content, such as pictures,videos or presentations. The more unique content you have on your website — the better. Use all possible options to make it interesting for the potential website customer.

Reading the privacy policy of the website that you are working on is very important. Make sure that all website documentation is gathered in one particular section and is easy to find. The world cares about privacy!

The fact that you finished working with the future privacy policy means that the preliminary stage of the website development is ready. Arrange a meeting with your client to show them the design of the website. Take notes on the comments that the client is giving. His recommendations are crucial for the success of your website.

02/12/2019

How to start an ecommerce business: Ultimate checklist

The e-commerce market attracts more and more offline retailers. The perspective to receive a considerable profit from selling online is very attractive. However, you need to find a reliable and robust technology partner to avoid mistakes what starting an e-commerce website. TechBand team wants to share useful insights into how to start an e-commerce store.
Below, we share five ideas on how to start an e-commerce business including:

How to decide what you’ll be selling and to whom
How to find a supplier for dropshipping
How to choose an e-commerce platform
How to find a developer to build an e-commerce website
How to get your business up and running
To learn more keep reading!

Top 6 reasons to start an online shop in 2020

1. Online retail is a fast-growing market
The number of online shoppers is growing. So are the retail e-commerce sales worldwide.
In 2020, the e-commerce sales will increase up to $4.058 trillion. This sales increase means an e-commerce sphere is a promising sector in which to invest.

2. Lower barrier to entry
Nowadays you can start e-commerce store without any capital and products in stock. Advanced e-commerce solutions and dropshipping allow beginners to run their own online store.

3. Customer acquisition is cheaper and easier
Compared to offline retail, it is much easier to attract new customers to an online store. Businesses should spend between $300-$500 to draw one potential lead contact. At the same time, the cost to get one online customer is $25-$30. Social networks are the best channels for customer acquisition.

4. E-commerce technologies continue to improve
Today many techniques can help you increase conversions at your online store. You can use tools like advanced marketing extensions and alternative payment methods to increase sales.

5. Opportunities to scale business
One of the reasons online retail is so popular and promising is that it’s a scalable business model. Advanced platforms, like Magento, allow for managing several e-commerce websites from one admin panel.

6. Build loyal shopper base
Also, you have many opportunities to build customer loyalty online. An attractive design and discount system can turn website visitors into regular shoppers. Creating more regular buyers means an increase in customer lifetime value.

How do you start an e-commerce store?
We offer the most suitable platform to our customers regarding the stage of business analysis. It often includes research on the competitors’ and the industry overview. Recently, we developed an online shop from scratch for Nofelet. The company deals with electronic devices and laptops. We researched Nofelet competitors and found that their websites have custom features and design, and they don’t use templates. Because the competitor had custom features and designs, the project required choosing a platform with considerable customization capacity.

We decided to use Magento 2 because it has a high level of customization. This platform gave a more professional look to the website together with a smooth customer journey. It took our team around six months to fulfill the project and integrate all custom features.

The website suits both B2C and B2B customers.
The online shop includes the following features:
Customer online support
Shopping cart
Customer reviews section

1. Decide what you’ll be selling and to whom

Some businesses produce their own items and have a stock of products.

Some businesses don’t. In any case, you need to find your niche.

To find your niche in the e-commerce world, try to concentrate on something, about which you are passionate. At this stage, think about products that would motivate you to move forward.
Another advice is to conduct keywords research. This way you will be aware of what products are popular today. For that, you can use the Ubersuggest tool. Just put some keywords, and the device will show you some broad categories devoted to this keyword. Keep searching for narrower keywords until you find your future niche.

Another approach when starting an e-commerce business is to think about something that will solve a particular customer problem. Imagine your future target audience and their needs. Alternatively, think about issues that you face on a daily basis. Your niche lays between something you are passionate about and something that solves difficulties of everyday life.
At this stage, you can also look at prospective competitors. It will give you some insights about what platforms and e-commerce features work for your particular industry. This way you can learn about your future target audience.

If you have found a niche with no competitors, we have bad news. The absence of competition means there is no market. At the same time, we do not recommend you picking an overcrowded area. The more specific niche you select, the fewer companies with which you will compete.

2. Find a supplier for dropshipping
Drop shipping is a prevalent business model among online retailers. The drop shipping advantages are the absence of a stock, low financial threshold, and so on.

Finding a reliable drop-shipping supplier is imperative. The wrong supplier, who ignores the shipping terms, adds unnecessary costs, ships incorrect or damaged goods to your customers can destroy your online business, while a good one could bring profit to your shop.

When looking for a supplier, try to find the manufacturer of the goods you are going to sell. By using the manufacturer, you could decrease the cost of products. When working with the intermediaries, you may find that the same merchandises will cost more. Being more costly occurs because go-betweens add their commission to the product cost. Next, make a list of the mediators, evaluating the pros and cons of each of them. Each will have their advantages and disadvantages.

There are some drawbacks of working with dropshipping suppliers. For instance, you have little control over their stock. If your customer orders something from your drop-shipping website, there is not a 100% guarantee that this item is in stock right now.

Another disadvantage is poor customer service. Some shoppers may want to receive additional information about a particular product. Should they contact you or the supplier? Will the supplier answer their questions about the product? Consider these questions and determine how you’re going to provide customer service.

The lack of bulk pricing is another disadvantage. If the supplier does not provide you with bulk pricing, to stay competitive, you won’t be able to add extra costs on products. As a result, your margin will remain low.

If you choose to work with drop shipping suppliers, shipping might also take longer than you expect. Also, online shoppers hate waiting for their orders to arrive. Extra weeks of transportation won’t make them happier.

To reveal these disadvantages, read the feedback from other online retailers about working with a particular supplier.
The list of drop shipping suppliers, prevalent among online retailers.

AliExpress
Wholesale2B
National Dropshippers
Dropship Direct
Sunrise Wholesale
MegaGoods
InventorySource
Dropshipper.com
Worldwide Brands
SaleHoo
Wholesale Central

3. Choose an e-commerce platform
The most popular hosted e-commerce platforms are Shopify and BigCommerce. The most popular self-hosted e-commerce solutions are Magento, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, OpenCart. A perfect online platform is a key to an online shop’s success. To choose one, you need to make a list of your business requirements and future features. Be sure to clarify the following points: The number of items needed, The expected traffic load, The budget, The time frame, The feature list. The essential features of e-commerce platforms include:

A product catalog
A shopping cart
A checkout process
Ability to add new items
Ability to add new pages
And so forth

The next step is to evaluate the following factors:
1) Your budget
Your budget will determine whether you need a hosted or an open source platform.

The price of hosted platforms is quite low (from $29 per month). Such platforms will power your website with basic e-commerce functions. They are the best way to start an e-commerce business for beginners. Hosted platforms have a drop-down website builder and a convenient admin panel. To add more features and outstanding design, you can buy themes and modules in the marketplace.
To develop a professional online shop, try open-source e-commerce platforms.
The cost to start an e-commerce website with basic features starts from $4,000. In this case, the price of e-commerce development correlates with the number of elements. Also, you will need help from the development team.
Open-source platforms allow integrating many custom features and personalizing the website design.

2) Stock size and product variations
Another crucial factor is stock size and product variations, which will determine your future e-commerce platform. Hosted platforms often have limited space for each online shop on their hosting servers. Open source e-commerce platforms do not have limits for product listings. However, if you add too many products to an online store developed on a hosted solution, it will result in slow loading speed. For businesses with extensive product catalog, product categories, and variations, open-source solutions fit the best. You can choose the hosting server you like. As a result, you avoid any limitation in scaling your e-commerce website.

3) Customization
The customization of an online store makes a significant impact on conversions. Shoppers love great design and custom features.

However, most hosted platforms have limited space for customization. If you think that a basic checkout, product catalog, and payment gateway are enough for your store, use a hosted platform.

The only thing you can do to customize your store using a hosted platform is to buy a custom template. You cannot change the sales funnel, nor the checkout process.
If your list of desired features includes custom checkout, personalized discounts, and an animated shopping cart, choose an open-source solution.

27/09/2019

The best platforms for an e-commerce website

E-commerce is extremely relevant and lucrative field. And there come a time for every businessman to go from offline to online. If you have a clear idea what website or an online shop you want to receive, you are moving to the stage where it is necessary to choose the platform and many people are very confused about making this decision.
In this article, TechBand team will tell you the best free platforms that will help you to do the first step into the E-commerce world. You can easily create a website or an online store with free platforms even without any knowledge in development and design.

Wix

Wix is the easiest platform for creating a website. It has a quick wizard and smart WYSIWYG editor. With Wix builder, you can develop an online store in two ways. The first way is to use website builder Wix ADI, which will generate a website according to your requirements on the basis of several questions. There are numerous ways to customize a website. An online store or a website developed with Wix ADI is a great option for users without any knowledge in development. The other way is to use the standard Wix Editor. A user can choose from thousands of templates for their website. Despite the fact that this is a cloud-based website builder, Wix platform allows users to control over the look of a site and placement of page elements. In addition, with App Market, it is possible to add some important functions like live chat and newsletters. If you are ready to create a website on this platform, you should also take into account some disadvantages. The main drawback is the absence of adaptive design for mobile devices. Moreover, there could be some issues with SEO because Google does not like websites on Wix platform.

WordPress

WordPress is one more popular free platform for online shop building. A user can use the online version of this platform or download a more advanced desktop program. The main difference between this two versions is that with first option website will be hosted on WordPress’s servers, and with desktop program, users will host a website by themselves. With Wordpress, users could develop not only websites or online stores but also portfolios and even blogs. There are many templates that will suit any requirements for the up-to-date website. With this two versions, even beginners in e-commerce can create a website.However, do not forget about some weaknesses of Wordpress, like issues with security, technical support and automatically updates that may be incompatible with your website.

CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor

Such platform as CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor cannot be left unattended because this solution is ideal for hand-coding. There are a number of templates built into the program for users without strong knowledge in coding. If you are taking the first steps in HTML, it would be rather complicated to work with this platform. CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor has only a few disadvantages, however, they are quite significant. For instance, spell-checking and code optimization are available only in paid version. In addition, some of the free templates do not meet today’s web standards.

Joomla

Joomla offers users a wide range of templates and downloadable plugins so it is possible to fully customize the way a website looks and works. Like WordPress, this platform has two versions with different website host options. Joomla was written completely in PHP scripting, so there will be no problems with its compatibility. This CMS has many development tools and tutorials for users. Online Joomla community counts over 200 000 members so you can find an answer to any problem. This is a great solution for people who want to get a simple online shop and have a lack of experience in website development. But if you want to have customized product with advanced functionality, you should try something else. Joomla has such disadvantages as issues with security and SEO that could be solved with the installation of several plugins. One more problem is that Joomla websites can’t handle more than 50,000 users a day and this issue is not solved.

E-commerce is very forward-looking and fast-growing industry that may help to take your business to the new level. It is vital to remember that for the achievement of stated goals you should choose right tool that is your website or online shop. Therefore, before seeking for the best CMS platform it is necessary to clearly understand what do you want and how you can achieve it.