Image Credit: ©Vicky Design via Canva.com

The King Of Pi(KOP) mall project was a very interesting one for us at Zed Labs. Being one of our first client projects - as a new software development and design agency, we did all we could to deliver a masterpiece. The result was a beautiful end-product that speaks for itself - just as will be seen in some selected screenshots that will be shared below.

The project is an e-commerce platform with payments powered by the Pi Network/Blockchain token - The Pi Token/cryptocurrency.

This blog-post is a beautiful story of how it worked out.

Image: a screenshot from the home screen on the user-facing(mall front) section

What the client wanted.

Our client was very clear with what he wanted from the off-set. Being an ardent believer of the Pi Network/Blockchain, he intended to build a mall on which Pi-holding users(Pioneer - as they are called), can shop/buy items using the Pi cryptocurrency from anywhere in the world. He wanted a project with a global-scope - which was all possible thanks to the power and universality of blockchain/cryptocurrency payments.

An Initial Back-Story.

Prior to connecting with Zed Labs, the client complained of how much previous losses he had incurred, and the challenges he faced in the hands of previous teams that he contracted with delivering the project.

As a matter of fact, We took over the project with some initial progress. But due to some issues - especially the quality of the code/software, we had to scrap out most of what was handed over.

All the transferred code/software(everything including the front-end and the backend) was scrapped and built from scratch by us.

Only some parts of the originally delivered UI/UX design was used as delivered. The UI/UX interfaces received massive enhancements unlike on the design that was handed over to us.

Image: a screenshot of the categories page on the user-facing(mall front) section

Image: a screenshot of the user's saved items page on the user-facing(mall front) section

Tech Stack Used.

The project build is a world-class one. We ensured to deliver with top and trending software development technologies.

1. The Front-end.

The project's front-end was build with ReactJs(NextJs) - with TailwindCSS for styling. We handled the state management which was of course a complex one using ReduxToolKit - with Axios and SWR helping with data fetching and revalidation.

SWR honestly seems to be very very underrated.

SWR, built by Vercel, is a React data-fetching library that provides fast, real-time updates by showing cached data first, while being able to perform some powerful revalidation in the background.

We also made use of Headless UI for simplifying and fast-tracking the development of some UI sections.

Of course as you would expect, there was a lot more work on the frontend that can't be covered in detail in this article.

2. The Backend.

The Backend was built with Python(Django - the Django Ninja Framework). This choice turned out perfect thanks to how much speed and quality the Django framework gave us with so much less work. For Database, PostgreSQL was a great choice - so we used it as our primary database.

Image: a screenshot of the profile page on the user-facing(mall front) section

Image: a screenshot of user-orders page on the user-facing(mall front) section

3. Cloud/Infra and Deployments.

For cloud service, we stuck with AWS. AWS remains our go-to choice at Zed Labs. Everything(for both the staging and production environments) was handled gracefully on AWS - from front-end deployments, to file storage, to database provisioning and management, and more.

3. Blockchain Integration.

Blockchain integrations are no mean chores. They demand some considerable level of expertise. That was no problem to us at Zed Labs, we know our stuff, and we handled this one gracefully. Thanks to the use of the Pi SDK(s) as provided by the Pi-core team, we had less worries about security. The Pi authentication and payment integrations were all successful.

Image: a screenshot of the cart page on the user-facing(mall front) section

Image: a screenshot of the checkout page on the user-facing(mall front) section

The Zed Labs Team And The Process.

Delivering the project as a lean team of just 3, was challenging, but worth the adventure.

I Led the development of the front-end, of course with phenomenal support from our junior front-end developer Powell Ikechukwu - which I mentored all through the project. Powell Deserves his flowers on this one - he was awesome.

I solo-engineered the massive backend of the project while handling all cloud administrative chores and a lot more.

As the CTO of a lean software and design agency, wearing many hats is simply part of my role. Being the generalist that I am, I must confess that I love every process of it all. Just that is can get overwhelming sometimes.

I was also responsible for making all system design, architectural and DevOps decisions on the project. Finally, I was responsible for managing all deployments across both the staging and productions environments.

Aside just engineering and code, I crafted and coordinated over half(50%) of the UI/UX design implementation of the whole project.

Big shout-out to Ikani Ojecho - our COO, for how much she came through for us all through the project.

What we delivered.

After a massive amount of work, we successfully delivered a beautiful fully-responsive(device adaptive) product - with 2 awesome-looking front-end interfaces(one for the users, and the other for administrative chores).

The platform was launched on the 3rd March 2025 at the Swiss International Hotel, Victoria Garden City(VGC), Lagos Nigeria.

Image: a screenshot of the main home screen on the admin section

Image: a screenshot of the main home screen on the admin section - showing mobile screen responsiveness

Image: a screenshot of the orders home screen on the admin section

Image: a screenshot of the category management home screen on the admin section

Image: a screenshot of the category management home screen on the admin section - showing mobile screen responsiveness

So far, the KOP Mall platform has recorded more than 2200 new user registrations, and over 1400 Pi(more than 1 million Nigerian Naira) in blockchain payments on the Pi Network Mainnet - all in less than 30 days.

Hire the Zed Labs Team - Let's bring your software and design projects to life.

Client/Project slots are still available for this month. Come hire us to build and deliver your software or design projects.

• If you will love to work with the team at Zed Labs and have us build awesome stuffs for you, simply visit out website, And fill the contact form. Alternatively, you can send us an email here: hello.zedlabs@gmail.com.

• You can also send me a private email at okpainmondrew@gmail.com or a DM via Linkedin - just in case you prefer to contact me directly.

We'll be excited to hop on a call and get on the way to bringing your software or design project to life.

Conclusion.

That will be it for this project story. I hope you had a great time reading.

The Zed Labs blog is new and fresh. We hope to make it a haven where top-level engineers come to read, learn and get inspired.

Do well to bookmark the Zed Labs blog, and stroll over to read new and exciting stories plus top-notch mid-to-senior level engineering content in your free time.

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Thanks a lot for reading.

Here is a link to the King Of Pi Mall platform: https://kingofpimall.com

feel free to explore and enjoy a thrilling experience shopping with the Pi Cryptocurrency.

See you in the next article.

Cheers!!!