The popularity of progressive web apps is growing by leaps and bounds every single day, especially in the online retail industry.
But, is PWA simply another trend that’s going fade away soon, or is it really here to stay?
In this post, we’ll talk about what are progressive web applications, the benefits of PWA, and some famous PWA success examples.
What Are Progressive Web Applications?
A progressive web application, or PWA, is a web application that looks & functions like a native mobile application but runs on a web browser.
In simple words, it combines the latest technologies to combine the best of web & native mobile applications with a home screen app icon, offline functionality, fast load speed, and more.
And thanks to the technology that we have today, we can now convert any website into a PWA, including a Magento-based eCommerce store.
In fact, the entire web is slowly & dynamically moving towards PWA development.
Benefits of PWA
Building PWA is beneficial for many reasons. They provide a consistent user experience along with many other benefits such as rapid loading, app store integrations, and connectivity for different internet speeds.
Let’s look at the 3 key benefits of progressive web apps.
1 – Rapid Loading
According to a survey conducted by Google, nearly 53% of all users abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Meanwhile, the average perceived page load speed across countries & industries is 8.66 seconds.
But, because progressive web applications use local caching for service workers & static assets to fetch data, the app shell loads itself within milliseconds and without an internet connection.
2 – Ideal for Slow Internet Connections
Many countries from around the globe have built fast internet infrastructure. Yet, the global average internet speed is only 9.1 Mbps.
Yemen, for instance, has the slowest average internet speed at 0.31 Mbps. Singapore, on the other hand, has over 60 Mbps average internet speed.
Despite such a huge difference in the internet speed, PWA can deliver the near-same load speed by removing the expensive computations.
3 – Consistent User Experience
When a company’s mobile application and web application are different, it is quite annoying for customers to use them.
Meanwhile, when you visit a PWA in the browser and then install it to use later on your device, it provides the exact same user interface and user experience.
This kind of consistency is extremely beneficial as your customers will have to learn only one user interface to interact with your PWA store.
PWA Success Examples
Ever since its inception, progressive web apps have been adopted by many well-known brands & organizations across the world.
Let’s check out which brands have achieved success after implementing progressive web app.
Success Example #1 – Starbucks
Starbucks released their first PWA in late 2017, and ever since, their results have been very impressive.
Earlier, Starbucks’ native iOS application used to consume around 146 MB of memory space. Meanwhile, their PWA occupied only 600 KB.
Thanks to this, Starbucks revealed their orders got doubled after launching PWA.
Success Example #2 – West Elm
West Elm is a regular furniture store that was looking to enter the mobile shopping market with its own PWA.
After launching the PWA, West Elm witnessed a significant increase in Time Spent on Site by 15% and a 9% increase in revenue per visit.
Success Example #3 – Pinterest
Pinterest was experiencing an extremely low conversion rate at less than 1%.
So, they decided to build a PWA and the results have been very progressive. Specifically, the active time spent increased by 40%, core engagement metrics increased by 60%, and the overall revenue increased by 44%.
Final Note
Progressive web apps are already showing signs of significant growth & success.
So, if you’re planning to convert your website or eCommerce store into PWA, then you absolutely should. We highly recommend it.
Besides, if you still have any doubts or questions regarding PWA, feel free to contact us for professional assistance.
