PWAs: the next big thing in eCommerce success
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) has been trending among the businesses as well as the developers.
Recently, in a meetup of IT owners, there was an active discussion over PWAs, and I strongly recommended PWA to be the future of the eCommerce development.
But, before we move on to understand how PWAs can improve the eCommerce customer experience, let’s get some of the basics about PWAs clear.
What is a PWA, and is it that good for your business?
In simpler terms, a Progressive Web App (PWA) can be defined as a web application that is based on modern techniques to deliver a native-app-like experience to the end consumers.
They are known for their hi-tech features, including caching, background syncing, push notifications, search engine crawlability, etc.
That was its straightforward definition is.
In other terms, a PWA is more like a website than an app. Moreover, it can also be considered as a combination of a mobile application and a website.
Secure and scalable, yes, they are.
You might have even heard people talking about PWAs as the future of web development, more aptly an advance tool of choice.
Understand it this way –
Native mobile applications that you download from the app stores and put into use are explicitly designed for the mobile audience. So, they are fast and highly efficient.
Traditional websites built on frameworks or different CMSs are great for those who access them on desktops or laptops. They may end being slow when accessed using smart devices, especially when there are connectivity issues.
With a PWA, you and your end customers will get the best of these two worlds.
Why should eCommerce business owners go for PWA?
Along with doing business digitally, a lot of eCommerce store owners like you are interested in knowing the behavior of their end customers online.
You want to know and analyze how long a potential buyer stays on your website before making a purchase. Also, you want to know from where the customers bounce back and why, what causes the increase in abandonment ratio, etc.
Keeping all these aspects in mind, a PWA is developed for eCommerce businesses. And, to serve your requirements better, our PWA experts follow guidelines set by Google for a PWA to score high and lead to exponential business growth.
Not just one, there are many reasons why leading eCommerce businesses have already given PWA a try and other store owners are looking to get their PWA developed. Some of them are detailed as under:
1. Faster app-like user experience
Today, everything is faster- from live video-streaming, pizza delivery to user experience.
And, no website is faster in serving user experience than an app. That’s the reason why people browse almost every product on a mobile app and the make purchases either over a website or an app.
Though you have a responsive website, it takes a more extended amount of time to load, especially when the Internet connectivity is slow.
This is not the case with PWAs.
It loads extremely fast for a customer to explore its content and gives a smooth shopping experience.
It also has a device-level caching feature that minimizes the amount of data retrieved. That makes it more customer-friendly.
For you, it will have an incredible conversion rate as a result.
Its appealing user-interface which resembles that of a native app will be most likely to make your customers come for more.
2. No need to install a PWA like a Native app
Have you ever turned an app off and uninstalled it from your phone just because of the downloading process, and all the steps to be followed after that?
A lot of users do that. Most people do not want to go through a complicated process such as installing an app, signing up, and following its guidelines so that you can use it.
A PWA is much better than a native app in that sense.
Your end customers do not need to download it from an app store at all.
Think the way your customers do. For them, it means saving their mobile memory, while also being able to buy from your online store.
With just a Google search, they can find and immediately use your PWA.
In simple terms, it means a seamless shopping experience for them.
3. Smooth and easy accessibility while online or offline
Think of yourself as an individual.
You must be having a good number of apps installed on your smartphone.
But, can you use them when there is no or interrupted Internet connectivity?
Most probably, you can’t.
Now, think like your end customer.
Can they access your eCommerce store while facing similar connectivity issues?
No. They can’t.
But, with the help of a Progressive Web App (PWA), they can.
A PWA is accessible not just when a user is online, but also in the offline mode to some extent. It has Service workers in it which make this possible.
That is something both you and your customers would want.
4. Easy to make updates in a PWA
For eCommerce businesses who have a native app developed, it is true that functional bugs may get detected at any point in time. They need to be updated in the app code, and then into the apps already installed by the end users.
A similar process is to be followed when a new feature needs to be launched within the app.
Quite often, it requires a lengthy process to be followed. The developers may even have to write separate codes – one for Android and other for the iOS platform to update the changes.
With a PWA in place, you need not worry about such a complicated ‘update’ process.
The changes that will ever be made into its code by the hired developers will be deployed almost instantly into it, without the need for any approval from any app store.
5. Crawlable in search engines
When a user searches for native apps, its app store link mostly comes up, and nothing much.
On the other end, a PWA has comparatively higher crawlability in the search engines, being more like a website that functions like an app.
Being an eCommerce store owner, you must also be aware of the fact that search engines give preference to secure websites, those with HTTPS layer added into them. It protects customer information, which is very important to sell things online.
Similarly, you can launch a PWA in a secure environment.
So, crawlability and web security of a PWA, both are added advantages for you and your business.
6. Push notifications included
Most eCommerce business owners face challenges to reduce their cart abandonment ratio. Customer follows the checkout process, but do not complete it for one or the other reasons.
For your business, it is a loss of sale.
To reduce the cart abandonment ratio, transitioning to PWA would be beneficial for your online business as it comes with the push notification feature within the same.
This feature keeps on reminding your customers about their wish lists, their products in the cart, and much more. Push notifications are not just limited to that because they even remind them about the discount offers, sale alerts, and more.
As a result, the cart abandonment ratio will dramatically reduce, and you will get repeat customers and higher ROI.
PWA is the right choice for your eCommerce store
Still thinking if investing in getting a PWA developed will be right for your business?
You must be holding off on your eCommerce success. But now, it is the right time to act and accept the change.
A PWA can effectively replace your active mobile site and even a native mobile app. Being a part of the mobile-first approach, you can better connect with your customers, and boost conversions using a PWA.
Keep in mind that a PWA may turn out to be the tool your business needs to achieve its next big goal. It can improve your ROI to a great extent.
Are you looking to upgrade your eCommerce website technology? Let’s discuss how PWA will help you with your TCO and more sales.
