These days, people have become heavily reliant on technology. Whether they need a cookie to get rid of their hunger, detergent powder to remove dirt from their clothes, or a PS5 to experience amplified gaming performance, just a touch of a few buttons is needed on their mobile phone to get these things delivered. Now, the question comes: how did such facilities become feasible? Well, that is where eCommerce apps play a key role. Unfortunately, not all the eCommerce apps you see around offer an excellent user experience to all visitors due to certain OS limitations.
But when it comes to Progressive Web Apps for eCommerce, every internet user can access them through a browser without worrying about operating system requirements, resulting in plentiful traffic, conversions, and revenue generation down the line. So, let’s see how progressive web applications are a sure-shot solution to eCommerce business growth. First, you need to understand:
What Are Progressive Web Apps for eCommerce?
A Progressive Web App is a mobile application that combines the best of both worlds, i.e., traditional web applications and native mobile applications. They are developed with the help of web-based technologies, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc., and can be accessed through a standard web browser. The best part of Progressive Web Apps for eCommerce is that they do not force you to install a specific application from an app store and allow you to access them without an internet connection.
Progressive Web Apps have been a preferred choice for globally-known companies, like:
- Uber
- Alibaba
- Starbucks
- And many more
It takes advantage of service workers that are background-running scripts utilized by PWAs to offer offline functionality and quicker downloading time.
How eCommerce and Progressive Web Apps Make the Perfect Match?
With smartphones powering a large portion of the internet traffic, offering a seamless user experience should be your top concern. For the eCommerce industry, where mobile phones supply even more traffic, relying on a mobile-first approach is the only way to go.
While your app is just limited to a particular group of loyal customers, first-time visitors access any software through the browsers most of the time. So, the crux of the matter is that it is your website that will either make or break your eCommerce business. And if you want to keep growing continuously while participating in this competitive industry, availing PWA development services for the eCommerce business is the only option to go with.
Just to let you know, several reports by some of the top companies in the world recommend that shifting to progressive web apps has resulted in considerable growth for the eCommerce business. Although you should have different apps for different operating systems and platforms, PWA frameworks-powered applications can be installed and run on almost every smartphone smoothly. This way, the eCommerce development cost for businesses can be reduced to a great extent.
What Are the Features of Progressive Web Apps for eCommerce?
A few of the key advantages of Progressive Web Apps for eCommerce that businesses should be familiar with are:
1. Easy to Add to the Home Screen
With such outstanding functionality of the eCommerce PWA, your consumers can easily add your website or app’s UI to the home screen of their device.
2. Push Notifications
Push notifications are one of the finest features of progressive web app development services. It allows PWA owners to interact with buyers easily by sending them personal messages about new items, sales, and the rest of the information through push notifications, straight from their store to customers’ mobile phones.
3. Offline Mode
If your users ever lose access to their internet connectivity, they will still be able to browse through your website and buy interesting products or services without a web connection.
4. Fast Loading Speed
Your customers’ experience will never be affected because of slow loading time or network disruptions. Your PWAs for eCommerce will remain ready to deal with any situation.
Keep Reading: eCommerce Web Development Guide
How Can PWAs for eCommerce Improve the Online Shopping Experience?
Consider PWA development services for eCommerce when you build a new online store or revamp an existing one. Various businesses still need to make the most of this technology, which offers an excellent opportunity to stand out from their rivals and deliver customers an unmatched shopping experience. Additionally, PWAs enhance eCommerce security by reducing vulnerabilities associated with traditional web applications, ensuring safer transactions and data protection for customers.
Statistics from the best digital data provider on the internet show that the mobile traffic market share was the largest in April 2024, with 67.36% of all traffic. Apart from that, the mobile conversion rate in the US accounts for 2%, whereas the desktop conversion rate was around 3% in the second quarter of 2022.
Thus, everything boils down to this point: businesses must fill a significant gap in consumer satisfaction, and PWAs for eCommerce enable them to quickly optimize their website’s user experience.
#1 Improved User Engagement
Push notifications are highly useful for progressive web applications because they can communicate in a way that garners customers’ attention through their mobile phones. What else? When compared to conventional marketing methods like emails, push notifications do not require consumers to have contact details or accounts with you, making it easy to reach your patrons directly and quickly, according to top web app development companies.
#2 Optimal Instantaneous Performance
Modern users are deeply interested in leveraging faster online mobile experiences. A recent study by one of the top tech giants in the world has disclosed that after 3 seconds of page loading time, no less than 53% of visitors abandon a web page, and conversion rates reduce by at least 21.8% per second. Fortunately, relying on progressive web applications makes some sense as it provides the quickest and most engaging user experience for visitors. That means PWAs can load in under one second owing to their advantage of web speed and client-side caching.
And the best part? PWAs for eCommerce consume much less disk space, resulting in faster loading duration, reduced data use, and limited storage needs, making them a suitable proposition for any business to put their money on.
#3 Enhanced SEO
Progressive web apps offer a myriad of advantages over traditional websites and native applications. Wondering how? PWA frameworks create web-based apps, and search engines frequently index their published content. For example, Google and Bing link content to rank it on the web, whereas they generally do not index native applications. PWA offers a myriad of advantages, such as fast loading speed, lower data utilization, reduced bounce rate, and highly interactive experiences, all of which translate into better SEO ranking.
#4 Upsurged User Adoption
PWAs for eCommerce provide a blend of website and native application features, offering users an extremely enjoyable experience through a PWA shortcut on the home screen. Some studies have revealed that Flipkart customers who uninstalled their application often re-download their PWA, having a 60% success rate. In addition to that, push notifications for PWAs are opened 3X more than email notifications when getting user consent. It contributes to an improved promotional strategy for any business selling its products and services online.
#5 Increased Conversion Rate
User experiences directly influence eCommerce store conversion rates. Removing conflict and disappointment results in more engaged customers who can immediately complete their objectives.
Know the Difference: Quick-Commerce vs eCommerce
Can You Name Some eCommerce Brands That Have Leveraged PWAs For Success?
These are some of the eCommerce brands that have leveraged PWAs for success.
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Alibaba
One of the largest and well-known eCommerce platforms in the world, Alibaba, adopted a PWA in 2016 and achieved great success. They experienced a high conversion rate across all browsers, which increased by 76% for the business. The company designed its progressive web application to be faster, more reliable, and easier to use, providing customers with a seamless online buying experience and driving significant business success with PWA.
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Blibli
Indonesia’s biggest eCommerce platform in Indonesia, Blibli, adopted PWAs for its eCommerce business in 2019 and experienced aggressive growth. Compared to their previous mobile website, the company registered a 10x increase in income per user through their progressive web application.
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Rakuten 24
A well-known Japanese eCommerce company, Rakuten 24, is one of the several eCommerce businesses that have enjoyed PWA success. The organization’s decision to implement a progressive web application has led to more user engagement and retention. Within a month, the PWA developed by the Rakuten 24 establishment helped it to boost the visitor retention rate by 450% compared to its previous mobile web flow.
Keep Reading: D2C eCommerce Strategy
What is the Cost of PWAs for eCommerce Businesses?
The creation of PWAs for eCommerce depends on several factors, such as app complexity, features, tech stack, and the skill set of the app development team.
If the app includes advanced features such as offline capability and push notifications, and developers build it from scratch, it may take 6 to 12 months and cost around $50,000 to $150,000 or more.
Conclusion
Finally, the discussion boils down to the point that if you want to stay ahead of your rivals and keep your customers happy, all you need to do is include PWA development in your eCommerce strategy. But there is no denying the fact that change can be scary, and the chance is high to feel hesitant about trying something new. Bear in mind that PWA is not the key to all your eCommerce problems.
But when teams implement it correctly, it can enhance the user experience, decrease bounce rates, and increase engagement. We, at Binmile, have expertise in working with PWA frameworks to develop a progressive web application for your eCommerce store based on your specific needs and preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Progressive Web Apps for eCommerce are web applications that offer an app-like shopping experience through a browser. They can support features such as fast page loading, home screen installation, push notifications, and selected offline experiences. They help retailers improve mobile shopping without necessarily requiring customers to download a traditional application from an app store.
Progressive web apps can improve the shopping experience by reducing loading delays, making navigation smoother, and simplifying access to products. Features such as responsive layouts, streamlined checkout flows, and personalized notifications can also encourage customers to complete purchases. Results depend on implementation quality, customer behavior, and the existing website experience, so retailers should measure conversion rates before and after deployment.
Key benefits include improved mobile performance, app-like navigation, reduced friction during shopping, easier access from the home screen, and potentially lower development and maintenance costs compared with maintaining separate applications. Progressive web apps can also support customer re-engagement through push notifications where supported and permitted. Retailers should assess their audience, business requirements, and platform limitations before choosing this approach.
Neither option is best for every business. Progressive web apps offer browser-based access and can simplify deployment across supported platforms. Native apps may provide deeper operating system integration and access to certain device features. Businesses should compare their budget, target audience, required functionality, performance goals, and customer retention strategy before deciding whether to build a progressive web app, a native app, or both.
The cost depends on the complexity of the store, design requirements, payment gateway integration, inventory systems, personalization features, security needs, and third-party services. Upgrading an existing eCommerce website may cost less than building a custom platform from scratch. Businesses should define their required features and expected outcomes before requesting a development estimate from an experienced eCommerce technology partner.
