Why PWA Is A Must-Have For Successful Ecommerce Stores

How does your smartphone’s home screen look like? A lovely display picture and 5-8 mobile apps that you use frequently. Right!

Can you just check how many of these are ecommerce apps? Most likely none!

Wonder why?

Statistics reveal that an average smartphone user has close to 30 apps in his device but 85% of his time is spent using only five of these apps. Even if users download a couple of apps every month they tend to delete most of them within 30 days when they realize it is not adding any significant value.

We all are aware that even the free mobile apps are actually not free of cost. They do take space, need constant updates and keep asking for helluva access permissions. No wonder we feel the app fatigue so strongly and rush to cut the cord so soon.

So what is the solution?

If the online shoppers are so wary of apps download how can an etailer reach out to them to aid his sales and marketing?

The answer is Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) for Ecommerce!

We already know these are web apps that look, feel and function like any other app, the only difference being that you don’t need to download it. It opens like any other website in your mobile web browser giving you the seamless and engaging experience of a native app.

But is that the reason enough to go for it? Do we get something better? Let’s evaluate how PWA has an edge over native apps;

1. Cross-Device Compatability

These web apps have universal compatibility and their responsive and progressive design adapts to any browser or screen. It leverages the updated capabilities of HTML5 thus offering a better browser support which includes mobile browsers. This makes the sites faster and eliminates the need for regular updates. Also, these sites can be easily accessed and shared using a URL link.

2. One time Simplified Coding

What makes it different from a native app is its responsive design capabilities. The code needs to be written just once and it runs anywhere giving the same experience. The browser adjusts the content and its display by taking into account the device and its screen size. Since the same code works everywhere it is a considerable saving of time, effort and resources.

3. Easy to Find and Use

The basic aim of developing a native app is to make your ecommerce store easily accessible on various devices so it can convert a user. User acquisition by a website is 10 times cheaper than user acquisition through a native app. PWAs do this effortlessly by offering a hassle-free experience to the users. Your customers don't need to search for the app in the app store and download it to get a better mobile experience. If they know your brand they can just type the URL and get an app likeshoppingexperience. Don’t you think this would appeal more to any user!

4. No Requirement for Approval

Your native app has to follow a set of guidelines, go through paperwork and wait for approval from both Apple and Google Play before it is available to the users. This isn’t the end. Even if your app is approved periodic updates have to go through reviews before they are implemented.

Compare this to PWA, all you do is write your code, test and take itlive. Who wouldn’t want to

skip the unnecessary red-tapism?

5. Less Time and Effort

Don’t you think it is relatively much easier and economical to introduce your ecommerce users to web apps rather than creating native apps? Given the advantages, we already discussed this kind of web apps are really more suitable for online businesses. They offer you a higher ROI and allow you to market your brand easily to customers irrespective of their device preferences. Do you still need reasons for using this much-advanced version of apps for your online business?

6. Progressive Web Apps for Ecommerce: Looking Beyond 2018

The popularity of PWA is rapidly attracting many prominent ecommerce businesses that have chosen this latest trend to revamp their website. This is going to be one of the hottest technology trends in the coming years with more businesses joining the Progressive Web Apps bandwagon. The interest in the technology is supported by some recent technology shifts as well as the great outcome.

Ecommerce stores should consider this technology for the reasons given below;

• A Mature Technology

PWA is no longer in its infancy. Although there is always room for improvement the technology has matured enough and it has API’s that can offer more functionalities bringing it even closer to the native app experience. A mature technology is stable and hence it is easier to work with it to achieve the desired objectives for an ecommerce business.

• Mobile-First Indexing

It’s been long since Google started giving importance tomobileexperience of users in SERP rankings. Taking it further it is now doing mobile-first indexing which means that the mobile version of a site would be treated as the primary site in SERP. This means using Progressive Web Apps increases the likelihood of users stumbling upon on your site which would eventually lead to better conversions in the coming years.

• Chrome to PWA Shift

Google is going to phase out the apps inChromeWeb Store. All Chrome apps would now be PWA and thus be platform independent and work well on desktop systems as well. This will significantly improve the functioning and would giveapplike features to websites along with app icon, push notifications and offline capabilities. Thus adopting PWA will also make it easier to convert users on the desktop by giving them a better user experience.

• Proven Customer Retention

Case studies published on Google shows very encouraging and high conversion performance of ecommerce websites that have used PWA. Sample a few  ecommerce stores’ data to feel the difference;

1. Ecommerce stores recorded 70-80% increase in conversions
2. Re-engagement rate went as high as 40%
3. 104% increase in new users
4. 2X increase in page visited per session

Wouldn’t you want similar figures for your ecommerce store?

• Better Privacy Protection

Don’t you often think why do the apps need so many access permissions to various mobile functions? Aren’t you even more sceptical about the privacy of your data after the Facebook debacle? Overuse of cookies, cached data and poor protection of mobile data are the key concerns of anyone using a native app.

PWAs, on the other hand, do not need data access. Also, all data goes through end to end encryption when the web apps are served via HTTPS. This makes ecommerce sites more secure and reliable thus leading to better customer trust.  

Conclusion

Given the numerous advantages, we cannot deny the fact that PWA is the next big thing for Ecommerce. With the backing of Google, this is the technology that would break out and render astonishing results foretailers.

StoreHippo has always helped ecommerce businesses stay ahead of the race with its advanced features and trendsetting technologies. Using Progressive Web Apps for all the stores powered by StoreHippo ecommerce platform is a step in the direction of delivering next-generation stores that are ready for the future.

Interested in knowing more about turning your store into a PWA? Contact us and one of our representatives will help you understand the benefits of using this technology for your online store.