Users’ favorite nowadays is the mobile web as the number of smartphone users worldwide has reached 3.5 billion and is continuing to grow rapidly. Of course, e-commerce entrepreneurs have to catch up with this demand to provide a modern and seamless shopping experience. That’s when a new platform – a progressive web app – emerges. Although it’s still new, the platform gets ahead in perfecting customer experience due to practical PWA features. Some people believe PWA is going to replace its former relative – The native App. Is that true? What are PWA features making it highly evaluated?
Get to know Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)
Table of Contents
A Progressive Web App is a type of web application introduced by Google in 2015. PWA can perform as a web page and mobile app on any device with native app flavor. With rich functionality and more PWA features are continuously being developed, this platform is the solution for the challenges in the modern mobile world.
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PWA delivers sites with attractive designs plus various features. Besides, by providing an app-like experience without installation, PWA will surely rock your user satisfaction level. PWA native features have to fulfill a checklist by Google, which ensures the platform is fast, reliable, and engaging.
You can barely tell whether you are connecting to a PWA site. However, there are some signs you may notice. Firstly, PWA brings users to a new level of experience compared to a traditional website. Secondly, there’s a small bar at the end of your screen to recommend you to add the PWA page to your home page. However, this function is only available on mobile devices so you won’t find it on your desktop screen.
Source: inboundjunction.com
For more detail about PWA, save and read this post “Complete Beginner’s Guide For You To Build An ECommerce PWA“
PWA features that soar your user experience
There are many requirements that a PWA page has to meet to be put on different App Stores. Let’s take a look at the PWA features list below for a detailed analysis of this technique.
Responsiveness and browser compatibility
Progressive enhancement principles are the base foundation to build up PWA features. This is the web design to provide basic functionality and content regardless of browser types or connection quality. Thanks to it, PWA is compatible with all browsers and devices.
Why is this important? As we mentioned in the beginning, nowadays more and more people are switching to mobile phones most of the time. However, it doesn’t mean they get rid of other devices like desktops or tablets. If your e-commerce website can only satisfy customers on one or two channels, you are letting them down. By taking advantage of PWA device features, you are gaining customers’ pleasant experiences.
Offline mode availability
PWA offline feature is one of the best benefits you can bring to your users. Based on the fact that not everyone is 24/24 connected to the Internet or has a good connection quality, you are now opening a new door for your customers to enjoy your website even when they are offline or in a slow internet connection.
This function runs on the Service Workers foundation. Service Workers are responsible for storing data offline and flexibly managing network requests. It also reduces the amount of required data to run the app.
App-like experience
Source: tmogroup.asia
This is the core value of PWA features. PWA was developed to connect the app experience with website usage. Moreover, users don’t need to visit the app store to enjoy these services. PWA installation doesn’t require heavyweight tasks like downloading and storing data.
A PWA can also replace a website if you want to focus on it instead. PWA can perform as a blog, a shop, a marketing site… This is the most flexible option you can choose besides a traditional app.
No download needed
Users don’t need to download a Progressive Web App from the App Store or Google Play Store. Instead, they can visit and browse them in the way they usually do with responsive websites. Accordingly, PWA allows users to save space in their devices while giving them an app-like experience.
For businesses, this feature makes potential customers feel much more comfortable than forcing them to download your apps. Instead, they can add your store icon to their home screen once close enough to your brand.
We all know that prospective customers who do not frequently visit your store have no reason to download an unfamiliar app. There’s no doubt that PWA could be a flexible solution that suits every level of customer engagement, from prospect to repeat and loyal customers.
Push notifications
Source: viblo.asia
You’re looking for a way to raise customer engagement? If yes, then Push notifications PWA is definitely one of the most-used features. Even when the PWA browser is not running or the customer is in offline mode, they can still receive your messages.
Don’t worry that you may disturb or annoy customers in their personal life. In order to activate this function, you’ll need users’ permission beforehand. Since Google always wants to provide the best customer experience, all the PWA features will not create any inconvenience to users. You may also take a look at Magento 2 Push notification that would provide a brand new way to inform customers about important notices on common browsers.
Automatic updates
Source: itnext.io
Some users are always hesitant to update any app’s new version because it might use a significant amount of data and memory of the device. However, with PWA update feature, users will always connect to the most recent version of the application.
This PWA feature works by you uploading new files to your server. There’s no need for Apple’s or Google’s review and acceptance. Your customers may even think that your PWA is prominent since they are not aware of the new updates.
Security
Security is always the top priority for any e-commerce owner just like other PWA features. Moreover, it’s a must-have requirement for your site to be recognized as a PWA. You’ll serve your site via HTTPS with a security certificate. By using HTTPS protocol, the data transmitted within the site is encrypted. This makes it more secure and more difficult to intercept or change.
Moreover, many users consider HTTPS a guarantee of safe and reliable publishers. You’ll also receive additional points in the search ranking by Google.
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Discoverability and easy installation
Every E-commerce website wants to reach a high position on search engine channels (like Google, Bing,, etc.). With PWA, you can totally be discovered on these channels. Simply put, PWA is still a website with some extra PWA features.
Installing PWA is also a piece of cake. If you are on your mobile phone, there’ll be a pop-up asking whether you want to add the PWA page to your home screen:
Source: medium.com
In case you are accessing a PWA page on desktop, there’s only one more step to install PWA:
Source: howtogeek.com
Social Integration
Why walk alone while you can collaborate with others for better customer interaction? The ability to connect with various social networks is definitely one of the most vital PWA features.
Along with the mobile web, social networks are drastically developing as well. By integrating with your customers via their favorite social networks, you will perform better in customer service. Your customers can log in quickly with their social accounts instead of filling in a lengthy form and waiting for confirmation.
One more incredible benefit is raising your brand awareness. Have you thought of that? Connect with social media channels means that you allow users to like, share, comment about your products on the social page. Moreover, they can also purchase orders, add to wishlists, and conduct reviews on their social network. This means those in their friend circle will also get brief about your brand.
Reports & Analytics
Source: developers.google.com
One of the great PWA features that every e-commerce site cannot skip is Analytics. This is the best way to optimize your PWA performance. With analytics report data, you can have a comprehensive view of user patterns on your site. Even more, you can make a summary of the overall performance of your PWA to set plans for improvements.
You may wonder how can PWA track users and website performance in offline mode? The answer is easy: popular systems like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, etc., have your back by providing the capability to collect data even without an Internet connection. These data will be queued then sent to the system while the device is available.
Live chat
Offering live chat is one of the most preferred PWA features, especially for customer-centric businesses. This is the best way to keep an instant connection with your customers and provide them immediate support at any time.
For customers, live chat is extremely convenient since they don’t need to get out of the browser or make a phone call to get support. They can receive instant responses to solve their problems or inquiries right on the site.
However, to take the best advantage of this PWA feature, make sure you have instant supporters willing to provide help to customers anytime. It’s a minus point and unprofessional if the users send a message for advice but don’t receive any reply at all.
SEO-friendly, indexed by Google
Source: haproxy.com
Unlike a native app, all content in a Progressive Web App can be discovered and indexed by search engines. This means your content can reach potential customers when they submit related search queries on Google.
Without this feature, your brand can miss a significant amount of organic traffic and natural visitors.
Besides URL indexing, PWA also significantly benefits SEO because it helps improve website speed and overall user experience. These two factors are becoming one of the top SEO concerns ever since the release of the Google Core Vitals in 2021.
Conclusion
There must be a reason for saying that PWA is the future of the mobile web. Besides the listed powerful PWA features, Google is planning to focus on PWA development and keep PWA a universal and discoverable platform. According to Dominick Ng – an Engineer and PWA Tech Lead at Google – their focus will primarily be on delivering productive experiences in creativity, work, and gaming.
For an updated version of your website and soaring the satisfaction level of your customer, do not miss out on this beneficial technique.
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