“Progressive Web App” (PWA) has steadily become one of the hottest keywords within the eCommerce industry in recent years. While there used to be many doubts regarding its efficiency and capabilities, now the technology is trusted and employed by many global brands, with huge names like BMW, Starbucks, and Uber being some of them. This explosive success of progressive web apps has made it clear that it’s time for us to ask the question, “Is PWA future?”
In today’s article, we aspire to give you a compact yet detailed rundown of this topic. We are going to take a glimpse into the future of PWA, discuss its recent updates and blossoming potential in the near future. Furthermore, we are going to give you some great advice on how to approach PWA as a powerful tool for your own eCommerce business.
But first… what is PWA again?
Table of Contents
Progressive Web App, more commonly known by its abbreviation: PWA. As the name suggests, it is a website that resembles a fully-functioned mobile app. Users can download PWA into any smart device, such as smartphones or tablets. It has all the regular applications, like appearing on the screen with a familiar tiny icon and sending you daily notifications.
The idea behind PWA is to create something that can impress users more than a simple website or an application. In a world with a billion apps of all kinds and uses, the competition is incredibly overwhelming. This has led to business owners struggling with targeting the right clientele and creating effective solutions. Innovative technology such as PWA is the perfect answer to such an issue – which explained why it has only been getting more and more love ever since its release.
Learn about top 9 Magento PWA development agencies in this post.
Eye-catching achievements of PWA-using brands
If the above introduction of PWA hasn’t impressed you yet, keep scrolling. Here are the amazing results this technology has brought to many brands around the world.
AliExpress
AliExpress and its usage of PWA definitely deserve the first mention on our list. A report from Google developers showed that the top online retail market in China gained up to 104% new users from all browsers thanks to PWA. Along with that, AliExpress also bagged around 2X pages view per session per visitor and an excellent 74% rise in time spent during each session via all browsers.
5miles
Another example of successful retail platform thanks to PWA is the Dallas-based site 5miles. 5miles realized that while more than 50% of new shoppers discovered 5miles via the mobile web, the UX here was quite slow and not as engaging as it should be. The brand has decided to invest in a progressive web app of its own. They had gotten some immediate results. The bounce rates dropped a significant number of 50%, while the amount of time spent on the site increases 30%, with a bonus of 30% better user conversions.
Twitter Lite
If you’ve used the Internet before, it’s likely that you’ve used Twitter at least once. The Twitter Lite is the mobile web version that Twitter offered. Its aim is to give their 328 million monthly active users a faster, more reliable, and more engaging experience. Working in the PWA form, Twitter Lite was, without a doubt, a total triumph. The technology won Twitter a 65% increase in pages per session 75% increase in Tweets sent, and an additional 20% decrease in bounce rate.
Discover more amazing PWA numbers here
The future of PWA
Looking at these dazzling statistics, can we confidently state that the PWA future is going to define the upcoming horizons of eCommerce? The answer, for us, is a sounding yes.
To quote Anton Morya, Full-Stack Software Developer at Keenethics: “As long as mobile devices are gradually overtaking desktops, PWA is a perfect opportunity for a business to broaden its circle of influence and to take a firm position online.” We wholeheartedly agree with him, and here are 3 reasons why.
PWA earns excellent outcomes for businesses
We have just shown you several examples of businesses that utilize PWAs to benefit themselves. The spectacular numbers prove that PWAs work extremely well when installed and maintained right. Their services also vary to many areas like retail, services, social media,… This means as long as you are willing, you can always create PWAs to accommodate your specialties and needs.
Another concern you should consider is the programming and maintenance costs of e-commerce platforms. The traditional approach tends to be quite extensive and therefore expensive. However, you can easily cut down the process using PWA. Lower expenses and higher performance? I wouldn’t hesitate if I were you!
PWA is loved by users, a.k.a your customers
The best appeal of PWA is its universality. Everyone can download and use a PWA on any platform with standard browsers. Plus, PWA developers usually design them to optimize factors like personalized processes, app-like navigation, offline availability, and visual elements. This creative procedure has brought about PWAs that are innovative and performant. All in all, PWAs are more pleasant and convenient for users than most eCommerce platforms available nowadays.
Considering their tremendous growth, PWAs are constantly improved, so that they will only be faster, more attractive, and more stable with time. The brand new service ScandiPWA is one of such noticeable step-ups. Your customers, as a result, will get a better and better experience with your site, and create long-term, significant values for your brand in many ways. Sounds heavenly, right?
PWA is supported by most of the technology world
The future of PWA is now more secured than ever, thanks to the collaborated efforts of many technology companies and communities. Let’s dive into some recent updates surrounding PWA to see what this PWA future looks like.
Google X Microsoft: PWA Further Development
The two giants, Google and Microsoft, have recently shaken hands in a collaborative effort to create a brand new solution of packaging PWA sites on app stores for developers. An easier installation process, especially on Windows 10, is the first thing they are working towards.
Previously, Microsoft’s PWA tool, PWABuilder, and Google Chrome Lab’s version of that, Bubblewrap allowed the IT workers to accomplish this quite well. Now, both companies are ready to make it even better. PWABuilder and Bubblewrap will be combined as underlying implementations, thus pushing PWAs’ performances to a whole new level.
PWABuilder of Microsoft will also benefit quite a lot from this procedure. For example, the hub will be supported for standard shortcuts that allow access to OS-integrated applications, and the customized Android package, which enables developers to alter PWAs just like native Android apps.
More PWA distributions on platforms/app stores
Starting from 2020, Play Store, App Store, and Microsoft Store have all accepted progressive web apps’ services. Other platforms such as Linux and Android-based stores also show enthusiastic responses and efforts to support this technology.
Unfortunately, Apple’s App Store is still holding out on PWA. Having limited functionality on iOS, PWAs usually can’t meet all of App Store guidelines and therefore, get rejected. Don’t worry: Apple has recently introduced App-Bound Domains for in-app browsing. Enabling App-Bound Domains will also enable the Service Worker API, which returns all features to PWAs.
With all the major app distributors’ support, the PWA future is definitely going to flourish.
What do the gaming communities have to say about PWA?
In 2021, Amazon published a brand new cloud gaming service, Luna. This service runs in the PWA form and works on Fire TV, PC, Mac, and iOS platforms as well as Android. Luna bypassed App Store and its 30% microtransaction commission for installation.
Another big brand, Facebook, has also dipped into the future of PWA lately. With a huge number of browser-based games and gamers, Facebook is looking to become the first ad-based cloud-gaming network. Turning these games into PWAs is a great way to achieve this, which puts PWA tech on the top of Facebook’s considering list. Let’s wait and see how that turns out for the PWA future in gaming.
To learn more about the technical side of PWA, click away!
Hop on to the trend with BSS Commerce
About BSS Commerce
BSS Commerce is a global leading multi-platform eCommerce solution and web development services provider. With 10 years of experience, BSS Commerce deeply understands the eCommerce scene and mindsets. That knowledge enables us to provide the right kind of services to our customers. Our PWA development is one of such.
When it comes to BSS Commerce’s services, the keywords we aim for are passionate, detailed, and reliable.
Grab a cup of coffee and have a chat with us right now
BSS Commerce’ PWA Developement services
If you choose us to start your PWA journey, you are in for the long run, with all the best, full-packaged experience and services along the way. Check out the major services for our PWA customers below.
BUSINESS ANALYSIS & SOLUTION CUSTOMIZATION
Wondering if your business specifications are suitable for a PWA? Don’t worry, our consultants will be there to guide you. We will accompany you through the basic analysis, and find out what suits your brand the most. If you have any special requirements or standards, we also provide solution customization to guarantee your PWA’s success.
DEVELOPMENT & INTEGRATION
When it comes to third-party integrations such as payment gateway systems, inventory management software, etc., our goal is to create a seamless and unified PWA website with added value and the ability to gain optimal results. On top of that, BSS Commerce’s PWA deployment process for a customized Magento site always follows the PCI compliance and SSL certification. We prioritize protecting customer privacy and merchant credibility.
MAINTENANCE & OPTIMIZATION
The launch of your PWA is only the beginning of our support. We proudly bring you our Magento Website Maintenance service. Here we’ll make sure to follow up, offer you real-time advice and help you solve any arising technical issue or security vulnerability.
Why BSS Commerce is the best choice for your PWA future?
EXPERT TEAM
Our team consists of Magento certified experts, developers, and employees who are always passionate about our work, and ready to commit to our customers.
HIGH QUALITY
We commit to coming up with the best solutions & services that are not only able to optimize your businesses but also create a stable eCommerce environment for all sides involved.
COMPETITIVE PRICE
The best services never come at a low cost. So we would not promise you a “cheap” price, but the expenses we offer will certainly be reasonable. We also bring the top quality and additional values on the side, which makes it worthwhile to you at the end of the day.
BSS Commerce Team and further details are waiting for you with full PWA Development Services
To conclude
Progressive Web App, without a doubt, is on its way to becoming one of the most loved and used eCommerce solutions. Though it’s unlikely that PWA is going to replace Native App completely, the technology still deserves to be taken into consideration and applied to your businesses. The PWA future has never been so bright optimistic.
There’s no better time to kickstart a PWA of your own than right now. Give us a message today, and enter the future of PWA with BSS Commerce.
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