Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) can no longer be ignored when it comes to e-commerce. They are its future and they bring numerous advantages for users. What are they? What do PWAs bring, and why use them in e-commerce? We explain everything in this article!
If you are one of our regular readers, you will know that the term PWA is no longer a new subject on our blog. In a first article, we explained what Progressive Web Apps are, and why and how to use them. Then in another of our articles, we announced that they were available on the Google Play Store. Given the various developments in the digital sector, PWAs are taking on an important place when you want to adapt a site and help it evolve. This week, we are talking about PWAs in e-commerce.
As a reminder, what is a Progressive Web App (PWA)?
We can describe PWAs as a “blend”. But a blend of what? Take a website and a mobile application, and place the PWA in the middle. A Progressive Web App has the appearance of an application thanks to being represented by an icon, but in reality it is the website. The special thing about the PWA is that the site becomes accessible from any device (mobile, tablet, desktop) without the user having to search for it on the internet or download it like an application from an app store.
Bear in mind that PWAs are useful in the service of e-commerce!
By definition, e-commerce covers all commercial transactions carried out via the internet. But for that, the user needs a medium for buying online: they need an e-commerce site. So far we are not telling you anything new, but wait — this is where the Progressive Web App comes in!
First of all, you need to understand the difference between a website and a mobile application
How do you go about accessing a website? You go through a web browser and, using a URL or a search query, you find what you are looking for.
And now, to access an application? You first have to download and install the application from an app store, then open it in order to access the content.
That is the difference between the two concepts: one is searched for by the user and the other is downloaded.
And where do PWAs fit into all this?
As far as Progressive Web Apps are concerned, they take up the advantages of both concepts: namely, the indexing and positioning of a website on the internet, together with the simple, fast accessibility of an application from the home screen of your mobile or your computer.
For the user, creating a PWA is as easy as creating a shortcut. You ask the browser to install the site on the home screen of the device being used. Then, from the PWA’s icon, an instance of Chrome launches, providing a visually cleaner interface.
Users can therefore get to the site quickly thanks to the PWA, without needing to search for the e-commerce site on the internet any more.
The advantages of the PWA in e-commerce
From small organisations to large ones, PWAs can be used by any e-tailer. To convince you, here are some of the advantages a PWA can bring you!
Are you looking to get more traffic on your e-commerce site?
Seeing a brand regularly — and, on top of that, knowing that the site is quickly accessible via the PWA’s icon — will mean the user naturally and instinctively visits your site more often.
Take the example of social networks. How does a user get to their favourite network? By going through the internet, or via the icon generated after downloading the application? Via the icon, of course, since it is faster and simpler. It is the same principle for PWAs!
A diagram illustrated the number of users lost during the installation process of an application versus a PWA.
The PWA shortens the number of steps before it is used compared with an application, and makes it possible to reduce the number of drop-offs. As a result, you will get more traffic — and don’t forget that traffic and conversion are directly correlated. Inevitably, the more visits there are to your e-commerce site, the more potential conversions you will get.
Would you like to improve your search ranking?
Progressive Web App is the name given by Google. So, as you would expect, Google will favour every website using this technique. All the more so since it expressly recommends offering a responsive version of a site in order to optimise organic search performance. That works out nicely, because that is exactly what characterises the PWA, since it is all about making the site fully adaptable to smartphones, tablets and computers, or any other device that might be used.
Still within Google’s ranking algorithm, everything that brings something extra for the user is favoured. Today we know that web traffic coming from mobiles is growing rapidly. Allowing the user to access your e-commerce site whatever device they are using makes it possible to give them a unique experience suited to the way they use it.
In e-commerce, reassuring users is essential!
An e-commerce site using the HTTPS protocol is a site that encrypts all the data sent, thereby preventing a malicious individual from intercepting the exchanges. Users feel more reassured when they know they are protected, all the more so when financial transactions are involved, as is the case on an e-commerce site.
Since the PWA is a shortcut to the e-commerce site, the security provided by encryption is naturally retained.
Short of time?
Did you know that developing a PWA requires fewer resources in terms of time than developing an application? The application has to be developed twice: once for Android and once for iOS. So why hesitate when the Progressive Web App only requires a single development effort?
Developed in rendering languages (HTML, CSS and JS), the PWA’s code is simpler to maintain and is worked on directly from the source code. No more excuses and no more time to waste — PWAs will make your life easier!
One last advantage of PWAs that applications don’t allow: notifications
For an e-commerce site, being able to push notifications directly to users’ PWAs is a big advantage. It makes it possible to inform the community about a promotion, for example, or to remind them that their basket is still available. The user will then be able to see the notification even if the PWA is not open. These more visible notifications allow for more thorough follow-up with users.
The PWA for e-tailers is still only in its early days; you should take advantage of that to get ahead of the competition, because before long it will be a standard that all e-tailers put in place. Be among the first to move your website forward and you will end up with satisfied customers.
