Revolutionizing E-commerce with Progressive Web Apps ????

Mobile applications have been nothing short of a revolution in the past decade. Be it a kid studying in 5th grade or a senior citizen learning to navigate the world of the internet, we all use mobile applications because of the abundance of smartphones.

But building a mobile app is challenging and costly. Since almost all businesses especially e-commerce ones have an online presence these days, it is difficult to quickly deploy a mobile application into circulation.

That’s where PWA (Progressive Web Applications) comes into the picture.

What are Progressive Web Apps?

The term was first coined by Google back in 2015.?

PWA provides a way for the end user to experience a user interface similar to a mobile application. All users have to do is visit the URL of the website and start using it without needing to install anything.

PWA comes with features like push notifications and camera functionalities. In short, PWA is a website with features like a mobile application.

PWA is an ‘app’ that is not limited to a smartphone. It is also implemented on desktops as well. Some of the most successful adopters of PWA are versions of Instagram and Twitter for desktop.

One of the examples to portray how powerful PWA can be is that the URL of the website can be displayed right on the Home Screen of your smartphone. And then just like any other application, you can access it easily. G-SP, one of the e-commerce websites which is built on PWA tech, has this feature.

In this excerpt, let’s see the reasons why PWA has revolutionized the E-commerce sector.

Faster Load Times

You must have noticed that sometimes native mobile apps like Amazon, Flipkart, or Facebook take longer time to load if the Internet is slower. And when the same is opened as a website, it takes shorter amounts of time to load.

This is because Progressive Web Apps are accessed within a browser due to which the load speed is increased compared to that of the native mobile application.

Also, they do not take up much space inside the user’s storage of the phone.

Improved User Engagement

Since PWA’s load speed is more than that of the native apps, users will gravitate more towards it because it provides features like push notifications, Home Screen access, camera functionalities, and offline capabilities.

These features tend to increase user engagement which is a game changer for an e-commerce business.

Cost Effectiveness

Building an E-commerce mobile-based application is extremely tedious and expensive. Building PWA under these circumstances comes in handy as it costs very less!

The added advantage of the ability to deploy it across multiple platforms cannot be ignored when it comes to PWA.

All of these factors can boost user engagement and provide a smoother user experience for customers of an e-commerce business, all while costing a fraction of what it would take to develop a native app.

Better Conversion Rates

Research has shown that e-commerce businesses using PWA have seen better conversion rates than those who use native apps.

Amazon, Flipkart, Ajio, or Myntra are obviously exceptions to this case. But for the majority of other e-commerce businesses, this fact stands true.?

Factors of PWA like mobile-first approach, seamless third-party integrations, reliable performance, lightweight nature, low data consumption, and cross-device compatibility affect the conversion rates for the e-commerce business in a positive manner.

Increased Accessibility

Those who do not have access to the native applications can also access the PWA and are more likely to purchase an item from it.

Those quickly surfing through the web and wanting to buy an item will more likely to convert when the e-commerce is built on PWA tech.

The main reason is that it cuts the hassle of going to the App Store or Play Store to install the native app.?

Enhanced Security

Since users have to input their sensitive information like their bank details or UPI IDs in order to purchase an item, it becomes crucial for the business to secure their platform.

PWA uses HTTPS so that the user data can remain secure throughout the transaction.

Improved SEO

PWAs are indexed by search engines and optimizing these websites can be easier than optimizing native apps on App Store and Play Store.

Users are more likely to find your e-commerce business on a search engine rather than on App Store or Play Store.

This can result in higher traffic and increased user engagement.

These factors can be considered to be the main reasons why Progressive Web Applications have revolutionized the e-commerce sector drastically over the years since 2015.

Hope you found the information in this excerpt useful and applicable to your e-commerce business. Stay tuned for more insightful blogs!