Is it really possible to power an eCommerce website with Magento PWA extension?

PWA- Progressive Web Application is a new sensation in the eCommerce world. Flat 5 years back in 2015, Google has first introduced it in order to ensure a better user experience. According to experts, progressive web applications are a perfect blend of the benefits of a native app and mobile web pages. On mobile web browsers, these web applications can easily load and run. PWA just provides an amazing app-like experience to the users. 

It is true that progressive web applications are the newbies in the world of mobile applications or online business. But PWAs are really fruitful according to many eCommerce owners. And we can see that more and more businesses/brands are embracing these apps. 

If you are an eCommerce owner and want to know how to get better traffic as well as provide a better user experience, this blog is meant for you. Today, we are going to discuss all the important points regarding progressive web apps and magento pwa extension. 

What is PWA exactly?

A progressive web application is known as a JavaScript application that can run on the mobile web browser. Or we can say that PWAs seems like web apps or web pages that come with the appearance of a mobile application and run on the web browser. Experts say that these applications are rich in advanced JS features and as a result provides a better user experience, more user engagement, and increased conversion rate. 

We can say that after the entry of progressive web applications, we have become able to bridge the gap between web pages and native mobile applications. A user can easily save the progressive web applications on the desktop just like any other android and ios application. 

We all know that over the decade, JavaScript has been a prominent part of eCommerce development. But today, we are enjoying an increased level of enhancement due to the fine blend of browsers and JavaScript engines. 

Experts say that in order to better understand we should take a look at the common technologies deployed in developing PWAs. 

Technologies deployed for developing progressive web applications

Service Workers- Service workers are actually some JavaScript programs that can run independently on the web pages as well as intercept network requests. It may seem that these service workers are just like web workers but these can be properly accessed by main threads. The main threads are mainly running in different browser tabs at the same time. 

Cache API- from the name we can guess that this kind of API is able to cache the types of responses that progressive web applications assist upon. In a simpler tone, we can say that it is a unique system that helps in storing and retrieving network requests as well as their responses. The aim of creating this API is to let the service workers cache network requests to provide proper responses even in offline mode. 

Web push notifications- we can say that web push notifications are the messages that come from a web application. When the application is not running in the browser, the user can get the web push notifications on the browser, desktop, or mobile devices. 

Web app manifest- The web app manifest is nothing but a JSON file. It tells the mobile browser about the progressive web application and exactly how it should respond while installing on the user’s mobile devices or desktop.

What is magento?

Magento is known as an eCommerce platform. It is built on open source technology. It offers an amazing shopping cart system for all online merchants. Along with this, it also takes care of the look, functionality, and content of the online store. In other words, we can say that Magento is a great platform that offers powerful marketing, catalog management, and search engine optimization benefits. 

Since the entry of Magento in 2008, the traditional way of online business stores has started to change. According to research, more than 26% of the best commerce websites use Magento. It is not only a professional-level solution but also a completely free solution. So, people with a limited budget can take full advantage of Magento. 

Features of Magento:

• Category management
• Product management
• Inventory management 
• Client account
• Customer service
• Payments
• Order management
• Search technology
• Promotional tools
• Marketing tools
• International support
• Analyze and report

These are the best features that come with Magento and offer a stunning eCommerce experience. 

In the above sections, we have already discussed the benefits that an eCommerce website can get from PWA or Magento. Thanks to great minds and technologies for experimenting with the blend of these two and bringing more fruitful solutions for eCommerce websites. 

Magento pwa extension

Now, it is time for all the things related to the Magento PWA extension such as what is this extension, the reason behind this extension, and how it is going to help a business to improve. 

Flat 3 years back in 2017, Magento tied the knot with Google in order to bring the best PWA features to the Magento platform. On November 28, 2018, the Magento 2.3 was released in the market with amazing updates. The Magento 2 PWA extension is one of those amazing updates. 

According to eCommerce experts, Magento is one of the first eCommerce platforms that has let its users fully utilize the benefits of progressive web applications. Apart from this, Magento also offers the PWA studio. The PWA studio basically offers the necessary tools for developers to successfully create as well as maintain the PWA storefront on top of Magento. 

Developers can also use another open-source tool known as Lighthouse in order to audit a PWA website. Lighthouse is created by Google. 

Magento is concentrating on PWAs- is it really important?

According to Statista, in 2018, 63.5% of eCommerce sales took place via mobile devices. And in 2017, it reached 67.2%. Now we can say that mobile commerce is bringing more online sales. So, the decision of magento pwa extension is quite a wise move. 

It is not that all the mobile users or eCommerce shoppers are fully tech-savvy. Before us, Magento understood this fact. And as a result, magento brought the pwa extension. This extension makes the websites more informed.

The extension can easily understand what can detest the users and how to save their time. If a website fails to satisfy the expectation of its users, it creates a challenge for the website to stand in the market. 

In order to solve this kind of problem, magento appeared with the pwa benefits. But now you might have a question that should Magento care about mobile performance! According to research by Forrester Consulting, magento should care about mobile performance. 

According to research, it is not that only web traffic is able to make a seismic jump from desktop to mobile devices but also it is about the overall conversion which eCommerce websites generally get. 

Now mobiles are on every hand. So, e-commerce should not take the chance to come with just an ordinary-experience option. A user who uses a mobile device, he/she will expect a fast as well as app-like experience from ecommerce. In order to get proof, you can look at the below-mentioned stats:

• According to global traffic records, in 2019, out of 100, 52 men have contributed directly to the mobile web traffic.
• In 2019, mobile eCommerce has covered 67.2% of the total eCommerce revenue and by the end of 2021, the figure is expected to reach 72.9%. 
• By the end of 2021, mobile eCommerce sale is likely going to be 3.56 trillion USD

Magento has taken these facts seriously and as a result, we can see the magento 2 pwa extension. Magento believes that in this way, satisfying the expectation of the users will be possible. 

According to experts, for the same reason, magento is also pushing its clients to enable the pwa benefits so that the platforms adhere to the latest technology stack and bring future-proof results. 

Now, you may feel skeptical that you should really migrate from magento website to magento pwa or not. Actually, you are not alone who is having such questions before going for magento pwa development. In order to clear all your doubts, below, we are listing all the benefits that you can expect from magento pwa development. 

Thriving benefits you can experience after magento pwa development

1. magento pwa development: M-commerce benefits

You know that now people prefer to use mobile devices in order to satisfy their regular shopping requirements. Globally more than 1.6 billion people use their mobile devices for online shopping purposes. Experts say that this reference has given rise to mobile commerce or M-commerce. 

We have seen that just after developing an eCommerce website it becomes tough for a business to again invest for the mobile application version. In this type of situation, pwa cant act as a great help. You already know that pwa application is the best way to get a mobile app-like experience for your ecommerce site in a cost-effective way. In this way, you can save development, maintenance, and other costs at a great level. 

2. magento pwa development: fast installation and no device restriction issue

Generally, progressive web applications are written in CSS, JS, or HTML and you know that JS comes with a strong web connection. In this way, users become able to access the progressive web application on the web browser. Modern major web browsers such as Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and so on properly support progressive web applications. 

Apart from this, pwas eliminate the app installation time. You may have seen that in order to install any android or ios application, we have to go through the download and installation process. And for that, we spend some minutes. But with a progressive web application, there is no such hassle. In comparison with native or cross-platform applications, pwas take much less space on the device. 

So, we can say that pwas do not come with any device or platform restriction and customers can easily browse your online store. PWA empowers one to easily load as well as share the magento eCommerce on any device irrespective of the operating system. 

3. magento pwa development: better performance

According to Google, a user will leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. And after the site load, the site should work fast without any janky scrolling and slow responses. While discussing the technologies that develop pwas, we have mentioned service workers. You know that service workers are basically JS files. Service workers can run separately from the main browser thread. Along with this, service workers also control the caching of assets and they deliver better speed as well as performance in comparison with native applications. 

4. magento pwa development: increased conversion rate

When it comes to online shopping with native or cross-platform apps, a user needs to go to the app store, search the app, download, install, sign-up, and then the user can use it. But with the progressive web applications, there is no such hassle. All you need to do is just open the browser, put the correct URL, and start shopping. It is just a one-tap matter to add the progressive web app on the home screen on the mobile device. 

Along with these, we can also say that downloading the progressive web application is not mandatory. Generally, pwa stores all the features inside the mobile web browsers even without adding it to the home screen of the mobile device.  

So, when a user can save this much time and avoid installation hassles, he/she can easily concentrate on the product searching and checkout tasks. Apart from this, if a store offers such amazing ease, a user will prefer to return to it for the next time purchase instead of searching for any other similar eCommerce platform. 

5. magento pwa development: Offline support

Your business or online store is not there if a user does not have an internet connection for a while. It neither sounds good nor a good practice for online businesses. This fact was ignored in the previous days but thanks to magento 2 for thinking about this fact and comes with the magento pwa extension as a solution.

No matter if your user is online or offline, you should let your users explore your products or services offline. We have seen that there are some people who prefer to turn off the internet connection after a certain time of the day. After turning off the internet, they relax or do something important. Or even they turn off the internet connection just because they are puzzled by emails and WhatsApp and Facebook messages. 

You should create a bridge to reach your customers when they are offline. When your users are offline, they can better concentrate on your products or services. With the help of progressive web applications, you can reach your customers when they are offline and let them explore your services or products. In this way, you will get better user engagement as well as increased sales. 

6. magento pwa development: SEO-friendly

You need to ensure that your eCommerce website has a good ranking on the Google search result. Generally, internet users do not prefer to browse many search pages and pick a website for shopping. They prefer to pick options from the sites that appear on the first three pages of the Google search results. 

With the help of magento pwa extension, you can easily secure a good ranking on the Google search pages. Generally, pwas act like an indexable web page as well as offer app-like experience to the users. 

In a simpler tone, we can say that the pwas are able to serve a lot of benefits of an application as well as a website. It will load in less time and help the website a better ranking and increased visibility. 

7. magento pwa development: Revenue friendly

One of the main aims of magento pwa extension is to boost the conversion rate and it is the most cost-effective way to do it. With this extension, you have to invest in a single app and that will work finely for desktop browsing and mobile devices. Here, you don’t need to pay any additional cost that comes with native applications (for each platform separately). The expense of magento pwa is truly lower than investing in many native applications but for that, you do not even have to compromise the features. All these benefits together reduce the overall cost at an amazing level and the saved money can be invested in other important business areas.

These are the top benefits that we can get from magento pwa extension. In order to understand a bit better how Magento with PWA is changing the way eCommerce apps work, we should take a look at the brands that benefited from PWAs. 

Some leading brands that benefited from PWAs

Generally, leading brands never fail to take advantage of every upcoming technology. In 2020, no matter if it is a small or big company, everyone has started to develop progressive web applications for their websites. There are some big names in our today’s list that are already taking advantages of magento pwa extension to the fullest such as-

Twitter

Twitter has been using this technology for the Twitter Lite Platform. In 2017, it became the default mobile web experience for the users and it is equivalent to 100 million users per day. It has been helping Twitter to get more user engagement as well as lowers data consumption. 

75% increase in Tweet sent

65% increase we can see in pages per session

20% decrease in the bounce rate

Uber

Without even downloading or installing the app, Uber PWA can help a user to easily book a cab. The uber pwa can get loaded in less than two seconds. And you can understand that such a short loading time can actually create wonder in the Google ranking. 

Alibaba

After enabling pwa, Alibaba agrees that it is experiencing increased user engagement across browsers. It even brought an increase of 76% in total conversion. The ‘add to home screen’ option is able to re-engage users four times more than other mobile users.

Flipkart

Once Flipkart adopted the mobile-only strategy and as a result, it experienced a decrease in everything. But after enabling the pwa mode, now users spend an average of 3.5 minutes. Previously, users used to spend an average of 70 seconds. Apart from this, it has also experienced a 40% higher re-engagement rate along with a 70% higher conversion rate. 

Forbes

Previously, the Forbes website used to take 3 to 12 seconds to load on average, and now with the pwa technology enabled, it takes 0.8 seconds. And as a result, more and more people visit the site and spend quality time on it. 

Conclusion

So, after a long discussion, we can say that Magento with PWA (magento pwa extension) is really changing the way eCommerce apps work. Increased engagement, conversion rate, better user experience, and so many other positive things an eCommerce owner can experience with magento pwa extension. 

If you are yet to enable this great benefit, you can reach us for better guidance and magento pwa development. Being the leading development company in the same domain, we cannot only develop it for you but also help you to plan the next steps with prominent post-project care services.