A progressive web app (PWA) is so much more than another acronym to crowd the never-ending list of IT-related abbreviations. If you are a prospective business owner, you need to pay more attention to this application software. PWAs can take your website from anonymity and high bounce rates to greater engagement and endless conversions. If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it really is almost too good to be true, but true nonetheless. Many mega-brands in the ranks of Uber, Starbucks or Pinterest owe a considerable part of their popularity to PWAs. What you need to know to whet your appetite on this subject matter is that progressive web apps act like a native app but they run on the web. For the detailed lowdown on why you need to familiarize yourself with the technology of PWAs, keep on reading this article.

How does a Progressive Web Application work

A progressive web application is a shortcut to greater engagement. Due to the fact that it performs similarly to a mobile app, but it remains loyal to the web environment, PWAs combine the best of both worlds to form an effective solution for all types of businesses. What is “progressive” about them, you might wonder? Their “progressiveness” as indicated by their name itself, points to the new features that PWAs introduced. On top of that, the view that the user has on a PWA site is also “progressive”, in that it progresses from an initial traditional website, to one that behaves like a mobile application.

Though the concept of creating an application software that emulates mobile apps seems relatively recent, in reality the terms dates back to 2015, when it was coined by Google engineer Alex Russell. Therefore, it is clear that this technology is past its infancy, with a significant number of proven benefits attached to it. Among the main ones, we must mention that PWAs work independently of online connection, they are discoverable via search engines, they generate push notifications and, last but definitely not least, they can provide higher engagement. For a detailed investigation into the pros of PWAs, please give our other article a read.

Top examples of Progressive Web Apps

A vast majority of brands (both from inside and outside the ecommerce sphere) have enlisted the help of PWAs. Among the best of them:

Pinterest For Pinterest, their PWA transition was an attempt to intensify engagement. After failing to generate sign-ups and app download, Pinterest turned to PWA to improve performance metrics. This proved to be a smart decision, as visitors spent 40% more time on Pinterest’s PWA compared to the mobile website.

Alibaba (and Lancome) Everyone has made a purchase on mammoth ecommerce site Alibaba.com, whether they like to admit it or not. You wouldn’t think the Chinese multinational technology company would need help to generate more revenue, but it did. They recorded a 76% rise in conversions after moving its mobile site to a PWA. Another business that depends on conversions and saw a significant improvement in that area after upgrading to PWAs is Lancôme. They measured a whooping 53% increase in session length.

The Weather Channel The benefits of PWAs are not limited to retailers only. The Weather Channel, an American television channel as the name suggests, crossed the Rubicon into online weather reporting hoping to ‘break the internet’. Needless to say, that is no easy feat. However, it appears that since using web app software, weather.com saw an 80% improvement in site load time and, the best part of all, one million users opted in to receive push notifications.

To sum up, PWAs are websites on their absolute best behaviour. They act well, load well, perform well, and they are so inviting that visitors come back a second time. It is an ecommerce opportunity that shouldn’t be passed. Whether you need to transition to a PWA solution or build one from scratch, 2 Cart can meet your needs. Let’s have an in-depth discussion about this topic and establish your free business consultation!