What is PWA?Things you need to know about PWA

What is PWA?

First emphasizing that Progressive Web App is not a web framework or a new technology. It is a combination of web programming and mobile application programming.

It will help function on web similar to function on mobile. To better understand PWA, we will compare relative to both website and mobile application to better understand. In the table below, a few (but not all) of the features that show correlation with PWA (somewhat symbolize PWA's ability to pull web and applications together).

Basically, the following four requirements define a PWA, currently supported by Google Chrome, Opera and Samsung Internet. That is:

• A site must be visited twice with a 5 minute break to meet the requirements

• Standard secure HTTPS connection

• Has JSON Manifest installed

• Service Worker installed

Once these four conditions are met, developers can freely customize the features they want, then we can see both the offline error page, and complete offline browsing on which project and site we are visiting.

As such, you can see that PWA is an application that can provide additional features based on supported devices, provide offline capabilities, push notifications, have an interface and speed equivalent to the application. Native application and local storage of resources. The application was born to bring a lot of benefits for both users and developers.

The reason for using progressive web apps

The first reason is to help the website get the features of an App. In fact, most smartphone users prefer to access the App over websites. The study found that 87% of the time using the App, while the modest figure is 13% using mobile web. Moreover, the App also has great interactive features such as a screen icon for easy access on the phone, a notification to reconnect to the user even when closing the application.

Next, progressive web apps are able to load quickly thanks to caching mechanism and can be used both offline.

Finally, the user can also receive a notification even if the app is not open.

The advantages of PWA

Progressive Web Apps can benefit retailers, information providers, and their users such as:

• Ability offline

• Speed and performance are much better than website

• Good security

• Add to Home Screen

• Push notifications

• Better bounce rates

• Fill the gap between mobile application and website

• Feeling like application

• No submissions / rejections from the App Store

Cons of PWA

Besides the outstanding advantages mentioned above, the PWA also has the following disadvantages:

• Limited browser support

• Native API access is limited

• Can't access the App Store

• Not all current PWA use links for their page structure, build PWA with unlinkable tabs, and thus cannot be found by the search engine.

What benefits can PWA bring for e-commerce businesses?

PWAs are the best combination of the two worlds - native apps and mobile web, so they address two important issues facing e-commerce:

Higher conversion rates:

 - Less mobile conversions than conversions on mobile apps.

As a result, PWAs provide a seamless application-like experience and incorporate features such as offline support, speed, and cross-platform compatibility; Conversion rates may increase.

Increasing the number of users: 

- Customers only download mobile applications of well-established e-commerce businesses. With PWA, customers can add their online store's PWA to the home screen on their phones at the touch of a button.

Some well-known businesses use PWA

1. Forbes

Forbes, a global media company, has turned to Progressive Web Apps for their new mobile experience to improve download times for their readers. Forbes websites used to take 3-12 seconds to load - remember that 53% of visits to mobile websites are ignored if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. The new website is based on advanced web application technology capable of loading in 0.8 seconds. As a result, Forbes saw a 43% increase in sessions and a 100% increase in participation.

2. Alibaba

Alibaba, the world's largest B2B market, serves suppliers and buyers in more than 200 countries. With this global customer base, they need the most attractive bridge between native app users and the mobile web. They want to provide a great user experience for both first-time visitors (those who often visit the mobile web) and repeat visitors (who often use the native application). Building a great mobile experience for both types of users is an integral part of AliExpress success.

Alibaba's PWA strategy has resulted in a 76% increase in total conversions across browsers, along with 14% of monthly active users on iOS and 30% more on Android. Reminder Adding to the provider's home. screen leads users to re-engage four times more often than other mobile users.

3. Weather channel

The Weather Channel, the company behind Weather.com, is always looking to the latest technology to become the number one weather report. Their main goal is to provide timely, accurate information when it matters most to their global audience. Weather wants to provide this same directness in markets where users don't have the latest smartphones, reliable connections or a significant cost to download the app.

Weather PWA has seen an 80% improvement in load time. But even more impressive is that PWAs are available in 62 languages and 178 countries. Advanced technology enables them to function effectively by enabling support in more than 60 languages in a code base.

4. Flipkart

Flipkart, India's largest e-commerce site, adopted a mobile-only strategy in 2015. After closing their mobile website and focusing only on their native apps, the The company did not see the desired result. They decided to incorporate their native web and application presence into the PWA to allow existing customers and their potential customers to have immediate access to their stores.

Compared to their previous mobile presence, Flipkart has tripled the time on site with their Progressive Web App. Users spend an average of 3.5 minutes on Flipkart Lite compared to 70 seconds for its predecessor. In addition, Flipkart PWA has three times lower data usage than its native predecessor, allowing users in slower connected areas to also access e-commerce websites. It has also generated a 40% higher re-engagement rate among first-time visitors and a 70% higher conversion rate due to the Add to Home icon because customers have immediate access to it. Flipkart whenever they want.