Progressive web applications are the latest trend in eCommerce. A Progressive web application is basically a website that can be designed to look and perform like a mobile application. You might be wondering what is the relation of Magento with PWA? Well, Magento 2 is slowly becoming a PWA platform. Every Magento 2 development company will now recommend you to go for Magento PWA for your business.
We have already told you the definition of a PWA. Apart from giving you the reasons to go for Magento PWA, we will be answering other basic questions too here!
What is the Magento PWA Studio Project?
The Magento PWA Studio project is a combination of developers’ tools that will enable them to develop, deploy and maintain a PWA on the Magento versions 2,3 and later.
The Magento PWA Studio makes use of contemporary tools and libraries to develop a build system and framework that aligns with Magento’s principle of extensibility.
☛ Why Should We Apply PWA in Magento 2?
Some of the best reasons to apply PWA in Magento 2 are:
- Conversion rate growth
- Application weight is reduced
- The number of users will increase
- Seamless functioning on various mobile devices
How Will Your Business Benefit from PWA Technology?
☛ Majority of customers prefer apps on Mobile
Let’s explain this concept to you with the help of an example. If you want to use Google Maps on a desktop, you will access it from the browser. On the contrary, if you want to use it on a mobile, you will use the app instead of a browser.
Users behave in this way not only in the case of Google Maps but in the case of all websites with a strong native app. Users would rather choose a native application as they provide a great user experience. Furthermore, native applications start-up faster, use sensors and synchronize the data.
The engagement statistics clearly prove this point. Mobile web has a 13% engagement rate whereas native apps have 87%. Thus, choosing to convert the Magento website to Android app or iOS app is definitely the right decision.
☛ Mobile Web has a great reach
As per recent statistics, the chrome browser has one billion users in a month. Even though the engagement rate is low, people use mobile browsers to access the internet. Android users, on average, visit 100 websites per month using the Chrome browser.
It can be said that websites on Chrome have a poor user experience but better reach. On the other hand, although mobile apps provide a better user experience the reach is lesser.
☛ Today’s Mobile Web
Now, let’s talk about the current market situation. A study shows that smartphone users in the USA download almost zero applications in a month. But mobile phones and tablets were major contributors to eCommerce sales in 2019.
The fact that users are not downloading apps and yet they are the major contributors, there is only one possibility. Mobile applications of well-established businesses such as Amazon and Alibaba are only used.
This is something to keep in mind before you decide to invest in Magento PWA. Unless you are offering something extraordinary, it is hard to gain the attention of your target audience.
Reasons to Make Your Magento Site a PWA
☛ The M-Commerce Trend
The trend of using smartphones for shopping is here to stay. Research states that more than 27% of users shop using smartphones instead of a PC. As the number of smartphone users increases with time, the above-mentioned percentage is bound to increase.
Due to this reason, M-commerce has become popular and your business needs a mobile app to avail benefits of M-commerce. But how much does building an app cost is an important question here. Especially if you own a start-up or a medium scale business.
Progressive web apps Magento is your key to making the most from the M-commerce trend. Magento PWA is the cost-effective option of getting a mobile app for your eCommerce site.
One of the major benefits of PWA is that you will have a single codebase for both mobile and web. Thus, making changes in the future will be an easy task.
☛ No Need to Download the App, Just Add to the Homescreen
As discussed earlier, most users don’t prefer downloading a mobile application every time they visit a site. In this scenario, the progressive web app builder will come to your rescue! You can build a Magento PWA with its assistance in which the users don’t have to have to install an app before using your eCommerce site.
The “Add to Home Screen” feature enables the users to add a shortcut to your website on their home screen. Due to this feature, your website will feel like a normal app downloaded and installed on a device. Your progressive web application will need an app manifest to enable the “Add to Home Screen” feature.
☛ Offline Mode is not a Problem Anymore
Google data suggests that a delay of one second can reduce the conversion rate by 20%. This is something worth paying attention to. The ideal time for an eCommerce website to load in 2 seconds. A lesser page load time will help your eCommerce site to stay ahead in the game.
You might be wondering how does a PWA comes into the picture here? Well, a progressive web application works without the internet too! The users can continue browsing even in the areas with no connectivity.
Even though it works offline, a PWA can sync and update the data once the network is back. We feel that this is a strong enough reason to convert the website to PWA.
☛ Faster Loading Time of Websites
Users have lost the patience to wait for their search query to be answered on the internet. More than 50% of visitors will leave your website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
A progressive web application will focus on the speed and minimize the network traffic. PWS enables to load a page instantly in milliseconds. The app shell has all the required components of your application like UI and the core architecture. Once the first page is loaded, these components are cached and saved in the local device.
Thus, one more reason to go for Magento PWA!
☛ SEO-Friendly
SEO is a very important concept today if you want to make your online business successful. One of the major PWA SEO benefits is that it is crawlable and indexable. PWA is itself a JavaScript and uses the flexibility of JavaScript. Googlebot will crawl the pages of a PWA as it crawls other pages.
However, it still remains the responsibility of a developer to find ways to optimize the site so that the web pages are indexed properly.
☛ Push Notifications
Every marketing professional will agree to the importance of a push notification. Push notifications are considered to be powerful as well as a personalized marketing tool. They are proven to increase the engagement rate.
Push notifications will allow you to engage with your customers even when the browser is closed. You can easily update the customers about your latest products or offers. The Admin will have the option to manage any push notification.
One of the PWA purposes is to make the native notification experience a reality.
☛ Free of Device Restrictions
As the progressive web applications are written in HTML, JavaScript and CSS, they have a web connection and can be accessed through web browsers. All major browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Safari support a PWA.
Another important benefit of a Magento PWA is that it will save the user’s time in installing the app. As opposed to native and cross-platform applications, a PWA can be put on the home screen in a few taps. A PWA will take up less space in your device as compared to native applications.
☛ Fewer Resources Required
As discussed earlier, a PWA will need lesser space in the device’s internal storage. Due to this, PWAs can be saved from being deleted when there is a storage problem.
Furthermore, if a PWA needs to be updated with new features, you will need only a few developers. Therefore, it can be said that PWAs save both – time and money by asking for fewer resources.
☛ Increase the Conversion Rate
It is a known fact that conversion rate on the mobile web is less than mobile app conversions.
You might have noted that all of the benefits that we have discussed above play a huge role in making an eCommerce site successful.
A Magento PWA will be able to give a great boost to your conversion rate. It’s features such as reliability, improvement in speed, improved conversion rate, and offline working are the major reasons for its popularity.
What is the Cost to Implement PWA in Magento 2?
The cost of Magento PWA depends on the method you choose to do so. We have discussed the different methods with costs below:
☛ PWA Magento Extension
You have to buy the module which may cost up to $150 and also pay for its installation services.
☛ Magento 2 PWA Studio
Hire Magento 2 developers with substantial experience in both Magento 2 and PWA to build your progressive web application.
It usually takes 6 months to develop the PWA storefront and new API by using the Magento 2 PWA Studio tools. You need to have a good enough budget if you are planning to go for this method.
☛ Magento 2 PWA Theme
As the PWA storefront and core API are ready, the Magento cost will now hugely depend on the level of customization you want.
This option will cost you less as compared to the second option but more than the first one. Whatever it is, the Magento 2 PWA Theme method definitely deserves attention.
