May I develop my eCommerce application with a Progressive Web App?
The topic PWA (Progressive Web App-Definition see box) is currently being widely propagated, especially within eCommerce.
Rightly so, is this not a new mouthpiece to make a huge fuss?
Here, I would like to clarify briefly what a PWA is, what advantages it can have for eCommerce businesses, and what attention should be paid to when approaching the topic.
To put it briefly, what is a PWA?
As the name suggests, it's basically an application, i.e. a web-based software application (as opposed to a native Windows, Android, or iOS application).
One can best imagine progressive as "growing with the game. So that it evolves, as we know from before, from a regular website to a modern web application, which hardly differs from a native one. So it does so practically automatically, depending on the environment (browser) it encounters.
Why would an operator choose a Progressive Web App (PWA) for E-Commerce?
Any owner of an eCommerce platform will probably want to increase his turnover. In my opinion, the eCommerce Progressive Web App (PWA) has three key advantages over a conventional website:
1. Quicker
2. More picturesque
3. LOWER
Faster, because much of the Innovative Web App is running in the browser of the user (and not on the server of the provider), it can handle data and loads more easily with smaller numbers. But due to the app components, the initial load is slightly larger, many server requests can be saved afterward. It means that while the classic website needs to load more and more content from the server, the PWA has to load only the most important data ( e.g. only images and details of the product, but not the entire software code).
Louder, as the Progressive Web App enables eCommerce owners to use different methods to put the product to the attention of the customer:
Homescreen: As with regular devices, PWA can be put on the home screen. They run fullscreen if you start them from there, i.e. the customer stays in the context of the application and can not turn "quickly" to the competitor
· Push Alerts: A PWA can also submit Apps-like push notifications. This gives you the opportunity to draw the attention of customers specifically to promotions etc.
I missed one highly important argument: Google. Google loves fast websites and is pushing the PWA topic. Many SEO experts believe a page that completely meets a PWA 's requirements would push Google's rankings upwards.
Unfortunately, as normal with SEO, there are no absolute truths and so there are other experts who say that the so-called Server Side Rendering (see box) is important for optimum Google results – so, in theory, a traditional, old, static website. That might be the best way, it's undisputed it's heading in the direction of PWA. And as I'll explain below, Progressive Web App and Server Side Rendering needn't contradict one another.
Function Comparison: Progressive Web App vs. Native App
APP VS NATIVE PWA
Of course, whether a native app or a PWA is recommended depends always on the intended use. But what impressively illustrates the comparison is how many areas the "Web Native App" – i.e. the PWA – has already opened up to the Native App, and how many benefits it has achieved.
From our many years of experience in eCommerce, we know that it is becoming increasingly important to be able to react quickly to market demands and to quickly try out ideas.
There are solutions for the PWA in the form of Frontend Management Platforms that allow the business managers to make simple changes and quick tests. There is usually only a tedious way to get the Native App.
Why Can Smart Mobile Applications Easily Use Electronic Commerce
Quite individual: Do it all yourself
Fast and dirty: The PWA Proxy
A Frontend-as-a-Service modular architecture
Do things your own way:
Companies with software DNA in particular but even companies with a broad internal IT department prefer to develop and run their eCommerce entirely on their own. It makes even junior programmers happy-they can actually do some basic work. Most companies, however, underestimate the challenge. After all, it's not all about providing an outstanding customer experience; the entire development process must be managed, stable, automatically scalable hosting must be maintained, and – most importantly – the online marketing team must be able to make regular changes without having to rely on programmers. Only thus can they keep up with the strong competition.
Fast and dirty:
If you have a current, modern eCommerce platform, just because new technology is evolving, you don't want to throw away anything and create a new one. Therefore, there are some providers on the market that are practically acting as a proxy in front of an existing shop and thus promising to create an excellent mobile customer experience.
Frontend:
For two years now the trend toward an API-first architecture in eCommerce has gained ground. At the same time, Frontend-as-a-Service has been developed by other firms. Such providers concentrate on excellent user experience on all screens and have a Revolutionary Web App for mobile devices in particular. As in other situations, it is important that the people in the departments responsible for eCommerce 's success in day-to-day business will function autonomously from the tools of developers. The Frontend Management Platforms include an easy-to-use editor that helps web administrators and advertisers to execute their ideas and promotions as quickly as a homepage creator does.
PROGRESSIVE SERVER SIDE VS. Making Mobile APP
When you believe in Google's own Lighthouse Score, when you have a clean PWA implementation, you don't have to think about Server Side Rendering (SSR).
What is the point?
In short, server-side rendering is the standard form of producing a web application. On the server, all of the critical content is measured and transmitted "full" to the browser of the client. Every page change, every user interaction first goes to the server which calculates and delivers the corresponding page to the browser. This is a highly tried and tested technology that needs very little resources on the part of the customer and makes no demands on the hardware of the customer. And not just to the customer but to the search engines as well.
As this is a client-like behavior Google can index a modern PWA and even "rewards," this mobile-friendly technology, in the opinion of many "SEO experts."
Modern approaches most often provide a hybrid approach: the content is provided to search engines as SSR and to actual customers as PWA.
Testing-Learning-Improving:
Anyone who today wants to run eCommerce successfully has to hold their own against the major players on the market. To put it plainly, with very little resources, each has to find his own way to sneak up on the major players. A lucrative market, ideal pricing, creative concepts-these are only a few of the opportunities.
If your customers access your offer from mobile devices, you should be concerned with the subject of the Progressive Web App, definitely – but not at any price. The PWA must fit into the overall plan, from my point of view.
In my experience, agility is an important factor for success today – regardless of any of the aforementioned forms you want to be successful in eCommerce. You have to be able to change your range, again and again, your pricing and your overall bid.
The credo is "Research-learning-improving." If you don't have a front-end development team of 100 people (who still also have free resources), this might be a subject for you. One support can be a so-called frontend management tool that makes it easy for online editors to make changes based on existing components.
DL; RD
PWA is more than just another roost-run. Yet the evolution must continue all the time. So don't make a fast fix, but use a modular architecture with an API-first eCommerce framework and a Frontend-as-a-Service that helps the business team to do the day-to-day business without relying on a single editor to code.
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This article is contributed by Ujjainee. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science . She likes most about Computer Engineering is that it allows her to learn and be creative. Also, She believes in sharing knowledge hence is very fond of writing technical contents for the same. Coding, analyzing and blogging are things which She can keep on doing!!
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