The context: Google first pioneered the PWA standards and Apple has since followed. Organizations like Starbucks, West Elm, and eBay are seeing increased discoverability and engagement with their PWA experience, demonstrating that PWA is the frontier of eCommerce.
How to talk about PWA:
For the marketer: Progressive web applications are the next evolution in web design since responsive design. PWAs are usually designed with a mobile context (phone or tablet) in mind, while also working on a desktop. With a PWA, your site loads like regular web pages but also offers user features such as working offline, and push notifications
For the technically-minded: Traditional sites couple the frontend and backend stack into a single product. Progressive Web Applications are “headless”; they separate these two areas so that:
- The backend is served headlessly via ultra-fast and lightweight APIs.
- The frontend is built and maintained independently of the traditional backend.
PWAs are blazingly fast because they are made to request only the minimally required data. They maximise what they can cache locally while providing more advanced device hardware access (traditionally available only to native applications). The takeaway: This is a modern technology stack that will improve performance and sales while future-proofing your site.
PWA might be a good fit if:
- Your existing frontend is causing a lot of frustration
- Your current implementation has a lot of technical debt
- It is expensive to implement new features and maintain your site
- You need a new, fresh User Experience for:
- UX
- Navigation
- PLP
- PDP
- Cart and Checkout
- You are looking to replatform
- You want to outperform the competition
Our guide on PWA features brands who are leading the way and a PWA Compatibility Checklist
