Progressive Web Apps: future-proofing your ecommerce business

The future of ecommerce

PWA is the future of ecommerce, and if you didn’t already know that, we’ll tell you why. When looking for the best customer experience on your ecommerce site, PWA is the answer. Especially when it comes to the mobile experience, where customers can add the shop to their home screen and merchants use push notifications to inform them. Furthermore, the shopping experience is seamless, with fewer page loads and smoother page-to-page transitions. Not to forget the fact that your customers can continue their shopping during a bad connection. Experius has worked with Magento’s PWA Studio since the beginning. Not only because we are an experienced Magento partner, but because we believe this PWA solution has a big leap on the competition. And will stay ahead, supported by the huge Magento community and the innovations they add. We currently have our own PWA Studio Accelerator, with all necessary PWA features available from the go, 4 PWA webshops up and running and 5 almost ready for launch. Our customer Eleganza was the first merchant to go live on PWA Studio in the Netherlands and has gained incredible results: page load times were 41% faster and the average order value increased 28%. The main reasons for Eleganza to choose PWA were the improved (mobile) shopping experience, a lightning-fast webshop, and a decrease of server load, especially around peak sales periods such as Black Friday. It also brought them the opportunity to close the gap between web and app design, making the shop app-like and easy to navigate. Lastly, they invested in the future, not having to build their front-end twice. When you are considering moving to PWA, you must be aware of the fact that you go ‘headless’: the frontend and backend of the ecommerce platform are decoupled. Meaning you have an Adobe Commerce (Magento) backend and on top of that the PWA as a frontend, which is connected through the GraphQL API. This not only gives you a lot of flexibility but also complete creative control over the customer experience. You can update the frontend a lot faster, not having to worry about the logistics or other processes running in the backend and vice versa. It also means that you have to familiarize yourself with new technology, such as PWA Studio, and this takes time. Headless and PWA are amazing technological ways to build your new webshop. Before you start, carefully consider your market, visitors, customers, their needs, budget, and (inhouse) technical skills. And then you take the step into the future. Either way, for companies wanting to be future-ready in ecommerce and offer a superb customer experience: PWA could very well be the best answer.

About Experius

More and more companies in B2B and those selling (directly) to consumers are embarking on the omnichannel journey, and e-commerce plays a pivotal part in that. Together with ambitious B2B and D2C customers, Experius takes up the challenge to grow a successful ecommerce strategy and environment. Its solutions are based on Adobe, powered by Magento, technology such as Adobe Commerce and PWA Studio (Headless Commerce).  Learn more about Experius.

Why does an ecommerce brand need a PWA?

Here at JH, we firmly believe PWAs are the future of ecommerce – what brand wouldn’t want their site to be future-proofed and at the forefront of technology? Some of the benefits include:

• Super-fast site speed that delivers great user experience and meets (or exceeds) Google’s Core Web Vitals metrics, supporting SEO rankings
• Base the entire experience on one set of code, making future development, upgrades, maintenance and deployments faster and more cost-effective
• Deliver your customers a consistent and user-friendly experience across all mobile and desktop devices

• Offer push notifications and lightweight app downloads that are easier to share and rank on search engines

With all this and more on offer, it’s no wonder brands who invest in PWA technology experience increases in conversion rates, dwell time, and customer engagement.

What to look for when planning your own PWA build

There’s much to think about when planning a new website build – but specifically for PWAs, you should keep the following two points in mind:

1. Experience

Choosing an agency partner who has already worked on PWA builds for ecommerce brands will work in your favor – their prior knowledge of the technology, possibilities, and limitations, and which of your existing technology partners will easily integrate with the new system will be invaluable in finishing the project on schedule and on budget.

2. Forward planning

Technology is always evolving, and one of the main benefits of a PWA is that upgrades and deployments are faster and more cost-effective. A great agency partner will work with you on a pro-active roadmap to improve your user experience over time; and work on improvements to your workflow, internal processes, and integrations to make all the moving parts work seamlessly.

How Workwear Express found success with PWA

With a vast catalog of products, 2000+ clients in 100+ countries, and a complex customization offering, Workwear Express’ online business was anything but simple. When JH migrated their site from a custom PHP platform to a Magento 2 store with PWA functionality, they were afforded experience and revenue-boosting benefits – and it also enabled them to automate the artwork approval process, which had previously required considerable staffing resources. As a result, Workwear Express saw:

• x2 increase in site speed
• 23% increase in revenue
• 17% increase in conversions
• 12% increase in AOV

The new site was built in just 4 months, and as well as increased revenue and conversions, Workwear Express can now proudly say they are in the top 5 fastest eCommerce sites in the world.

About JH

Two steps ahead, JH is the agency that for ten years has led the Magento industry, transforming businesses by leading innovation in the B2C and B2B space. Learn more about JH.