A progressive web application is a solution sharing the best features with websites and mobile applications. Google PWA Team first introduced the concept of PWA in 2015. Since that time, PWAs are gaining traction and adoption among businesses.
Magento progressive web apps are installable, light, and lightning-fast. They provide great user experience regardless of the device or browser. PWAs can be added to the home screen of mobile devices just like native applications; however, all in a single click.
Progressive web apps offer a lot of benefits such as the top ranking in Google SERP, a boost in website speed, an increase in conversion and leads. Thanks to all the advantages, PWAs are often called the future of eCommerce.

Progressive web applications work like traditional websites. Users can access them through a simple URL and share the website's URLs with others.
Additionally, PWAs can be added to the home screen of a mobile device just in a click. No long installation process required. Just like native apps, progressive ones can operate offline and send push notifications.

Since the first introduction of PWA back in 2015, all modern mobile and desktop browsers added support for progressive web apps, including Chrome, Safari, Opera, Firefox, and others.

Progressive web applications have a lot of benefits compared to traditional websites:

• Speed – PWAs are x2 faster than responsive websites, thus providing higher conversion at a lower bounce rate.
• Offline operation – offline work is the strongest side of PWAs. Customers can continue browsing a store even if they lose internet connection. This feature is especially important for countries with a poor internet connection and for shopping on-the-go, e.g. while commuting, in the subway, and in other environments that can interfere with the internet connection.
• Native-like experience – progressive web apps provide user experience of the native level across all operating systems and mobile devices.
• Add to home screen – with this ability, customers don’t need to visit Apple App Store or Google Play to get your application. They can add the icon of the PWA to the home screen without a long installation process – right from the web app opened in a browser.

PWA and native apps share a lot of features. Still, they differ in a few critical aspects:

• Technology stack – native apps are developed using programming languages specific to a mobile operating system (Objective-C or Swift for iOS, Java or Kotlin for Android). Our Magento 2 PWA storefront is based on Magento PWA Studio.
• Cost – building native applications is much more expensive than creating a progressive web app. If you decide to build a native app, you will need to create two apps – one for Android and one for iOS. With Magento PWA, you only need to create a single PWA.
• Distribution – traditional applications (both native and hybrid) are distributed via app stores (Google Play and Apple Pay). PWAs act like traditional websites. When customers visit them, they are asked whether they want to add the PWA’s icon to the home screen of their mobile devices. Thus, you can develop a PWA without thinking about the limits and regulations of app stores. Moreover, you won’t need to face a threat of your app to be deleted from an app store without prior notice.

GoMage PWA Storefront is an out-of-box solution with a number of pre-packed features. Such an approach saves hours of Magento store development. To get started, you only need to download, install, and customize the storefront up to your own requirements. However, your business may have unique needs, which shape the additional scope of work on top of the storefront and define final hours of development. To get a detailed estimation for your project, do not hesitate to contact us.

Progressive web applications consist of a service worker, a web application manifest, and an app shell. All these elements combined make PWAs progressive.
Service workers enable applications to control network requests, cache those requests to improve performance and provide offline access to cached content. A web app manifest is responsible for adding a Magento 2 PWA to the home screen and for the responsiveness on all screen sizes. An app shell guarantees reliable performance when a PWA is offline and cached.

Progressive web apps are powerful solutions that can backup operations of companies of any size. PWAs have a lot of benefits:

• Reduced development cost – you don’t need to create an iOS and an Android app. You can create a single PWA that will work on all devices and in all browsers, reducing the development cost.
• Google SERP – PWA is ranked high in search engines. Implementation of the best SEO practices allows making eCommerce websites even more discoverable. You can also use PPC and other marketing solutions to promote your PWA store.
• Offline operation – it’s great when customers can continue shopping on the go – while they are communing, in a subway, or in a place with a poor internet connection.
• Native feel – PWAs are similar to native apps in how they work and are displayed on mobile devices. Moreover, they work in any browser allowing customers to browse them on the web.
• No user-side updates – add new features and seamlessly update your PWA without interrupting the user experience. Customers are asked once to allow such updates and then they occur in the background.
• Linkable – just like traditional websites, you can access a PWA through a simple link. Customers can share such links with others, which is impossible with native apps.
• Push notificationsyou can turn push notifications into a powerful marketing tool. They open new opportunities for promotions, user engagement, and re-engagement.
• App-like functionality – progressive web apps provide a smoother user experience as compared to hybrid apps. They work great with any operating system, be it iOS or Android.
• No app store regulations – unlike traditional apps, you don’t need to submit your PWA to an app store. Customers can add your website to their home screens right from your website.
• Faster UI – PWAs offer enhanced data protection with HTTPS protocol.

GoMage PWA Storefront offers a number of features, this way, helping you avoid additional development costs. By purchasing the GoMage PWA Storefront, you receive the whole list of out-of-box functionality described here. If your business requires any additional integrations or customizations, our team can implement them on top of the storefront. Check out what we are offering in the Magento 2 PWA customization services and get in touch with us for your detailed project estimate.

Progressive web apps are called the future of eCommerce and for a good reason. Just take a look at the top-5 estimated benefits that we deliver to our clients who decide to develop a PWA:

• x2 traffic increase
• x3 conversion rate boost
• top ranking in Google SERP for key requests
• 48% decrease in bounce rate
• 250% more leads

Many businesses are already actively exploring the benefits of progressive web applications. The examples are numerous and are growing in number every year:

• AliExpress: 104% increase in new users across all browsers, 2x increase in pages visited per session, a 74% increase in sessions time
• Jumia: 9X increase in conversions on abandoned carts, 50% lower bounce rate, 5x decrease in data usage
• Alibaba: 76% increase in conversion rate across browsers, 4x higher interaction rate from Add to Home Screen
• Flipkart: 3x increase in time spent on the site, 70% increase in conversion from Add to Home Screen, 3x lower data usage
• George: 3.8x increase in page load time, 2x lower bounce rate, 31% spike in conversion rate, 20% more page views per visit
• Ele.me: 11.6% decrease in loading time across pre-cached page, 6.35% decrease in loading time across all pages
• Lancôme: 17% increase in conversions, 8% increase in conversion rate on recovered carts via push notifications
• Twitter: 65% increase in pages per session, 75% more Tweets sent, a 20% drop in bounce rate

Our storefront is designed for businesses that want to quickly create a PWA storefront. The use of GoMage PWA storefront speeds up the development process by a few times. For many businesses, it is enough to install the storefront and configure its frontend.
GoMage PWA storefront provides a lot of unique integrations and solutions out of the box:

• Widget-based features
• Powerful page builder
• Advanced search filters
• PayPal integration
• Trustpilot integration
• Algolia search integration
• Blog with Disqus integration
• … and more!

Take a look at the full list of features.

GoMage PWA storefront relies on Magento PWA Studio with Magento PWA Venia storefront. Magento PWA Studio is a set of developer tools that allow to develop, deploy and maintain a PWA storefront on top of Magento.
GoMage PWA storefront concept consists of the following major stack components:

• NPM – Node Package Manager that allows adding and using any large community library to the JSON package.
• Node – renders PWA on the front-end and generates virtual servers for the application.
• React – Magento PWA React framework used for building the frontend, which connects Magento PWA GraphQL with the storefront.
• GraphQL – library used for information exchange via the API.
• Webpack – JavaScript bundler used to combine components into bundles and create the PWA skeleton.

Check our GoMage Magento 2 PWA demo to see how all technologies work together to create a progressive storefront.

Everyone who purchases the GoMage PWA storefront can also order Magento PWA setup services. The PWA storefront Installation Service includes the following steps performed by our Back-End Developers and DevOps Engineers:

• modules installation and their activation on the Magento side
• server-side setup for GoMage PWA storefront
• GoMage Magento PWA storefront installation
• final check to ensure that everything works right

We can also help you with standard storefront configuration and custom Gomage PWA storefront customization.

Everyone who purchases the GoMage PWA storefront can also order the CSS Configuration by our team. The service includes the following adjustments performed by our Front-End Developers:

• changing the colors, fonts on buttons, elements of forms
• adjusting the background of the main blocks (header, footer, content part of the pages)
• changing logo, favicon, image sizes

If you haven’t found some services you need, get in touch with our team to discuss custom GoMage storefront configuration.