In the digital sphere, the user experience is paramount, often dictating the success or failure of a platform. That’s why it is essential for an online business to create a well-designed and intuitive version of an eCommerce website, ensuring seamless interaction for users across various devices. With the growing number of users engaging in mobile shopping, the importance of a mobile-responsive, fast, and user-friendly platform cannot be overstated. Insider Intelligence predicts mobile commerce sales to hit 40.4% of eCommerce sales in 2024. In this light, PWAs emerge as a crucial asset for online businesses.
As technology continues to evolve, Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) have come to the forefront as a viable solution, offering a balanced blend of website accessibility and app-like experience. Shopware’s API-first approach aligns perfectly with the aim of PWAs by providing a robust foundation for Shopware composable frontends. This approach empowers developers to assemble user interfaces with modular, reusable components that interact seamlessly with backend services. The synergy between PWAs and Shopware’s innovative approach marks a significant stride towards a more user-centric and adaptable eCommerce landscape.
Firstly, let’s take a closer look at the idea of PWA.
Quick jump
What is a PWA?
As mentioned above, PWA is an abbreviation of the term “Progressive Web Application.” The aim of such an application is to close the gap between responsive websites and native mobile applications. In other words, it guarantees the best quality of website access across all devices like PCs, smartphones, or tablets, no matter the quality of the internet connection. After entering a PWA-type website, the content of the application is saved in the device’s memory. Thanks to the saved data, re-entering the PWA website can also take place offline. This solution results in an increase in the website’s performance and, in turn, reduces the bounce rate. PWAs also have the ability to send push notifications to users, enhancing engagement and user retention. They can be easily turned on and off by the customers.
Through PWAs, users are able to directly access a website via browser or their home screen, which removes the necessity of downloading a separate application from platforms such as Google Play or the App Store. Moreover, by utilizing PWA in your online store, your website is more visible in organic search. Thanks to that, your customers can easily find you in search engines like Google by typing your company name or details about your products.
To sum up, progressive web apps offer the best of both options – the performance and accessibility of the web and the convenience of mobile applications.
PWA in Shopware 6
Shopware Progressive Web App was created with Vue Storefront to provide the best customer experience across all channels. This PWA guarantees that it will work seamlessly with the features of Shopware 6, deliver high efficiency, and access to essential marketing tools. It can be integrated into a plugin that works out of the box.
Shopware PWA is a Single Page Application (SPA) based on JavaScript and Vue.js, integrating much of the Shopware functionality into a very extensible frontend application, thus enabling a seamless shopping experience across various devices. This integration significantly bolsters the capabilities of Shopware Frontends, a framework used for frontend development with Shopware 6.
Source: https://www.shopware.com/en/
Key benefits of Shopware PWA
Now, let’s look at the benefits that a progressive web app can bring to your Shopware store.
Seamless integration
Shopware PWA is fully compatible with Shopware 6 and other related elements. It provides a decoupled storefront for customers, serving as a base for creating a user interface that can interact with the backend services like Content Management System (CMS) as well as Shopware PWA plugins via store API. This API interface facilitates a smooth interaction between the frontend and the Shopware instance in the backend, ensuring data consistency and real-time updates.
Great flexibility
The unquestionable advantage of Shopware PWA is that it enables to change the design of the storefront UI without changes in the backend or building a website from scratch. Thanks to this, you can create projects and functionalities without any limitations.
Better security
Shopware PWAs utilize service workers, which act as proxies between the app and the server. This means that they can control the network requests, ensuring that only secure content is fetched and served. Additionally, service workers can intercept and cache network requests, reducing the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks. Moreover, it requires sites to be served over HTTPS, ensuring that all communications between the browser and the website are encrypted.
Shopware – All-In-One eCommerce Platform That Meets The Highest Requirements
Shopware PWA in practice
Here are presented the advantages of Shopware PWA solution from a more practical and business point of view.
Better performance and reduced page loading time
The Shopware Progressive Web App loads and responds to user actions far more quickly than traditional web pages. Even with an unstable internet connection, this technology can reduce the problem of delayed downloads. As mentioned in the earlier part of this blog, it also reduces bounce rates as the customers don’t have to wait for a website to load.
Suitable for B2B clients
Shopware PWA is a great choice for B2B eCommerce stores as it allows eCommerce owners to effectively integrate their stores with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and Product Information Management (PIM) solutions. What’s more, when replenishing stock, it has become accepted practice to list items that were out of stock. Thanks to Shopware PWA, you can facilitate this process and integrate your smartphone with a barcode scanner, which facilitates the process of adding products to the basket. The PWA solution also allows shopping cart reservations without a Wi-Fi connection until you reconnect to the network.
Better online visibility
Due to well-optimized design for mobile devices and increased loading speed, search engines can effectively analyze the website and show it in search results.
Cost-effective
Last but not least, opting for a PWA solution is more cost-effective than creating a whole mobile application. By leveraging modern web technologies, Shopware PWA allows businesses to build a single application that functions seamlessly across various devices and platforms, eliminating the need for separate native apps. This unified approach reduces development, maintenance, and update costs.
Want to explore the best eCommerce technologies and deep dive into Shopware? Check out our free e-book – A comprehensive guide to choosing the best technologies for eCommerce
Summary
In conclusion, the eCommerce landscape is evolving rapidly, and businesses must adapt to stay ahead. Shopware PWA emerges as a game-changer in this scenario, offering a seamless, efficient, and cost-effective solution for online businesses. With its ability to deliver app-like experiences directly through the web, PWAs bridge the gap between traditional websites and native applications we know from platforms like the App Store. For businesses seeking to enhance user experience and simultaneously improve conversion rates, adopting Shopware PWA is a strategic move.