Magento PWA Studio : The Whys and Wows of Magento PWA

Posted by jeevan on October 17th, 2019

Have you heard a lot of talk about Magento's new progressive web application? And now we've finally got the Magento PWA Studio to witness the "revolutionary" mobile & merchant experience!

Magento announced PWA Studio's availability on January 15, 2019. And it didn't look back! Developers can now develop a progressive web app using the set of tools. Magento 2 PWA Studio has similar features to a native mobile application as the future of web app development.

In this article, you’ll learn about the following :

- What is PWA

- Why Magento PWA Integration

- What is Magento PWA Studio

- Benefits of Magento PWA Studio for merchants

- Benefits of Magento PWA Studio for users

What is Progressive Web App ?

PWA is one of the web's most discussed technologies. You are building a website and you haven't heard of the term "PWA." It's a thing now to install web apps on the phone for free!

PWA is the future of web development which offers similar functionality to a native mobile device. PWAs provide offline access to content without internet connectivity.

PWA is a web app that provides users with an app-like experience :

Progressive – as it loads itself lazy!

Web – as it is built in different web languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript

App – as it is downloaded and software runs on mobile phones

Why Magento PWA Integration ?

According to Statista, 39.6% of U.S. e-commerce sales are produced from mobile phones that are expected to reach 44.7% by the end of 2019. Looking at the facts that drive more online sales through m-commerce, Magento made a smart move to incorporate PWA with Magento to benefit from better user experience and conversions.

What is Magento PWA Studio :

Magento shook hands with Google back in June 2017 to combine the best of Magento's PWA apps. The PWA Studio for Magento 2 came into effect with the release of Magento 2.3.0 in November 2018 and Magento became one of the first few Ecommerce platforms that enable users to get the best out of PWA with full potential.

Magento PWA Studio provides developers with the requisite tools to create and manage PWA on top of Magento 2 storefront.

Magento PWA studio comes with the following :

pwa-buildpack : It is a library for Magento PWA used to set up and customize a local environment for the production of PWA.

peregrine : A collection of modules designed to handle Magento-specific features such as routing, root components, layout handler, product lists, price screen, etc.

venia-storefront : A prototype theme developed with the studio of Magento PWA. This shows the current features and workflow.

Why should store owners use Magento PWA Studio :

Cost-effective : Using the software platform interface makes it price-effective. Eliminate the native apps cost. Simply upgrade to a PWA the Magento 2 website already developed.

Reach out to Mobile users : The preference of smartphone for online shopping is growing, according to the statistics. The Magento 2 PWAs will operate offline with m-commerce in trend and users can browse through the store as long as they have visited it before! Offer a mobile app like Magento PWA Studio store experience!

A "Add to Homescreen" window will appear when the visitors visits your PWA-backed Magento store on a browser. When the user clicks on it, the store's PWA edition is added to the home screen of the user. Now a mobile web client is turned into a user of the mobile app, allowing you to take advantage of the m-commerce phenomenon!

Works Offline : PWA sites store cache on the website to serve even if it is unavailable for users.

Time-Saving : No need to build another Android and iOS app!

Add to Homescreen : The introduction to PWA's home screen feature attaches the page to the home screen of phones allowing users to visit the website directly without opening the app and typing the URL.

Cross-platform Compatibility : A single web application is enough to run on multiple platforms using PWA in Magento, so it can run on any mobile browser or device. In fact, PWAs from the app store need not be changed as they are updated in real time just like a website.

Responsive Design : According to Google, pages with responsive layout outstrip SERP and as PWA offers a consistent experience in any display be it a smartphone, tablet or desktop, it makes the sites rank higher in Google search results.

Boost SEO : As Google revealed the first mobile index, the use of PWA greatly strengthens the website's mobile version and assists in the first mobile index. Indeed, improving the SERPs and hence the traffic using Magento PWA with the improved speed and responsiveness on multichannel!

Take advantage of Push Notifications : Do not skip the marketing opportunities offered by pushing updates with PWA! Hold clients up-to-date on promotions, releases, updates, etc.

Higher Conversion rate : Mobile apps are always the front runners when you compare the conversion rate of the mobile web and phones. As Magento PWA offers app-like experience with the added advantages of quicker loading, low data consumption, and accessibility across platforms, you can see your conversions hit the stars!

Increase number of Users : For their favorite and most popular shopping brands like Amazon and Flipkart, users tend to download the apps. Users can click with PWAs to include in their mobile phones the PWA of a web store that is as easy as ABC. Numerous user downloads were powered by the incredible one-click download feature.

How does Magento PWA studio enhances the shopping experience ?

Low Data Usage : Users can access them without internet connectivity with the versions of already visited pages saved in the cache. Therefore, save repeated visit info.

Faster Loading : Compared to a responsive web store, Magento PWA Studio offers faster loading. Therefore, a smooth shopping experience for consumers!

Wrapping up :

If you want to keep it progressive and provide a better workflow, a progressive web app is a magnificient solution for your Magento website. The software has shown the positive effects already and is in demand among website owners of e-commerce. So go ahead and keep the website handy to users at all times.

Author Bio :

Jeevan Kumar is a technology enthusiast and strong believer in agile product development. He is a Senior Content Strategist of Fortunesoft IT Innovations - Magento development Company Singapore.